• US News & World Report compiled a list of the best places to live in the US in 2025.
• Criteria for the list included affordability of homes, quality of life, and career opportunities.
• Johns Creek, Georgia, tops this year's list, followed by Carmel, Indiana, and Pearland, Texas.

Americans move for all sorts of reasons, whether it's seeking better work-life balance, a more affordable lifestyle, or even a fresh start after a breakup.

Each year, US News & World Report offers a resource to those contemplating such a big change by evaluating 150 American cities on several factors to determine the best places to move.

The publication considers factors including employment opportunities, housing affordability, quality of life, and school rankings.

Johns Creek, Georgia, tops the 2025 list of best places to live for its strong job market and high "desirability" score, a custom index created by US News & World Report to rank factors like weather, accessibility of culture, and average commute times for residents.

The small Atlanta suburb of 81,000 people has been home to stars like Jeff Foxworthy and Usher, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Carmel, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis, took second place. The town of just over 103,000 residents previously went viral on TikTok for its massive high school that featured amenities for students like an auto shop, radio station, jewelry-making room, and even a planetarium.

Texas has three cities in the top 10, with Pearland and League City, two suburbs of Houston, and Leander, a suburb of Austin, taking the third, sixth, and eighth spots, respectively.

Here are the 15 best places to live in the US, according to US News & World Report. Residents find plenty to like about these cities, including affordable homes, career opportunities, and relaxed lifestyles.

Sources: Population and income data are from the US Census, median home price from Realtor.com, and median rent from Zillow.

15. Pflugerville, Texas

Population of the metro area: 66,819

Median home price: $395,300

Average monthly rent: $2,195

Median household income: $112,656

Known for: A growing area outside Austin, Pflugerville has more than 56 miles of recreational trails, including those surrounding the 180-acre Lake Pflugerville. The nearby Typhoon Texas Waterpark is also an annual draw for locals and visitors alike.

14. Flower Mound, Texas

Population of the metro area: 79,990

Median home price: $645,600

Average monthly rent: $2,890

Median household income: $157,737

Known for: Named for a local hill covered in wildflowers, the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound is known for its small-town charm just outside the big city. The area boasts a strong public school system and a robust calendar of community events, including a summer concert series.

13. Ellicott City, Maryland

Population of the metro area: 75,947 (as of 2020)

Median home price: $769,000

Average monthly rent: $2,812

Median household income: $157,891

Known for: Under 30 minutes from the bustle of Baltimore sits quaint Ellicott City. Several buildings from the 19th century remain, and there are museums dedicated to everything from turn-of-the-century firefighting to the country's oldest surviving railroad station.

12. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Population of the metro area: 122,756

Median home price: $355,000

Average monthly rent: $1,750

Median household income: $85,220

Known for: One of Tulsa's suburbs, Broken Arrow has long connections to the Muscogee people, who settled in the area after the US government forced them to move from Alabama along the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. Today, its downtown has boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and an annual festival, Rooster Days, that's been held for over 90 years.

11. Sammamish, Washington

Population of the metro area: 66,474

Median home price: $1.9 million

Average monthly rent: $3,845

Median household income: $227,273

Climate Vulnerability Index: 1st percentile, lowest vulnerability

Known for: This picturesque city, home to both the glittering Lake Sammamish and verdant forests, is just a short drive from Seattle. Locals enjoy recreational activities including boating, fishing, and hiking in its multiple parks.

10. Troy, Michigan

Population of the metro area: 89,209

Median home price: $462,500

Average monthly rent: $2,200

Median household income: $119,299

Known for: Not far from Detroit, Troy is home to many companies that support the automotive industry. Somerset Collection is the city's mall, where you'll find upscale stores including Christian Louboutin, Rolex, Versace, and more.

9. Rochester Hills, Michigan

Population of the metro area: 78,330

Median home price: $467,000

Average monthly rent: $1,800

Median household income: $119,054

Known for: With a charming downtown, plenty of nature trails, and a popular cider mill, Rochester Hills has activities for all of Michigan's four seasons. Meadow Brook Amphitheater brings in an eclectic mix of summer concerts, from big-name bands to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

8. Leander, Texas

Population of the metro area: 87,511

Median home price: $403,800

Average monthly rent: $2,195

Median household income: $140,180

Known for: One of the fastest-growing spots in the county, Leander draws people with its good schools and natural beauty. It's a 30-minute drive or a commuter-rail ride from Austin.

