Housing isn’t cheap. The average sales price for houses sold in the country was $492,300, as of the fourth quarter of last year. But you can find one for under $20,000 on Amazon—sort of.
Basically, Amazon sells everything, and it’s offering several prefabricated homes, ranging from a 7 x 20 ultratiny house for just under $14,000 to a 19 x 20 one for $19,000 (actually, make that $18,000, since you can apply a $1,000 coupon to the price). Of course, nothing is ever that easy. You’ll need to supply a few things yourself: a tract of land to put the house on, along with a power source and water supply. But the tiny home does come equipped with a toilet, a shower, and some cabinets—door locks too.
The listing isn’t new, but it has come into the spotlight lately after a YouTuber bought one and the video went viral. Between the original YouTube video and its secondary form on Twitter, the video has already racked up almost 14 million views.
The so-called house is shipped in a folded state. Once it arrives, you’ll have to fold out the walls (probably with some help) and ceiling to expand it to its full size. Furniture, of course, is not included.
It’s an unusual sort of place to live. And while it might not stand up to extreme weather, prefab housing has actually been called one of the most environmentally friendly ways to build a house, as it results in less waste and it can be erected quickly. The business of prefabricated homes is a bit more complicated—Veev, “a real estate developer turned tech-enabled homebuilder,” as TechCrunch once described it, that reached unicorn status, shut down last year.
The allure of the tiny home
Still, the tiny home movement has increased in popularity in the last couple of decades, as millennials pushed back against “McMansions” and housing prices soared—more recently being posed as a promising, albeit imperfect solution to the housing crisis. Fortune previously spoke to a 24-year-old who opted for a tiny home in her parents’ backyard and managed to save enough money to buy a $250,000 house; she also gained a TikTok following because of her tiny-housing lifestyle.
Amazon has been selling tiny homes since long before the pandemic. The first noted offering on the site came in 2017, but carried a much steeper price of $36,000—although it did come with heat and air conditioning. Those particular Amazon homes, though, are no longer available.
Amazon isn’t the first retailer to sell homes; Sears sold tens of thousands of houses via a mail-order catalog from 1908 to 1942. The offerings weren’t prefabricated homes, but kits that had most of the materials needed to build a house. Prices started at just $452 for those way back when. More recently, Home Depot began selling tiny homes and accessory dwelling units—one being a 444-square-foot, two-bedroom home that’ll cost you $63,000.
And if it’s not tiny homes per se, it’s builders building smaller homes, as Fortune has previously reported. Last year the median new-home size fell to its lowest point in more than a decade, census data shows.
But all in all, this goes to show that Amazon really is the “everything store.” From books to deodorant, apparel, paper towels, and groceries—you can add tiny homes to the list now.
Amazon spent more than $3 million on anti-union consultants last year in its continuing effort to keep organized labor out of its delivery network, according to disclosures filed Saturday with the Labor Department.
The Seattle-based retail giant has been ringing up a large tab hiring “persuaders” who try to convince workers not to form unions. It doled out more than $14 million on such consultants last year as well.
Employers are required to disclose such spending when the consultants speak directly to workers about unionization. The figures cited in the forms generally would not include money Amazon spent on in-house work against unions or legal advice aimed at undermining organizing efforts.
Companies often pay $3,000 or more for each persuader per day, as a HuffPost investigation detailed last year. The consultants typically hold group and one-on-one meetings where they paint the union in a negative light, often ahead of a union election or while organizers are trying to gather union cards.
Amazon has grown to be the largest warehouse employer in the country, and its expenditures on anti-union consultants are unusually high compared to others. The company couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Sunday, but it told HuffPost last year that it hires consultants to “ensure our employees are fully informed about their rights.”
“We also know that there are outside organizations working hard and spending heavily to spread false information about us to our teams,” a company spokesperson said at the time.
The largest beneficiary of Amazon’s spending in 2023 was Michigan-based consultant Penne Familusi, whose firm, the Rayla Group, brought in $1.3 million. Amazon paid Familusi’s firm $7.6 million the previous year.
The second highest-earning consultant last year was labor lawyer Katie Lev, who received $1.1 million from Amazon. An administrative law judge at the National Labor Relations Board ruled in January 2023 that Lev had made an illegal threat against Amazon workers by telling them their pay would be frozen and others would receive raises while they tried to negotiate a contract.
