Shortly after haggling his way out of free-agent purgatory and into a new contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kiké Hernández asked his wife, Mariana, to investigate another market. She contacted former Dodger Rich Hill’s wife, Caitlin, with a request: Could the Hernándezes live in the Hills’ house again?
The Hills had bought the property, located in the Toluca Lake neighborhood, in 2017, soon after Rich signed a $48 million contract. The family decided not to sell it after Hill’s final season with the team in 2019. The house has since become a popular destination among Dodgers personnel. Catcher Austin Barnes lived there one season. Manager Dave Roberts has inquired about its availability. When Hernández rejoined the team at last year’s trade deadline, he moved into the house, which is a convenient 20-minute drive from Dodger Stadium, with access to three different highways.
“It’s very appealing, because of the location,” Hill said.
But that’s not its only selling point; almost as important is that the homeowner understands his tenants’ nomadic baseball lifestyle.
When searching for a place to live, players often rely upon each other’s recommendations, connections, and familiarity with baseball’s unique schedule and travel. That has led to a different kind of hot stove market each winter, when baseball players buy, sell and trade homes amongst themselves — swapping houses, directing young players to the right spots and passing certain key properties down as the cycle repeats itself.
It is not uncommon for players to report to spring training without a residence for the regular season. Sometimes free agents sign later than expected; sometimes trades happen without warning. In the final days of February, Toronto Blue Jays infielder Justin Turner was still looking for a lease in the suburbs of Toronto to sync up with his one-year, $13 million contract. Caleb Ferguson, a New York Yankees reliever acquired in early February, was scrambling to find somewhere on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with a park nearby for his newborn son. Surprised by a Feb. 11 trade from the Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins reliever Steven Okert said he had “no idea” where he would live in the Twin Cities. “I’ve never even been there before,” Okert said.
The primary problem is the length of the lease. The regular season lasts about six months. Renting a house often requires a longer commitment. “It’s always a pain,” Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu said. He described the process of finding housing as “throughout my time in professional baseball, one of the hardest things to do,” which is why his wife, Jordan, takes care of it. Spouses often shoulder the load: Yency Almonte, the reliever who was traded from the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs in January, will live this summer in the Chicagoland home of Joe Kelly, the reliever who was traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Dodgers last summer; their wives brokered the deal.
In the offseason, LeMahieu lives in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham, Mich., where he owns two homes. For nearly a decade, he has rented out the secondary residence to various Tigers. So many players have stayed there that LeMahieu has lost track. The first tenant was second baseman Ian Kinsler. The longest-standing resident was pitcher Daniel Norris. “I think they all left the places better than they found them,” LeMahieu said. “I came back and there was new stuff. Super clean. I was like, ‘Wow, this worked out really well.’”
In 2022, his final year in Milwaukee, reliever Brent Suter lived in a home once occupied by former Brewers teammate Corey Knebel. Suter rented a townhouse through VRBO for his 2023 season with the Colorado Rockies. When he signed for 2024 with the Cincinnati Reds, his hometown team, Suter did not need to search for a house. But he did have the ballplayer network to thank.
A few years earlier, while pitching for Cincinnati, Wade Miley purchased a four-bedroom home in nearby Anderson Township, Ohio. An older couple started building on a lot across the street. Miley eventually learned his new neighbors were Suter’s in-laws. He called his former teammate. “When I’m done with the Reds, I’m selling you this house,” Miley told Suter. Suter laughed at the offer. When Cincinnati placed Miley on waivers after the 2021 season, Suter received another text: “Go check out the house. We’ll open the garage for you.” Miley, Suter explained, “hooked us up with our dream house for life.”
During his time with the Cleveland Guardians, first baseman Carlos Santana lived in Bratenahl, Ohio, an affluent suburb on the shores of Lake Erie. After Santana signed a three-year, $60 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies heading into 2018, he rented his home to former teammate Edwin Encarnación. Santana did not last long in Philadelphia. The Phillies shipped him to the Seattle Mariners in December of 2018. Less than two weeks later, the Mariners traded Santana to Cleveland — in exchange for Encarnación. Santana moved back into his old house.
Do not take total pity on these athletes, who play in a league where the big-league minimum salary is $740,000. Teams provide them resources, recommendations and real estate agents. Their own agents often do the same. The collective bargaining agreement contains provisions that compensate them for their living expenses if they are cut or traded.
Their privilege still contains complications, and not every serendipitous swap ends happily. In the summer of 2005, the Boston Red Sox acquired an infielder named Alex Cora from Cleveland in exchange for fellow infielder Ramón Vázquez. The two Puerto Ricans were friends. They agreed to trade houses. “The price was the same,” Cora said. He had been living in a four-bedroom, two-story place with a yard. He was aghast when he moved into Vázquez’s apartment near Faneuil Hall. “It was a one-bedroom, a f—ing matchbox,” Cora said.
