Room for a little one? Cramped home in an old shipping container – just yards away from West Ham’s London Stadium – goes on the market for £75,000
- Tiny one-bed one-bathroom shipping container on sale in Stratford
- Container described by agents as ‘testament to luxurious living’
- Home is yards from West Ham’s London Stadium and close to railway links
Those struggling to get onto the London property ladder can now live in a shipping container in Stratford that has gone on the market for £75,000.
The tiny freehold property, which describes itself as a ‘testament to luxurious living’, promises to be a tight squeeze for any new homeowners.
A double bed takes up the width of the studio in photos shared by estate agents, with a beside lamp encroaching on the pillows due to a lack of space.
The tiny home can also fit a sofa and has a cooking area. There is also a bathroom squeezed into the container, whose estate agents promise will provide ‘an unparalleled living experience.’
The Pudding Mill Lane property in Stratford, east London, which is just yards away from West Ham’s London Stadium, has been termed as a ‘rejuvenating atmosphere that enhances your well-being.’
The tiny shipping container is a stone’s throw away from West Ham’s London Stadium
It is described by agents as having ‘customizable interiors that cater to your unique desires’
It is also advertised as having good transport links with both Pudding Mill Lane Docklands Light Railway and Bow Road Underground stations within walking distance. It is being listed with estate agents iad UK on Rightmove.
While the container is cheap, it is likely not what most Londoners are looking for.
Research released in early September by Halifax showed that the average deposit for those buying their first home in London was an eye-watering £125,378.
Estate agency Hamptons suggested that young Londoners earning an average wage would have to move 25 miles outside the capital to afford a home.
The property description for the Stratford container reads: ‘Introducing the pinnacle of sustainable living: our low-energy, ESG-compliant 40HQ container house.
‘Utilizing live data and cutting-edge technology, this extraordinary home surpasses government building regulations and exceeds future home standards, delivering an unparalleled living experience.
‘Harnessing the power of live energy data, our container house takes environmental consciousness to new heights.
The home can fit a sofa, has a cooking area, and a bathroom squeezed in
‘Say goodbye to stuffy rooms and hello to a rejuvenating atmosphere that enhances your well-being,’ the description for the shipping container reads
‘Stay connected and informed as real-time data on energy consumption, air quality, humidity, and temperature are seamlessly integrated into your daily life.
‘Empowered by this knowledge, you can effortlessly make informed decisions and take control of your environmental impact.
‘At the heart of our container house lies world-leading ventilation technology.
‘Embrace a breath of fresh air as the system intelligently circulates and filters, ensuring optimal air quality for you and your loved ones.
‘Say goodbye to stuffy rooms and hello to a rejuvenating atmosphere that enhances your well-being.’
When Carol Gee checked her mailbox earlier this week, she found a handwritten postcard.
It was not a letter from a friend or family member on a far-flung vacation – but rather an appeal from a realtor asking if she was thinking of selling her home.
Carol, a 73-year-old writer living with her husband in an Atlanta suburb, has been bombarded with handwritten letters, leaflets and phone calls from real estate agents and investors begging her to put her property on the market.
‘There have been times when I have been receiving cold calls all throughout the day,’ Carol said. ‘They offer all kinds of enticements – some have even offered to pay cash.’
But Carol, who has lived in the four-bedroom home for over 30 years, has absolutely no interest in selling.
Carol Gee has been inundated with letters and calls from realtors and investors asking to sell her home (pictured) in Atlanta, Georgia
It is little wonder realtors are desperately searching for willing sellers as the US faces a widespread housing shortage.
Mortgage rates are soaring – with the average 30-year fixed-rate deal lingering at 7.19 percent, according to latest data from Government-backed lender Freddie Mac.
Rocketing rates mean homeowners who are locked into cheap mortgages are refraining from selling.
This, in turn, is pushing up property prices – meaning buyers are facing the least affordable market since 2006.
Pending home sales are down 13 percent from a year ago, according to real estate company Redfin, and the total number of home sales is down 16 percent year-on-year to September.