The retailer said in its filings that it hired Familusi, Lev and other consultants “in response to large scale union organizing efforts.” Their roles were to “educate employees” and help Amazon in “expressing the company’s opinion on union representation.”
Amazon is battling labor groups on a number of fronts these days.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been trying to organize the company’s subcontracted delivery drivers, while both the Amazon Labor Union and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union have carried out campaigns inside its warehouses.
Only the ALU has managed to form a union at one of Amazon’s massive fulfillment centers, though the group is still struggling to negotiate a first contract two years after its election victory at the JFK8 warehouse in New York City.
The RWDSU lost an election at a warehouse in Alabama in 2021, but the National Labor Relations Board tossed out the results after finding Amazon violated the law and tainted the vote. The union lost a rerun election by a more narrow margin the following year.
Meanwhile, a group of subcontracted delivery drivers in California unionized last year with the Teamsters.
The drivers technically worked for an outside firm that was part of Amazon’s “delivery service partner” network. The union has argued that Amazon is dictating the working conditions and should therefore have to bargain directly with drivers, even if they’re paid by a third party.
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One trick financial experts recommend for building long-term wealth is investing any “extra” or “found” money, like a tax refund. As your tax refund isn’t part of your daily or monthly budget, socking it away for your retirement shouldn’t create any financial burden on your part, and it can also prevent you from simply spending it.
Check Out: Billionaires vs. the Middle Class: Who Pays More in Taxes?
Learn More: Owe Money to the IRS? Most People Don’t Realize They Should Do This One Thing
Over the long run, it can also really make a difference in your retirement lifestyle. In fact, depending on what you invest in, you may see a significant return even over the course of a single year.
Here’s a look at how much you would have now if you invested your tax refund in Amazon stock in 2023, along with an analysis of whether or not the stock would be a good place for your tax refund in 2024.
How Has Amazon Stock Performed Over the Past Year?
Amazon stock has been a certified winner over the past year, rocketing to an 90% gain. If you invested the average 2023 tax refund of $3,167 into Amazon over that time frame, you’d have about $6,017, a gain of $2,850.
That would have been a worthwhile investment indeed. But it’s also important to note that Amazon fluctuates in value quite a bit. Over the past five years, for example, Amazon has a total return of just 110%. This means that a large part of its gain over the past five years came just in the last year.
Be Aware: The 7 Worst Things You Can Do If You Owe the IRS
What Are Analyst Projections for Amazon?
Going forward, analysts are bullish on Amazon’s prospects, with a consensus “strong buy” rating among 47 analysts surveyed. The average price target over the next 12 months is $208.48, suggesting a potential gain of around 19%. This is still double the long-term average of the overall stock market and would make AMZN a great investment if the projections were to pan out.
How Are IRS Refunds Sizing Up Compared With 2023?
According to the IRS, the average tax refund as of March 1, 2024, was $3,128. If you were to get that average refund and invest it into Amazon stock this year, you’d end up with about $3,722 in 12 months — if analyst projections are correct.
Other Options for Investing Your Tax Refund
Amazon stock has certainly been a great place to be over the past year and, according to the analysts, that’s likely to continue.
But that doesn’t mean you have to throw your whole refund into a single stock every year. For starters, it will leave you undiversified. If Amazon has a bad year and drops 50%, that could devastate your long-term savings plan.
Plus, to invest in a single stock, you really should put in the time to research and analyze it yourself and not base your financial future on a consensus recommendation.
One option if you want to diversify and/or don’t want to do all of that legwork yourself is to simply buy a low-cost index fund, like an S&P 500 index fund. This will give you affordable access to an investment that has returned about 10% annually over the long run, doubling your money roughly every seven years.
No less than Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha” himself, told CNBC in 2017 that for the average investor, consistently buying an S&P 500 index fund is “the thing that makes the most sense practically all of the time.”
He added that investors should “keep buying it through thick and thin, and especially through thin.” So, if you’re looking for an alternative to simply buying one stock, like Amazon, that could be a solid option.
Should You Invest Your 2024 Tax Refund in Amazon Stock?
Although Amazon had a banner year in 2023 and analyst projections are strong, there’s no way to accurately predict how its shares will perform over the next year. However, as a general strategy, investing your tax refund is a solid choice.