7. Apex, North Carolina

Population of the metro area: 75,977

Median home price: $596,000

Average monthly rent: $2,250

Median household income: $138,442

Known for: Apex, North Carolina, a 25-minute drive to Raleigh, is one of the smaller cities on the list, by population, but has a better job market than the national average, according to US News.

6. League City, Texas

Population of the metro area: 118,456

Median home price: $343,800

Average monthly rent: $2,200

Median household income: $119,870

Known for: League City, Texas, is about 26 miles south of Houston and only 30 miles from beaches along the Gulf. It rated highly for value and desirability, according to US News.

5. Cary, North Carolina

Population of the metro area: 182,659

Median home price: $701,500

Average monthly rent: $2,120

Median household income: $129,399

Known for: A suburb of Raleigh, Cary is part of North Carolina's research triangle and attracts people from all over the country — and world — for its robust job market and laid-back lifestyle.

4. Fishers, Indiana

Population of the metro area: 103,986

Median home price: $406,400

Average monthly rent: $2,175

Median household income: $128,141

Known for: Located about 20 miles outside Indianapolis, Fishers has a growing number of tech jobs.

3. Pearland, Texas

Population of the metro area: 129,620

Median home price: $368,900

Average monthly rent: $2,300

Median household income: $112,470

Known for: One of the fastest-growing cities in Texas, Pearland has had its population increase from approximately 19,000 residents to over 100,000 in the last 20 years. It's a suburb of Houston.

2. Carmel, Indiana

Population of the metro area: 103,606

Median home price: $516,600

Average monthly rent: $2,199

Median household income: $134,602

Known for: Carmel, which has a nice civic square, an art and design district, and a network of walking and biking trails, has recently drawn new residents. In 2023, a TikTok video that showed off the local high school's swanky facilities, from big athletic facilities to a radio studio to a café, went viral.

1. Johns Creek, Georgia

Population of the metro area: 81,167

Median home price: $637,500

Average monthly rent: $2,750

Median household income: $160,185

Known for: About 40 minutes north of Atlanta, Johns Creek is the 10th largest city in Georgia and the safest. Fun fact: It wasn't incorporated until 2006.

• Sean "Diddy" Combs listed his Los Angeles mansion for sale a week before he was arrested.
• As his trial proceeds, the house is still on the market with the same asking price: $61.5 million.
• Cassie Ventura said "freak offs" weren't held there, but its link to Combs might still deter buyers.

Sean "Diddy" Combs is sitting in a Manhattan courtroom, facing off with his sexual abuse accusers at trial.

His mansion in Los Angeles, however, is sitting empty.

Combs listed the 10-bedroom, 13-bathroom mansion in LA's ritzy Holmby Hills neighborhood for $61.5 million a week before his arrest in September 2024 — and it's unlikely to sell anytime soon.

His ex-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie Ventura, testified last week that Combs' South Mapleton Drive home was not used for any "freak offs," the dayslong sex performances that the trial centers on. In general, homes priced in the eight-figure range don't fly off the shelves that quickly. Still, most homebuyers are put off by its association with an accused sex trafficker, according to a consultant who specializes in selling homes tainted by murder or other disasters.

"When they buy a home at that price point, they like to brag about it," Michael Tachovsky, a partner at Landmark Research Group, told BI. "P. Diddy's reputation, at the current time, really isn't a positive bragging point for a potential buyer. It can play into perceptions, and when there's a negative perception with a property, it just makes it harder to sell."

Two Los Angeles-area real estate agents reached by Business Insider declined to go on record about Combs' property to avoid any association.

Combs has denied all wrongdoing. The music tycoon has consistently argued that all sexual encounters were consensual. The defense also argues that any violence fell far short of sex trafficking and that his accusers have a financial motive to implicate him.

The listing agent, Kurt Rappaport, didn't return multiple requests for comment by email and phone. A rep for Combs and his lawyer also didn't return requests for comment by email.