And the housing shortage is most acute in price points that middle-income buyers can afford, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The market is short about 320,000 listings worth up to $256,000, it found, which is considered the affordability range for households earning up to $75,000 a year.
Writer Carol Gee, who has lived in her home with her husband for over 30 years, said she has no interest in selling
Carol said she is not the only person in her neighborhood who has been inundated with requests to sell her property – and homeowners across the US are being hounded by a deluge of messages from realtors.
Joel Efosa, CEO of home buyers Fire Cash Buyers, owns several properties – including ones in Dallas, Texas, and Orlando, Florida.
‘Recently, I’ve noticed a significant uptick in the number of solicitations from realtors wanting to purchase these homes,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘I receive weekly mailings, and sometimes even phone calls, urging me to consider selling due to the high demand and skyrocketing property values.’
His property in Dallas, which he purchased a couple of years ago for $200,000, is now being appraised at nearly double that amount, he said.
‘It’s clear that the housing shortage is creating a sellers market – and realtors are eager to capitalize on it,’ he added.
It comes as analysis by Bank of America (BofA) identified Dallas, alongside San Antonio and Houston, as being among the four cities facing the worst property shortages in the US.
The list was rounded out by Orlando, Florida, which is also experiencing high population growth and low housing stock.
BofA analysts tracked its internal data from the second financial quarter of the year to assess where property markets were hottest and coldest
According to BofA, the areas with the biggest housing constraints were due to their buoyant labor markets which are causing their populations to spike.
For example, in Dallas, the number of people on its nonfarm payroll has risen by 14 percent since January 2019. In Orlando, this figure has increased by 10 percent.
Nationally, nonfarm payrolls have risen by just 4 percent comparatively.
Widespread shortages in the ‘hot’ areas have caused house prices to shoot up, with Orlando seeing its home values increase by 58 percent in June 2023, compared to 2019.
Similarly in Dallas, homes had appreciated by 29 percent in value. But researchers said the property market in San Antonio was starting to ‘soften’ despite the shortages.
However there are still some parts of the US which are less impacted by shortages.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, St. Louis, Detroit and Miami were revealed to have the highest housing stock relative to their populations.
House prices in the US are soaring, meaning so too are realtor fees.
And in some states, where homes are trading for an average of nearly a million dollars, they can amount to more than $40,000 per sale.
In Hawaii home buyers spend more than anywhere else in the US, an average of $44,600 per purchase, while in West Virginia, where prices are lowest, the fees are less than $9,000, according to a study by credit firm Self Financial.
The average commission for a realtor has remained fairly steady over the last 20 years, hovering just above 5 percent and increasing from an average of 4.94 percent in 2019 to 5.13 percent in 2023.
Across the country, the average home purchase in 2023 cost $26,493 in realtor fees, with the buyers and sellers paying around half each as commission to their respective realtors. The data used was based on a 3-bedroom house.
In Hawaii the sale of a home will earn realtors an average of more than $44,000 in commission, according to a study by Self. In West Virginia home prices are lowest and realtor fees cost $8,954 on average
Usually the buyer’s and seller’s realtors split the commission half and half, but that can vary depending on the experience of the realtor
Behind Hawaii, realtors in California are the second-highest earners, with the average sale making the pair of realtors involved a combined $34,464 in commission.
Behind California the next most expensive states in terms of realtor fees were Washington, $29,362, and Colorado, $28,469.
Behind West Virginia as the cheapest were Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Kansas – with average fees of just $10,088, $10,999, $11,390 and $11,578 respectively.
The Midwest had some of the highest fees as a percentage of the purchase price. In Ohio they were found to charge the highest commission at 5.81 percent, averaging $12,006 per transaction.
Georgia had the second highest fees as a rate, at 5.76 percent, followed by Missouri at 5.72 percent.
For a realtor, closing a deal can take weeks or months and agents only usually receive payment if the property sells. According to the National Association of Realtors, realtors successfully help buy or sell an average of 10 homes per year.
Although the buyer’s and seller’s realtors usually split the commission half and half, that can vary depending on the experience of the realtor.