Whether you should pick Amazon as a specific investment will depend on a number of variables, from your investment objectives and risk tolerance to the nature of your overall portfolio. For example, Amazon might be a great addition if you’ve already got a number of different stocks and need to diversify into technology, but it becomes riskier if it’s the only investment that you own.
If you’re not willing or able to put in the time and research to determine whether Amazon is a good option, consider following the advice of Buffett and dumping your tax refund into a low-cost index fund. Just remember consistency and patience are the key to long-term gains.
More From GOBankingRates
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Much You’d Have Now If You Invested Your Tax Refund in Amazon Stock in 2023
Hannah Jones is the Commerce Editor for Country Living. Her eye is always on the next up-and-coming products to include in gift guides and she’s ready to test everything from dog beds to garden tools for product reviews. When she’s not scoping out the latest and greatest items on the market, you can find her hanging with her two rescue dogs.
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A photo of the living room, featured in the listing, showcases the library Leibovitz built into the apartment after buying it in 2014.
Photo: Corcoran Group
Annie Leibovitz has sold her sprawling Central Park West duplex for $10.625 million, which is $2 million over the asking price, according to city records.
The celebrity photographer bought the four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath apartment in 2014 to be closer to her daughters’ school, according to a story in the New York Times from last October, when the property went on the market. It was listed with top Corcoran broker Deborah Kern, who said at the time that the co-op — located at 88 Central Park West in the prewar known as the Brentmore, where Sting, Paul Simon, and Lorne Michaels have all lived — was “priced to sell.” The closing price likely reflects a bidding war, but the sale was still a loss for the photographer: Leibovitz paid $11.3 million for the apartment. Still, she’s likely relieved to have it settled. “I live and work downtown,” she told the Times, “and our house upstate is now our family home.”
Located on the fifth floor, the apartment has Central Park views, which you can see slightly in this photo of the kitchen that was featured in the listing.
Photo: Corcoran Group
Kern declined to comment on the sale. Leibovitz renovated the apartment’s kitchen and several other spaces in 2014 but wisely left all the pretty prewar details intact. It has Central Park West views and, as you might expect for a photographer, great light.
Leibovitz is something of a local property maven. In addition to owning a 228-acre spread in Rhinebeck, she bought and sold several Manhattan properties, including a three-building complex in the West Village. Earlier this month, she also listed her West Village loft for $8.5 million.
The buyers of the Central Park West apartment are Gregg E. Zehr and Kim M. Cooper, according to records. Cooper appears to be a longtime general counsel at Apple. Zehr, who recently retired from Amazon as the head of its hardware-development division, is credited with creating the Kindle. If he still has any physical books left, Leibovitz built a personal library out of a corner of the massive living room.
This photo of the office that was used in the listing shows a workspace that Leibovitz built out for herself after buying the four-bedroom in 2014.
Photo: Corcoran Group
Legendary saxophonist Kenny G has scored a victory in his bitter battle with his ex-wife over the Malibu estate he rents – to Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and fiancé Lauren Sanchez – for $600,000 a month.
Lyndie Benson, 58, whose divorce from musician was finalized in 2013, wants to force Kenny to sell the seaside property so she can share in the profit, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The musician – real name Kenneth Gorelick – bought the home in 1998 for $12million and purchased the house next door for $3million in 2000. Today it’s worth at least twice that amount.
Last year Kenny failed in a bid to slash $40,000-a-month spousal support payments to his ex after an LA judge was told he was renting out the palatial property to Amazon boss Jeff Bezos for an eyewatering $600,000-a-month.
Kenny, 67, and Benson have been fighting over his mega mansion ever since – he says he has no obligation to sell and can rent out as he pleases, adding in court papers that Benson had never mentioned the home until he tried to cut her money.
Kenny G was granted a protective order on his Malibu estate after ex-wife Lyndie Benson accused him of violating the terms of their divorce agreement by not selling the house. The legendary saxophonist – who is seen with his girlfriend Anaisia Thuy Nguyen (right) last week – laughed off the idea of a reconciliation between the two exes when approached by DailyMail.com
During a court battle seeking to amend his spousal support payments, the musician revealed he earned $600,000 a month in rental income alone after he began renting his home to the famous couple in April 2022
Bezos and Sanchez (pictured in Milan on January 13) are in the process of building their own palatial mansion nearby but have been shacking up at the Malibu compound in the meantime
Now, in a judgement dated January 4, he has won a protective order banning his ex-wife from engaging in vexatious legal maneuvers over the home and been told he doesn’t need to hand over a copy of the rental agreement with Bezos.