The history of Combs' LA mansion

Combs purchased the property on Mapleton Drive in 2014 for just over $39 million, according to Los Angeles County property records.

The main house's architecture excludes European vibes and contains a formal dining room, a wine cellar, a theater that fits 35 people, a kitchen, and a separate catering kitchen. A two-story guest house has bedrooms, a gym, and a recording studio.

The grounds, over 1.3 acres, have an oversize statue of a woman seemingly made from similar material to a disco ball, plus a swimming pool with a waterfall and grotto, a basketball court, a spa house, and an outdoor loggia with a barbecue, bar, and pizza oven.

Other homes for sale on the same street are asking similar prices.

Jack Harris, a real estate agent with The Beverly Hills Estate, has an eight-bedroom listing on Mapleton Drive just a few doors down from Combs' house, priced at $62.5 million.

"You normally can't buy into Holmby Hills for less than $20 million — Mapleton being one of the most prestigious streets in Holmby Hills," Harris told BI.

"It's a little pocket that's right between Beverly Hills and Bel Air — there's only a handful of streets," he added.

Combs hosted parties at his house, including a 2017 Grammys afterparty.

Combs also owns a seven-bedroom, 14,800-square-foot home on Star Island in Miami, where Ventura said in court last week that "freak offs" did take place. He bought the home in 2023 for $14.5 million and satisfied the $18.8 million left on his mortgage in August of 2024 to sure up his proposed bond package.

In March 2024, law enforcement officials seized "narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant" from his Los Angeles and Miami residences.

A buyer could be drawn to the renovation potential

Real estate investor Steven "Bo" Belmon made a lowball offer of $30 million in November of 2024.

Belmont said in a press release that he planned to renovate.

"I want to remove the stigma and focus on the charming elegance of this remarkable property," Belmont said in the release.

Belmont is no stranger to controversial properties purchased at a hefty discount. In 2024, he bought Kanye West's abandoned Malibu mansion for $21 million, less than half of its original asking price of $53 million.

Tachovsky pointed to other properties where negative events have taken place that sold years after they hit the market for well below the asking price.

The ongoing legal battles will inevitably limit the pool of buyers, he added.

"At the moment, it doesn't sound like anything nefarious happened at the property, but I don't think there's any certainty yet," he said. "When you've got notorious issues, like the Diddy case, that's not a no-name person. That can linger for some time."

• A homeowner in Washington state turned a dilapidated chicken coop into a successful Airbnb rental.
• He said it cost about $38,000 to renovate the coop, which now brings in more than $2,000 a month.
• What started out as a shed used for personal projects is now a reliable way to cover his mortgage.

This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Landon Wilkinson, an Airbnb host in Yakima, Washington, about two and a half hours southeast of Seattle. He and his wife have two rentals on the Washington property — a converted chicken coop, with rates from around $120 a night and up, and a shipping container —and a third in Montana. The conversations have been edited for length and clarity.

I've been an Airbnb host for going on 10 years now.

Before Airbnb really became a thing, I did some couch-surfing. That was a bit of a precursor to Airbnb and a really fun experience.

From my own travels, I got a taste for what was possible when people opened up their own homes and did cool things. When I was younger, I had a construction company. We fixed up houses and started doing long-term rentals. Then, around 2016, we attempted Airbnb with a really small house.

The house might have rented for $900 or $1,100 a month as a long-term rental, but we were pretty routinely making $1,600 to $2,000 a month as an Airbnb.

I grew up flipping houses for my dad, but the chicken coop was more ambitious than a lot of my previous construction projects.

Trying to visualize something out of that building was a very organic process. It started with fixing up the roof a little bit, and putting in some nicer windows. I thought, "I'll just make it a little shop. I'll make it more insulated."

Then, through that process, I realized, "Actually, I could make something really nice with this if I wanted."

Then I went all in.

Demolishing it would have cost $20,000, and fixing it up was around $38,000

I bought the 55-acre property in 2018 from my parents, who had bought it and were basically using it as additional farmland for hay.

There had been a house on it at one point, but it had burned down. There was nothing really on the property besides the chicken coop walls with a sort-of roof on it.

We didn't think we were going to do anything with the chicken coop. It was a 100-year-old, board-formed concrete structure. It was super dense and very difficult to demolish.