While realtors made an average of $15,361.65 per home sale in 2023, commission has dropped slightly from 5.42 percent in 2000 to 5.13 percent in 2023.
And while realtor fees dropped between 2022 and 2023, home sales too have been on the decline as interest rate hikes by the Fed have driven up mortgage rates.
The average 30 year mortgage rate is hovering around 7.14 percent, according to latest data from government backed lender Freddie Mac
Home buyers are facing the least affordable market since 2006, according to figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve
The number of new homes to go under construction dropped last month to 1.3 million – 11.3 percent lower than in July, and 14.8 percent lower than last August, according to data released this week by the US Census Bureau.
The average 30 year mortgage rate is hovering around 7.14 percent, according to latest data from Freddie Mac. That is just shy of its highest level since 2002.
It comes as separate analysis from the Atlanta Federal Reserve said home buyers are facing the least affordable market since 2006 – below levels seen during the housing bubble peak in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
The Atlanta Fed uses house prices, mortgage rates and average incomes to calculate an ‘affordability’ score each month.
The latest figures, from June 2023, show the score has plunged to 69.5 – nearly 40 points below where it was in June 2020.
Return-to-office mandates are forcing Americans to choose between selling their home at a loss or losing their job, a new survey has shown.
According to real estate company Redfin, an increase in return-to-work policies are motivating one in ten homeowners to relocate.
Real estate agent Shauna Pendleton said she has a pair of clients who are selling their home in Boise, Idaho, after just a year because their Seattle-based employer is requiring them to return to the office.
As they bought the home when prices were near their peak, they are likely to have to sell for a loss, she said.
‘My sellers both work at the same company, which told them they have to be in the office three days a week or they’ll lose their jobs. They have six months to make the move,’ Pendleton said.
According to real estate company Redfin , an increase in return-to-work policies are motivating one in ten homeowners to relocate
Increasing numbers of companies are asking employees to return to working in the office
‘They’ll probably have to take a $100,000 loss on their home. Their new house in Seattle won’t be anything close to the size of their property in Boise, and their mortgage rate will be much higher.’
Latest data from government-backed lender Freddie Mac shows that a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is now hovering at 7.18 percent.
A year ago, a 30-year fixed-rate deal averaged at 6.02 percent.
With mortgage rates near the highest level in over two decades, not many people are selling their homes, meaning many of those who are selling are doing so out of necessity.
A recent survey by Freddie Mac found 82 percent of property shoppers felt ‘locked into’ their property. And one in seven homeowners who are not planning to sell their home cited being locked into a lower mortgage rate as the main reason for staying put.
And figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve show that affordability has fallen below levels seen during the housing bubble peak in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
Home buyers are facing the least affordable market since 2006, according to figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve
The survey comes as an increasing number of companies are insisting staffers return to the office – after working from home became the norm following the Covid-19 pandemic.
JP Morgan Chase & Co is ordering its managers to return to the office full time in order to be present for ‘impromptu meetings’ and ‘immediate feedback.’
Earlier this year, the company cracked down, asking for those in charge to ‘lead by example’ and return to the office five days a week.
‘Our leaders play a critical role in reinforcing our culture and running our businesses,’ a memo obtained by the Wall Street Journal at the time read.
‘They have to be visible on the floor, they must meet with clients, they need to teach and advise, and they should always be accessible for immediate feedback and impromptu meetings,’ it continued.
Other companies, including major New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, told staffers that those who do not adhere to the firm’s three days in office per week policy could see their bonuses reduced.
Last month, the CEO of video conferencing giant Zoom wants his employees to come in at least two days a week — telling staff during a companywide meeting that they simply just ‘cannot have a great conversation’ via remote meetings alone.
JP Morgan Chase & Co is ordering its managers to return to the office full time in order to be present for ‘impromptu meetings’ and ‘immediate feedback’
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan wants his employees to come in at least two days a week – telling staff that they simply just ‘cannot have a great conversation’ via remote meetings
Zoom, the San Jose tech company that transformed work during the Covid-19 pandemic, has now mandated that any employee living with a 50-mile radius of a Zoom office must clock-in onsite at least 40 percent of the time.