The ruling says the musician can also ignore all but two of Benson’s 38 requests for information about the home and the lease agreement – limiting it to one about any improvements made to the mega-mansion and another about whether any genuine offers to purchase the house have been made to him via a realtor.
As a result, the musical maestro – who has since moved on with new girlfriend Anaisia Thuy Nguyen – was relaxed and joked about his legal tussles when DailyMail.com caught up with him last week and asked about the divorce, saying: ‘Oh that was a long time ago. I never think about it.’
The dad-of-two then burst out laughing when a rapprochement with Benson was suggested, telling DailyMail.com: ‘That makes me laugh!’
The composer made a public appearance with Nguyen just a few weeks after the judgment was handed down, at The Aviation Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the two lovebirds were all smiles.
Multiple Grammy winner Kenny, divorced Benson in 2013 and agreed to a settlement that sees him shell out $40,000 per month in spousal support.
In 2021, he filed to have the amount reduced – claiming his income had dropped dramatically since 2018 and that he could no longer afford it.
But in March last year, his request to slash his spousal support bill was denied – after it was revealed he was renting out his Malibu estate for $600,000-a-month to tech tycoon Bezos, who is currently renovating his own $165million Malibu mansion.
Benson then claimed she is being short-changed and is now trying to force him to sell the property which was awarded solely to him in their divorce.
After the saxophonist revealed he was renting the home in court filings last year, Benson ‘made several requests’ for Kenny to ‘turn over all emails and documentation pertaining to the lease’ – which he denied
Meanwhile, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, 59, is currently building his own mansion nearby after paying $175million for the near 10-acre property – which was previously owned by former Warner Bros. President Jack Warner – back in 2020
In court, Benson said the identity of the renter – Bezos and fiancée Lauren Sanchez – is widely known
Using a 1924 judgement as a precedent, she says she is owed 25 per cent of the home’s sale price above $40million and says he should be forced to sell up in her lifetime.
His team, led by hotshot divorce attorney Laura Wasser whose previous clients include Kevin Costner, say he is under no obligation to sell – or give his ex-wife any part of the rental proceeds.
They also say Benson is engaging in vexatious litigation by filing multiple discovery requests and say a confidentiality clause in the rental agreement prevents him from handing it over.
In court, Benson said the identity of the renter – Bezos and fiancée Lauren Sanchez – is widely known.
But her arguments failed to impress the Honorable Scott J. Nord whose January 4 judgement denied nearly all of her discovery requests and her wish for financial sanctions against the musician.
The saxophonist is the best-selling instrumental artist ever and released his 20th studio album last month: Innocence.
Speaking about the new release, he told DailyMail.com: ‘It’s an album of lullabies actually, which is kind of cliched for my music.’
Kenny G, wife Lyndie Benson and sons Max and Noah
The legendary musician has 11 platinum albums and eight multi-platinum releases under his belt, with more than 75 million records sold
Nonetheless, he spent most of last month on the road to promote the new release, with performances in Munhall, Pennsylvania, Englewood, New Jersey and Wheeling, West Virginia, among others.
The 67-year-old’s previous efforts include 11 platinum albums and eight multi-platinum releases, with more than 75 million records sold.
Along with collaborating with Katy Perry and Kanye West, his music appeared on the soundtrack for The SpongeBob Movie, and in 2021, HBO made a documentary of his life and music, Listening to Kenny G.
The following year, he appeared in a Super Bowl advert for the beer Busch Light – his second Super Bowl ad, after appearing for Audi in 2011.
In 2022, he told Forbes he didn’t mind being mocked for being everywhere.
‘If I’m the butt of the joke, if it’s funny, I love it,’ he says, recalling how 1992 comedy film Wayne’s World included a joke about a dentist swapping out Novocain for his music.
He also referenced a South Park episode which mentioned how his music ‘makes everyone crap their pants,’ and how Saturday Night Live made fun of him for a duet he did with Frank Sinatra.
‘It doesn’t bother me because it’s truly funny.’