We’re all indoor kids

Plus, Do you believe in unicorns? + Buy this house if you are a teenage witch

October 30, 2021 | Issue #15

Presented by  An easier way to buy, sell or refi your home LEARN MORE

Good morning! This week we're talking about healthy homes, disappearing cheap houses and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. We're all indoor kids Money; Getty Images Is it possible to spend more than 100% of your time at home? It has sometimes felt that way over the last year and a half. Even before the pandemic, Americans spent about two-thirds of our time in residence. Add in other indoor spaces and you hit 90% of our days inside. Put another way: By the time you're 80 years old, you'll have spent 72 years indoors. That's why a chorus of academics and entrepreneurs have been arguing that how we care for our homes needs to be a part of the healthy-living equation. "We spend the vast majority of our lives in our homes," says Joseph Allen, an associate professor at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the school's Healthy Buildings program. "It's obvious from that alone that how we design and maintain our homes has a massive impact on our health." The argument seems to be that if the pandemic convinced you to upgrade your workout equipment (check), reconsider your grocery list (check) and invest in a lifetime supply of hand sanitizer (check), it's time to consider some health conscious upgrades to your home. Check out Money's new story on the trend for ideas — including a few that cost nothing at all. ICYMI: Working from home during the pandemic has also spurred demand for multiple offices, Zoom-friendly lighting and high speed internet.  Sponsor's Spot Brokerage fees are cancelled Presented by  Real estate transactions are full of hidden fees and costs. Brokerages charge 6% just to list and sell a home—on a $500K house, that's an extra $30K! Better Real Estate will list and sell your home for 0% so you can keep more money in your pocket. Work with local agents who have local expertise and close faster, only with Better Real Estate.* Skip the fee: Find out how much you can save. Do you believe in unicorns? Money; Getty Images Between September 2013 and last month, home sales below $200,000 went from making up about half of all residential real estate transactions to roughly 20%. "They're like unicorns," says Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, who made the pretty (if depressing) chart above. As you can see, the share of sales below $350,000 has also been shrinking recently, while more expensive homes are filling the gap. For more: My colleague Mallika Mitra spoke to Palacios about what's behind the changing price distribution. If you really want to get in the weeds: Check out this Twitter thread, where a bunch of housing economists (and some regular folks) traded charts on the phenomenon. Hello from the future Courtesy of ICON What if Rosey, the robot housekeeper in The Jetsons, built homes instead of cleaning them? They might not be called Rosey, but recent developments in 3D-printing has some people predicting robots will be building a lot more homes soon. Companies like Mighty Buildings, ICON and SQ4D have been experimenting with 3D-printing houses for years, but didn't start selling them until recently. Demand for the handful of 3D-printed homes on the market has been huge and there are some fully 3D neighborhoods on the way in California and Texas. It's easy to see the appeal. Proponents say 3D-printing homes is cheaper, faster and more climate friendly than traditional building. As labor and supply shortages plague the homebuilding industry, the incentive to find new ways of building grows. "3D-printed cement houses are about to take off," declared an Axios story this week. "Developers of 3D-printed homes think they can take on multiple challenges: the affordable housing crisis, the shortage of skilled labor and rising material costs." We're a long way from 3D-printing solving those problems, but it's a creative step (and fun to watch). To see 3D home printing in action: Watch this CBS Sunday Morning segment from May. Spoiler: It kind of looks like the robots are piping frosting on a cake, except the frosting is cement and the cake is a house. Buy this house if you are a teenage witch (or like to pretend you are) CENTURY 21 Action Plus Realty Nineties kids may find this New Jersey Victorian eerily familiar. That's because the house was the setting for the popular sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch. In the show, sixteen-year old Sabrina shared the home with her 600-year-old aunts Hilda and Zelda, along with a magical talking cat named Salem. The property is now listed for $1.95 million and fans are invited for a tour during a special Halloween open house this Sunday. Though, be warned: The interior shots were filmed on a soundstage and the property is now being used as an office. You could just stream reruns instead. The Zillow drama continues Several Money Movers reached out this week to share their thoughts on Zillow's purchasing pause. "Ever since learning Zillow got into the flipping game, I have thought there was potential for significant conflict of interest," wrote one reader. Since many people use Zillow's home value estimates (aka the Zestimate) as a starting point when buying or selling, he argues, "the door is open to easy manipulation of pricing on Zillow's part." It's not a crazy theory. Whenever a company tries to insert itself in too many parts of an industry, there is going to be some potential conflict. (That is why some people worry about Amazon creating its own products and listing them alongside regular brands.) At the moment, however, perhaps the best argument against the idea that Zillow is manipulating prices is that they are not very good at it. According to ibuying expert Mike Delprete, 182 of the 250 homes Zillow is trying to flip in Phoenix right now are priced below what Zillow paid for them. Delprete goes on to point out that Zillow's total projected losses in Phoenix are a drop in the bucket, hardly enough money to make or break the company. But it does seem to prove that Zillow does not have much control over the market as it may seem. Happy hunting and happy Halloween, P.S. Share your predictions about haunted houses with me on Twitter @samsharf or via email at sam.sharf@money.com. P.P.S. Have a friend who loves real estate or is looking for a home of their own? Please forward them this e-mail or send them to the Money Moves subscription page. Money's Essential Home Buying Resources: Fall 2021 On the hunt? Check out Money's Mortgage Calculator, see The Best Mortgage Lenders and look at the latest mortgage rates Thinking of refinancing? Our list of The Best Mortgage Refinance Companies can help. You can also use our Mortgage Refinance Calculator or these refi tips Key question: How much house can I afford? ICYMI, one of our most popular real estate stories of the year (so far): 'FOMO Took Over.' Some Buyers Who Caved to a Hot Housing Market Now Regret It

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