‘Quite often, you come up with great ideas,’ Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said during a company meeting in August, ‘but when we are all on Zoom, it’s really hard.’
‘We cannot debate each other well,’ Yuan continued, ‘because everyone tends to be very friendly when you join a Zoom call.’
America’s aging population is keeping house prices high, a Wall Street economist has warned in a research note titled ‘Blame the Boomers.’
Home buyers are currently facing a perfect storm of elevated mortgage rates and high house prices, meaning property is now less affordable than it was in the 2006 red-hot housing bubble.
But Barclays economist Jonathan Millar said the issue is exacerbated by the number of Baby Boomers – those aged between 57 and 75 – forming new households either due to retirement, divorce or the death of a spouse. Millar added this is putting pressure on already-limited housing supply, keeping prices up.
The idea of ‘household formations’ underpins much of the US real estate landscape and often drives demand.
The term refers to the units of people who live in a home they either rent or own together. For example, most children grow up in a ‘formation’ that includes their family until they leave home to rent with a ‘formation’ of peers their own age.
Barclays economist Jonathan Millar said limited housing supply has been exacerbated by the number of Baby Boomers – those aged between 57 and 75 – forming new households either due to the divorce or death of their spouse
Home buyers are currently facing a perfect storm of elevated mortgage rates and high house prices, meaning property is now less affordable than it was in the 2006 red-hot housing bubble
But Millar explained there was a surge in baby boomers making new housing formations – while they aren’t elderly enough to be actually freeing up properties.
Those at retirement age – 65 or older – now account for 16.5 percent of the population, compared to 13 percent in 2010.
He wrote: ‘The US housing sector is on the upswing again, even with mortgage rates at multi-decade highs.
‘Although much has been attributed to shortages of existing properties and mortgage lock-in effects, we think strong demand is a symptom of the aging population.’
He added the assumption is older owners are not driving changes to household formations.
‘While it is likely true that older people tend to prefer smaller housing units, it is not true that an older population requires fewer housing units,’ he wrote.
‘In our view, these upward pressures on household formation are boosting unit demand, helping to push up both prices and construction.’
The property market has reached a stalemate as most homebuyers locked into mortgage rates when they were hovering between 2 and 3 percent.
However rates have since more than doubled, with the average deal on a 30-year mortgage hovering above 7 percent, according to data from Government-backed lender Freddie Mac.
Loans have been pushed up by the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign of hiking interest rates to a 22-year high to tame rampant inflation.
It means a homeowner with a $400,000 home now faces a monthly mortgage payment of $2,559.
But had they fixed in September 2021 – when rates were around 3 percent – their monthly payments would be almost $1,000 less expensive at $1,602.
Rates have not hit 8 percent since 2000, according to data compiled by Freddie Mac
This analysis assumes they put down a 5 percent downpayment and signed at the current average rate of 7.12 percent for 30 years.
It has created a ‘lock-in’ effect with households refusing to move to avoid higher mortgages – thus constraining the nation’s already-limited supply of housing and keeping prices up.
A recent survey by Freddie Mac found 82 per cent of property shoppers felt ‘locked into’ their property. And one in seven homeowners who are not planning to sell their home cited their current low rate as the main reason for staying put.
The median sales price for existing homes rose 1.9 percent in July to $406,700 compared with a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Millar predicted that demand for housing will likely to continue on an upwards trajectory, adding any cuts to interest rates will only add fuel to the fire.
‘With overall housing shortages likely to prevail, we think risks to our forecasts for both housing prices and rents are to the upside, especially as the Fed enters its cutting cycle in late 2024,’ he wrote.
America’s bargain property hotspots revealed: The 15 cities where homes are cheap now – but prices are going up
Rumors of a property crash have been rife for months yet house prices are remaining buoyant against the odds.
Economists at Zillow predicted in July that home values will have shot up by 5.8 percent by the end of 2023 compared to the start. And a separate index by the National Association of Realtors found property prices increased again last month.