I thought, "We could either spend $20,000 trying to get rid of this structure, or we could see what we could make out of it."

In 2019, we were trying to landscape the property near where we had built our primary home. Every morning, we'd look out the back porch and see this chicken coop that was a real eyesore.

We started chipping away in the winter of 2019. It started to become more of a project, and I brought in some of my guys from the construction company to help.

We put in $38,000 — and a lot of nights and weekends — to get it live and set up the first time. Then, over the last couple of years, we've updated things, like furniture. We got a nicer hot tub.

I found a new back window on Facebook Marketplace and paid just $40 for it. If you're just a little bit creative on some things or willing to be flexible, those can be really big finds. That window new would've been a couple grand, probably.

I thought th coop wouldn't appeal to Airbnb guests, but my wife saw potential

This is the part of the story where my wife will say, "Make sure you tell them how much you resisted," because she was the one who felt confident about it being an Airbnb. I still had the image of a chicken coop in my head.

We argued about it a fair bit. She said, "Let me list the property photos of the landscape and describe what we can about the property and put a fairly low nightly rate on it, and we'll set a date when it's going to be available."

We started the project in December 2019 as a shed for my storage. By January, we realized it could be more than that. We turned it into the rental by April of 2020.

We had a nurse who came in April of 2020 and stayed there for two months. Once we got that booking, I thought, "I guess we really have to do this well and get it done on schedule."

When the nurse first moved in, we were still finishing up the landscaping, and we just barely got it done in time for her to be able to stay there. By the time she left, everything was really well done on the outside, and the landscaping had matured a little bit, so we were able to get updated pictures.

We have a nice branded sign on the door and on a pole outside the house that says "Ahtanum Cottage."

Income from the Airbnb quickly covered our mortgage

The cottage went live in the spring of 2020 and started doing really well. The 12 or 24 months after were the highest volume.

In August of 2020, we made about $6,000 in one month from that house. That's a peak outlier scenario. We usually average $2,000 to $3,000 a month in revenue. It averages around 65% to 70% occupancy.

I had a 40-foot, high-cube shipping container that I used when we stopped using the chicken coop for storage, to put our lawn and garden stuff. After the coop cottage was built, I started to envision what might work with the shipping container. So we embarked on building that in 2022.

The two Airbnb listings are more than covering our mortgage, which is around $1,100 a month. Our utilities in Washington, with three properties and two hot tubs, is somewhere between $400 to $500 a month.

It's harder to start an Airbnb these days, but the potential for profit is bigger

It takes a little bit more work to get an Airbnb set up — especially now that the competition is stiffer. In the early days, it was pretty easy to make something work on Airbnb. Now, you have to be a little bit more competitive in adding amenities that really sell the property.

If you're able to manage a property well, Airbnb is generally a much better return on investment than a long-term rental. In many cases, you can't make long-term rentals work at the current mortgage rates anyway. So, unless you got in while rates were still low, you're kind of forced to be somewhat creative.

The chicken coop started as, "How do we get rid of this thing?"

It was hard, when we were looking at it in its former state, to visualize it as anything else. But once you start to fix up a few little things, the vision becomes clearer.

We probably could've marketed it as a chicken coop, but it's one of those things that, to me, seemed like it could backfire. We wanted it to be something that people perceived as what it is now instead of, "Oh man, it was a dump before."

It probably would have been a great marketing move, but I was a little bit chicken, no pun intended.

At the time, we weren't as confident that a unique stay, being a chicken coop, would've been a positive thing. Now, in hindsight, it probably would've been a good idea.

• US News & World Report ranked the best states to live in the US in 2025.
• It weighed 71 metrics across eight categories, including education, healthcare, crime, and nature.
• Utah was named the best state to live in the US for the third year in a row.

Where you live is one of the biggest decisions of your life.

People choose where to put down roots for all sorts of reasons — whether it's to cut costs, find better jobs, enjoy nature, or have greater access to public transportation.

Finding the right place isn't always easy, but data can make it a whole lot simpler. Each year, US News & World Report ranks all 50 states based on factors including their economy, education, healthcare, infrastructure, crime, and their natural environment. Researchers considered 71 different metrics to rank the best state to live in.