The dollar does stretch further away from the coasts. Ferguson, the Yankees reliever, grew up about 20 minutes outside of Columbus, Ohio, the home of Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate. He harbors dreams of renting his home there to one of the Clippers. He joked about his willingness to pay the utilities for potential tenants as long as they paid his mortgage. “I don’t want to make money off of you — I just want to stop losing it,” Ferguson said.
Rich Hill stumbled into his role as the landlord of the Dodgers. During the 2021 season, Hill heard Barnes was commuting about two hours roundtrip to the ballpark. Barnes and his wife, Nicole, had a newborn son. The driving was draining. Hill mentioned that his place in Toluca Lake was empty. “It’s a really nice house,” Barnes said. “He just let us live there.”
Barnes had better luck than Roberts, who found the house occupied when he asked Hill about renting it. Hernández met the same fate after signing his new deal with the Dodgers. Hill was already renting to a family for 2024. Turns out, non-ballplayers need houses, too.
“As much as I want to rent it to the guys,” Hill said, “I can’t kick the people out who are there right now.”
(The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, Chad Jennings, Zack Meisel, C. Trent Rosecrans and Sahadev Sharma contributed to this report.)
(Illustration by Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photo of Kiké Hernández: Michael Zagaris / Oakland Athletics / Getty Images; Photo of Rich Hill: Will Newton / Getty Images; Photo of Wade Miley: Frank Jansky / Icon Sportswire )
A real estate agent who is putting her career on the line over a 90-minute course in Māori culture and tikānga is being urged to “get amongst it” by others in the field.
Janet Dickson is facing a five-year ban for refusing to complete the compulsory short course called Te Kākano (The Seed).
She described the mandatory online course as “woke madness” and has launched a legal battle based on concerns that an industry body can force its members to complete training “on a subject that is only peripherally connected to their job under threat of losing their right to work”.
Proud Māori real estate agent Tama Emery empathised with Dickson, saying the course “was different and sometimes change can be challenging.”
But he said Te Kākano was an opportunity for growth and expansion.
“Doing this course doesn’t take away from anybody, nor does it ask anyone to change their beliefs,” he said.
“Just like any opportunity to learn – whether it be for Māori culture, Chinese culture – it’s about adding to your basket of knowledge.”
Emery said Māori always aimed to be “mana-enhancing” and Te Kākano was a way of doing that – using knowledge to lift up and empower others.
“Enriching your skill set with cultural understanding is mana-enhancing,” Emery said.
On his website Emery, who has had more than $25 million in sales in three years, said he “weaves tikanga and whakapapa into the world of real estate”.
He has also gained knowledge from Indian, Asian, Samoan and American cultures.
“That has only had a positive impact on my work and the way I engage with others. I can relate, I can connect, I understand. Māori culture has the power to do the same thing.”
The course outline for Te Kākano says it will “provide licensees with an opportunity to develop or deepen their understanding of Māori culture, language and custom, particularly with respect to land, and an understanding of the historical context of Te Tiriti o Waitangi”.
Another Harcourts agent said learning more about Māori culture and connection to the land was important and he saw the relevance.
“Also, the REA [Real Estate Authority] has stipulated that it’s a new part of our learning curriculum, and you have to do it, so instead of making a fuss, get amongst it and see if there is anything positive you can take out of it,” the agent said.
“Pushing back will only end in a disaster for you that’s for sure.”
Another agent, who has been in real estate for more than 30 years, said she initially questioned the relevance of the course but changed her view after completing it.
“I did it because I had to and it was required but I actually enjoyed it. I thought I knew a lot about Māori culture but I feel better educated now,” the woman said.
“It’s an hour and a half out of your life and there’s a huge positive – I spend longer than that scrolling social media some days.”
Te Kākano was one of the two compulsory topics for 2023 but has since moved into the elective category for 2024 – meaning it’s not compulsory for new real estate agents.
However, it’s still compulsory for Dickson.
She is now seeking a judicial review of the REA’s power to enforce cultural training for the country’s realtors.
As well as hiring a lawyer, Dickson is backed by lobby group Hobson’s Pledge, which is led by former National Party leader Don Brash.
According to Hobson Pledge’s website, a judicial review could cost as much as $150,000 and the lobby group is seeking donations of up to $50,000 to contribute to Dickson’s legal fund and to get the process off the ground.
Enlisted real estate agents must complete two hours of compulsory training as well as eight hours of training from a list of elective topics each year to retain their licence.
Compulsory training in the past has covered the code of conduct, the building code and dealing with customers fairly.
Notaries and real estate agents in the municipalities of Dilbeek, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Overijse and Grimbergen will now hand non-Dutch-speaking customers an information brochure. In four languages it will explain why it is so important to learn Dutch, the official language of this area. The leaflet is an initiative of the Province of Flemish Brabant that is eager to encourage the integration of non-Dutch-speakers.