But with so much uncertainty ahead, current buyers may want to think carefully about whether a new home is going to guarantee them a profit.
Personal finance experts at GoBankingRates conducted a study this month to find the best cities for ‘bargain’ homes – meaning they are low in value now but are steadily going up.
Using February 2023 data from Zillow, the analysis looked at house prices in each city, how much they had increased by in the last year and how much lower they were compared to the rest of the state.
Personal finance experts at GoBankingRates conducted a study this month across the US to find the best cities for ‘bargain’ homes – meaning they are low in value now but are going up
It named Midland, TX, Englewood, OH, and Cicero, IL, among the best property hotspots – though they were not officially ranked.
In Midland, a typical single-family home is worth $276,294 – around $14,900 less than the average home value in the rest of Texas.
Yet this difference is thinning as Midland saw home values creep up by $2,528 between February 2022 and 2023.
Similarly, in Englewood, the average single-family residence is worth $193,457, up by $7,978 from the year prior.
In Cicero, homes are now worth $225,208, up from $222,638 in 2022.
The vast majority of cities GoBankingRates identified are located in the South and Midwest regions.
It comes as Americans are now facing worse housing affordability than in 2006 as buyers face a perfect storm of high mortgage rates and elevated house prices.
Home buyers are facing the least affordable market since 2006, according to figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve
Economists at Zillow recently predicted that house prices would increase by another 5.8 percent before the end of the year, bringing the average property to $370,754
Figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve show that affordability has fallen below levels seen during the housing bubble peak in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
The Atlanta Fed uses house prices, mortgage rates and average incomes to calculate an ‘affordability’ score each month. The latest figures, from June 2023, show the score has plunged to 69.5 – nearly 40 points below where it was in June 2020.
Leading economist Fred Harrison, who accurately predicted the last two global property crashes, recently told DailyMail.com that the US would not face a real estate collapse until 2026.
Harrison is a pioneer of the ’18-year house price cycle theory’ which claims a crash only occurs 18 years after the last one began.
His hypothesis, which is based on 1930s research on business cycles in Chicago, has yet to prove him wrong.
His most recent book We Are Rent claims prices will peak in 2026 before a recession occurs that will eclipse the events of 2008.
Has the pandemic property bubble STILL not burst? Average house price increased to over $400,000 in July – after economist predicted crash won’t come until 2026
House prices spiked to over $400,000 in July, new data shows, easing fears of an imminent house price crash.
The average home sale price last month rose to $406,700, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) – a 1.9 percent increase from a year prior.
Property prices typically rise when there is a strong buyer demand, but sky-high mortgage rates have meant that many homeowners are choosing to stay put, leading to a chronically low real estate inventory.
As of July, there was only a 3.3-month supply of available homes on the market, according to the NAR.
This is well below the 4 to 6 month supply typically needed to fully meet buyer demand.
House prices have remained high due to a perfect storm of low inventory and elevated mortgage rates – which are deterring would-be home movers.
Latest data from government lender Freddie Mac released today showed the average rate on a 30-year mortgage has soared to 7.18 percent. This time last year, the rate was averaging 5.66 percent.
But many people fixed 30-year deals when rates were around 2 percent – meaning any home move would cause their monthly mortgage payments to spiral.
A recent survey by Freddie Mac found 82 per cent of property shoppers felt ‘locked into’ their home.
Figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve show that home buyers are facing the least affordable housing market since 2006 – with affordability dropping below the levels seen during the housing bubble peak in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
The Atlanta Fed uses house prices, mortgage rates and average incomes to calculate an ‘affordability’ score each month.
The latest figures, from June 2023, show the score has plunged to 69.5 – nearly 40 points below where it was in June 2020.
But despite alarm bells ringing over an imminent house price crash, one expert insists there is no need to panic yet – and real estate will keep going up in value until 2026 before coming plummeting down.
Home buyers are facing the least affordable market since 2006, according to figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve
The 18-year house price cycle theory means a crash is expected in 2026 and will last until 2028
Economist Fred Harrison is a pioneer of the ’18-year house price cycle theory’ which claims a crash only occurs 18 years after the last one began.
In his book, The Power in the Land, published in 1983, Harrison correctly forecast property prices would peak in 1989 as well as the recession that followed.
Fred Harrison, pictured, is a pioneer of the ’18-year house price cycle theory’ which claims a crash only occurs 18 years after the last one began
In 2005, he published Boom Bust: House Prices, Banking and the Depression of 2010, which successfully forecast the 2007 peak in house prices and ensuing crash.
His most recent book We Are Rent claims prices will peak in 2026 before a recession occurs that will eclipse the events of 2008.
The British economist insists that the global housing market is ‘synchronized’ and that the UK and US will undergo a crash at the same time.
He expects this will begin in 2026 and end in 2028 – 20 years after the last one.
Harrison is unable to pinpoint exactly why 18 is the magic number but his most plausible explanation suggests it is determined by interest rates.
The record low interest rates of the last decade have seen house prices soar. However, with the Fed’s benchmark rate now set between 5.25 and 5.5 percent, this will have a delayed knock-on effect on house prices, Harrison explained.
He estimates that the cycle is the same length of time it takes a borrower to pay off the interest on a 5 percent loan. At this point the cycle begins again.
Omar Lababidi: Top Ray White real estate agent who boasted about his ‘hunger for money’ is charged with rape and ‘sexual touching’
- Omar Lababidi was a senior sales executive
- Ordered not to show homes alone with female co-workers
A top Sydney real estate agent with a ‘hunger for money’ has been hit with three rape charges, plus one count of committing a sexual act on someone without consent, and 11 counts of sexual touching.
Omar Lababidi, 27, was a senior sales executive at Ray White’s Macarthur branch, in the city’s south-west, until he was arrested and charged with a total of 15 sexual offences.
The married father-of-one spent a night in police custody, but was granted conditional bail in Campbelltown Local Court on Thursday.
He was ordered to pay $10,000 surety to secure his release, and must report to Campbelltown Police Station three days a week.
His bail conditions also stated he is ‘not to participate in the showing of any open home alone with female co-workers’.
Omar Lababidi was a senior sales executive at Ray White’s Macarthur branch (pictured)
Mr Lababidi was part of a power duo with his younger brother, Mohamed, who also worked at the Macarthur franchise.
They often appeared in promotional videos together, and were pictured together on the company’s social media pages.
Ray White had largely scrubbed its website and social media pages of Mr Lababidi by Thursday afternoon.
A spokeswoman for Ray White told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Lababidi was immediately suspended from his position when the company found out about the allegations three months ago.
In June, Mr Lababidi was number five in the top 50 real estate agents in NSW, ranked by home sales.
‘I enjoy speaking with people and every day is different,’ he told News Corp, at the time.
‘Seeing the smiles on the faces of first home buyers, it’s a different feeling.’
Mr Lababidi (pictured) was granted conditional bail in Campbelltown Local Court on Thursday
He also spoke on the ‘relentless hustle podcast’ in July last year, during which he addressed unrelated potential reputational issues.
‘There are three sides to every story,’ he said.
‘Sometimes when you’ve done the wrong thing, like when someone’s put in a complaint for example, it’s not exactly that you’ve done the wrong thing, but there’s three sides to every story.’
‘You might have done something that has upset someone and then they leave a review that mentions your name that’s bad.
‘Do you want to be known as a bad person?’
Mr Mr Lababidi also boasted in the podcast about how he worked 90-hour weeks at Woolworths, IGA, and at a butcher to buy his first house at age 19.
The house was in Orange, in the NSW central-west, and he bought it for about $180,000 without having looked at it.
‘It was the cheapest one on the list,’ he said, adding that he still hadn’t been to Orange – even six years later.
‘For the first year I was working 90 hours a week at the first job, starting at about five in the morning and finishing at IGA at about 12 o’clock,’ he said.
‘I always had a hunger for money.’
‘Real estate was always what I wanted to do, I had someone in the family who did real estate, and they made it look good.’