Dutch is important to build a new life in the Flemish Rand
“When you come and live here, and buy or rent a property, you end up at an estate agent’s or at a notary’s,” explains Gunther Coppens of the Province of Flemish Brabant. “Estate agents are customer-oriented and quickly switch to another language, if the client is a non-Dutch speaker. But it is crucial that the person moving in knows that Dutch is important to build a life here. It is necessary if you want to find a job and follow your children’s activities at school.”
Foreign speakers with interpreters at estate agents
Pieter Pické has an estate agent’s in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw and he thinks the information brochure is a good idea. “At the estate agent’s we are sometimes confronted with people who even need an interpreter to understand what is in their purchasing agreement, when they want to buy a property. The brochure is a subtle way of showing them that knowing Dutch can help them make progress.”
The province wants to invite all Flemish Brabantine municipalities to join the project, and also to provide an information brochure at notaries and estate agent’s.
In a recent analysis conducted by the Njuškalo online advertisement website, it has been revealed that house prices across Croatia experienced a continuous upward trajectory throughout 2023. The study showcased a significant surge, with the average asking price for flats soaring by 21%, reaching €3,223 per square metre. House prices experienced an even more substantial increase, rising by 40% to €2,606.
Dubrovnik and Istria Counties: Pinnacles of Property Rates
The coastal regions of Istria, Dubrovnik-Neretva, and Split-Dalmatia emerged as the epicentres of the escalating property market, with these areas commanding the highest prices. In Istria County, the average asking price for a flat reached €3,836 per square metre, and for a house, it was €3,183 per square metre. The Dubrovnik-Neretva County followed closely, with figures at €3,602 and €2,699, respectively. In Split-Dalmatia County, the corresponding prices stood at €3,590 and €2,960.
City-Specific Trends
In the capital city, Zagreb, the average asking price for a flat reached €2,987 per square metre, while for a house, it was €1,795. Rijeka experienced a 26% increase in flat prices, reaching an average of €2,661 per square metre. Split witnessed a 20% surge, with flats commanding an average of €4,061 per square metre. Meanwhile, Osijek saw a 17% rise, with an average asking price of €1,733 per square metre.
Osijek Leads House Price Surge
Osijek, located in the eastern part of the country, recorded the most substantial increase in house prices, jumping by 15% to an average of €963 per square metre.
The findings point towards a dynamic real estate market in Croatia, with certain regions, particularly Dubrovnik-Neretva and Istria, standing out as hotspots for property investments.
Two redistricting consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority will be paid up to $100,000 each to evaluate new legislative maps ahead of the November elections.
Contracts for University of California, Irvine Political Scientist Bernard Grofman and Carnegie Mellon University Political Scientist Jonathan Cervas were posted by the court Thursday. The consultants will each be paid rates of $450 per hour. The $100,000 cap on expenses can be exceeded with approval from the director of state courts.
Those costs will be paid by parties to Wisconsin’s redistricting lawsuit “as determined by the court in a future order.” With state lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers involved in the case, the fees could fall to state taxpayers.
Taxpayers are already funding attorneys representing both Republican and Democratic state senators named in the redistricting lawsuit, where fees could total around $2 million.
Both Grofman and Cervas have served as consultants in redistricting cases before.
Grofman worked for Wisconsin Republicans during two previous rounds of redistricting, in 2011 and 2001. More recently, he was hired by the Supreme Court of Virginia in 2021 to help with redrawing legislative districts after a bipartisan commission failed to agree on how lines should be drawn.
Cervas was hired by a New York State judge as a special master last year to draw new legislative districts following a lawsuit by Republican state lawmakers there.
As consultants for Wisconsin’s highest court, the two will submit a report by Feb. 1 evaluating legislative maps submitted by parties in the state’s ongoing redistricting lawsuit per a court order. If Grofman and Cervas find those maps don’t meet requirements set out in the Wisconsin Constitution, federal law and partisan impact guidelines issued by the court’s liberal majority, the consultants will be tasked with drawing their own remedial map.
On Dec. 22, the state Supreme Court’s four liberal justices ruled Republican-drawn legislative maps violate the Constitution’s contiguity requirement, because multiple voting districts contain separate, detached pieces located within other nearby districts. The court’s three conservatives dissented, accusing their colleagues of pre-judging the case with political ends in mind.
The current legislative maps, which were originally drawn by Republican lawmakers in 2011 and signed by former Gov. Scott Walker, bolstered GOP majorities in the state Assembly and state Senate. They were tweaked slightly under a “least changes” approach adopted by the Supreme Court’s former conservative majority during redistricting litigation in 2021, giving Republicans an even bigger advantage.
Currently, Republicans have a 64-35 majority in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate.
Republican lawmakers have asked the court to stay its order and reconsider their ruling, which is unlikely.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, hinted at a federal appeal, stating that the U.S. Supreme Court will “have the last word.”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s conservatives have also criticized the hiring of Grofman and Cervas to critique proposed remedial maps or draw them themselves. They claim the liberal justices’ decision to contract with the consultants raises legal questions.