Mr Lababidi said he was driven to be the best earlier in his career, and used to call top agents and say ‘I’m going to beat you’.
His matter will be mentioned at Campbelltown Local Court on October 25.
As mortgage rates and house prices skyrocket, one couple has found a novel way to own a home debt-free.
Daniel and Katherine Ray built their own 700-square-feet property using cob – a natural material made from clay, sand and straw which is mixed together using old-fashioned building techniques.
The couple, from the Bitterroot Valley in Victor, Montana, estimate the construction cost them just shy of $20,000. By comparison, homes in their area are being built for between $150,000 and $200,000.
And properties closer to the town center or Victor are even more expensive: data from real estate platform Realtor.com shows the median house price listing is $999,000.
Daniel, who works as a librarian, told Business Insider: ‘Especially in the area that we are right now, there’s an influx of people moving in – it’s kind of a housing crisis where we’re at with people losing their rentals and their homes.
Daniel and Katherine Ray are pioneers of building natural ‘cob homes’ made from a mixture of clay, sand and soil
Temperatures in Montana can be as hot as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer yet a cob home typically stays as cool as 70 degrees – even without air conditioning, according to Daniel
‘It’s really important that people know that they have other housing options.’
On top of that the Rays claim to save money on air conditioning as the structure runs colder than a typical home.
Temperatures in Montana can be as hot as 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer yet a cob home typically stays as cool as 70 degrees – even without air conditioning, according to Daniel.
Cob houses are famously cheap to build because they do not require costly timber.
They can also be easily self-built slashing down on labor costs. The structure is decked out with Rocket Mass Heaters – which are efficient stoves with low emission rates.
The Rays were first inspired to build their own after stumbling upon a picture of a cob house nearly two decades ago.
They told the YouTube channel the Tiny House Giant Journey that they spent a decade dreaming, designing and drawing their future home.
They built their first home which they labelled a ‘practice’ before moving onto their current residence.
In a video, they explained, they mix together the soil, clay and sand ‘like putty’ and then start building with it. Typically the mixture is 20-30 percent clay and 70-80 percent soil and sand.
The Rays now teach workshops and building immersion camps on how to build cob houses – which cost up to $900.
Cob houses are famously cheap to build because they do not require costly timber
The Rays were first inspired to build their own after stumbling upon a picture of a cob house nearly two decades ago
Daniel told Insider: ‘We recently had someone from as far as Alaska come to our classes.
‘She wasn’t sure what to expect but after nine days and being able to build a small house, she was determined to go home and begin her own house.’
He added: ‘The main idea is that anybody could build a house – it’s not rocket science.
‘There are a lot of specialized construction industries that make people feel like they can’t when it’s actually something they can do.’
The Rays’ story comes as homebuyers in the US are facing the least affordable market in decades.
Figures from the Atlanta Federal Reserve show that affordability has fallen below levels seen during the housing bubble peak in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
The Atlanta Fed uses house prices, mortgage rates and average incomes to calculate an ‘affordability’ score each month. The latest figures, from June 2023, show the score has plunged to 69.5 – nearly 40 points below where it was in June 2020.
And the report doesn’t even take into account mortgage rates which have shot up again in August. It means this month is likely to become the worst month for housing affordability of the century, according to estimates by Fortune.
Lionel Messi‘s impact on Inter Miami seemingly knows no bounds with the soccer star set to quadruple its revenue, according to the club’s commercial director.
Since arriving in mid-July, Messi, who is believed to have been offered a $60million-a-year contract that includes new deals with adidas and Apple, has taken Inter Miami by storm, registering 11 goals in nine games across a fairytale Leagues Cup victory, run to the US Open Cup final, and his MLS debut.
But the payoff of the Herons’ swoop for the World Cup winner extends beyond the confines of the field with Messi undeniably the club’s greatest asset.
Inter Miami’s commercial director Xavier Asensi, who joined the club in 2021 after 11 years at Barcelona, claimed that Messi’s arrival which has sent the club’s income through the roof to more than $200 million.
‘This must be clarified: Leo’s arrival is, above all, in order to win on the field,’ Asensi told Marca.
Lionel Messi is set to quadruple Inter Miami’s income next year, claims its commercial director
Xavier Asensi, pictured left with David Beckham, joined in 2021 after 11 years at Barcelona
‘Obviously, Leo is the player that sells the most commercially in the world. Modric, Ramos, Griezmann or Busquets give you a little boost, but Leo is another dimension on a commercial level, he is out of this world. To get an idea, in 2024 we will multiply Inter’s income before Leo by four. There is a before and after Messi for Miami and for the entire MLS.’
Inter Miami generated $56 million in 2022, according to Joe Pompliano, meaning, if Asensi’s projection is correct, the club could see a massive windfall of $224 million in 2024.
And Inter Miami could already be feeling the economic benefits of the World Cup winner’s arrival as the Herons’ majority owner Jorge Mas told CNBC last month that he expected Messi to double the cub’s income this year to $110 million.
Mas was a huge driving factor in Inter Miami’s coup of Messi with his plot to land the Argentine beginning in 2020, Asensi revealed.
‘When I arrived in Miami, I saw that Jorge Mas’s idea was to be the reference for soccer in North America. And, although football is business, above all it is about the players. If what happens inside is good, then business is bigger. For this reason, there was no better business than Leo Messi, who is the number one of all time. And I told Mas if he was the man for the job. This was almost my first conversation with Jorge at the end of 2020.’
‘When they threw him out of Barça, the door opened. If they hadn’t thrown him out, he would still be there for sure. But the option was opened, and that’s where the rest of us entered. Then he went to Paris and there was nothing we could do until June 2023. It is true that everyone was looking at Saudi Arabia, but we continued working on our own, planning his arrival. I’ll give you a fact: if you look closely, no one played with the number 5 or the number 10 in Miami…’
Inter Miami had to add approximately 3,000 seats to DRV PNK Stadium to accommodate the demand of clamoring fans wanting to see the the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
But Miami is set to have a bigger and better home you house their superstar with its 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium at its proposed $1 billion Miami Freedom Park complex.
Beckham is pictured with majority owner Jorge Mas (left) and co-owner Jose Mas (right)
Inter Miami is expected to move into its new stadium, Miami Freedom Park, in 2025
Messi, David Beckham and co. are set to move into their new home in 2025 after playing at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida since Miami’s inaugural season in 2020.
‘It will be next to the airport,’ Asensi said. ‘The plans are to start building it in October this year, with 30,000 seats, plus a giant leisure area and a huge park.
‘For now, we manage the scale of Lionel with what we have. On the other hand, it is a luxury to see Leo play there, at a ground of only 21,000 spectators. It provides you with magic that one of 50,000 doesn’t.’
The goal timeline for the new stadium aligns with the final year of Messi’s contract in 2025 after he joined the Herons in mid-July but Asensi teased that the 36-year-old could be in South Florida for even longer.
‘The idea is 2023, 2024 and 2025… or more. Hopefully it’s further,’ he added. ‘An incredible thing is happening here: and it is that a player, Leo, is bigger than an entire club or an entire League. A new stadium is coming; the 2026 World Cup is coming; then the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles… A lot will happen here.’
Inter Miami was rocked by the demand for tickets and shirts since Messi confirmed his MLS move.
Messi has already won the Leagues Cup final and booked a spot in the US Open Cup final
Young fans wear the superstar’s jersey ahead of Inter Miami’s win over New York Red Bulls
Since the news broke, MLS e-commerce partner Fanatics has sold more team merchandise than the previous entirety of 2023 combined with Inter Miami has been the company’s top-selling MLS club.
Asensi admitted it has been a challenge to keep up with the demand with jerseys with Messi’s name branded on the back impossible to come by in the shops.
‘There has been a tsunami, but the tsunami has been Inter Miami, which has swept the MLS,’ he said.
‘I spent 11 years at Barça and everything was planned a year and a half before. Here, of course, we ran out of time. It was difficult to foresee this “Messimania”. A large amount of product will arrive in October and for 2024 we have already made good forecasts worldwide.’