In 2025, most of the best states to live in were in the Midwest and New England. Utah took the top spot for the third year in a row, with New Hampshire close behind at number two for the second straight year. Idaho moved up to third from its 2024 position, while Minnesota held steady at fourth. South Dakota was the only new addition to the top 10.

Despite the South's booming economy and long-standing reputation for affordability and job growth, Florida was the only southern state to make the list. This may signal a broader shift in the region's appeal, as market forces, as well as political and social shifts, continue to reshape the cost of living, school systems, and culture of the South.

Read on for more about the 10 best states to live in the US, according to US News & World Report. While each state has strengths and areas to improve, many offer good schools and hospitals, strong public safety, and plenty of ways to enjoy the outdoors.

The population data is from the US Census.

10. Washington

Population: 7,958,180

Known for: Economic opportunities driven by Seattle's tech sector often draw new residents to Washington. The Pacific Northwest's ample landscapes and outdoor recreational activities are appealing, too.

Erin Sanchez said she found the best of both worlds in her Seattle suburb in a Business Insider essay published in December 2024.

"We live on a quiet street where the towns of Covington and Maple Valley meet, and suburban life blends with nature. We have ample space for a garden, and hiking and biking trails are minutes away," Sanchez wrote.

Ranked high for: Natural environment (7th out of 50 states)

Ranked less high for: Opportunity (40th out of 50 states)

9. Massachusetts

Population: 7,136,171

Known for: With major universities, world-class hospitals, and a bustling tech innovation sector concentrated in Boston, Massachusetts' economy is a major draw for residents.

In 2019, writer Jamie Evan Bichelman moved to Boston with his partner. He ultimately moved to the nearby suburb of Sudbury to save on housing. Boston's job opportunities were an important stepping stone.

"Despite the downsides we experienced, we have a lot to thank Boston for, too. We grew into adulthood and advanced our careers there," Bichelman wrote in a 2024 Business Insider essay.

Ranked high for: Healthcare (second out of 50 states)

Ranked less high for: Infrastructure (39th out of 50 states)

8. South Dakota

Population: 924,669

Known for: Affordable, family-friendly towns with unspoiled access to nature are a major draw for residents of South Dakota.

Single mom Kseniya Melnikova moved to South Dakota from New York City with her daughter in 2023.

"Nature here is less curated and more accessible. Parks are protected as wild zones rather than meticulously manicured gardens, fostering a more symbiotic relationship with nature and wildlife," Melnikova wrote for Business Insider in an essay published in April of 2024.

Ranked high for: Infrastructure (second out of 50 states)

Ranked high for: Healthcare (46th out of 50 states)

7. Vermont

Population: 648,493

Known for: Abundant space, small-town charm, and relatively affordable housing have attracted people to Vermont.

In 2024, Taylor and Tatum Barnes left their Brooklyn studio for a one-bedroom home on 2.6 acres in Hartford, Vermont, near Dartmouth College.

The millennial couple paid $160,000.

"Compared to New York City, the mortgage is half that of what we paid for rent," Tatum said.

Ranked high for: Opportunity (first out of 50 states)

Ranked less high for: Fiscal stability (41st out of 50 states)

6. Florida

Population: 23,372,215

Known for: Living in a tropical, palm-treed paradise year-round is one reason Florida is one of the fastest-growing states in the US. Five of its metropolitan areas — including Orlando and Panama City — experienced some of the biggest population increases in the country last year.

Data analyst Allie Hubers and her husband moved from the Midwest to Destin, Florida. "We still can't believe we live 10 minutes from the ocean, let alone some of the best beaches in the US," she wrote in an essay for Business Insider published in April.

Ranked high for: Economy (first out of 50 states)

Ranked less high for: Opportunity (47th out of 50 states)

5. Nebraska

Population: 2,005,465

Known for: While Pawnee, Nebraska, recently announced a program that pays people to move there, other parts of the Cornhusker State need no such incentives.

Native Nebraskan Bill MacKenzie told Business Insider in 2024 that he and his husband looked at retiring to California, Florida Texas, and Arizona, but couldn't find a place that fit their budget and tastes. They chose to spend part of the year in Nebraska and part in Mexico.

Ranked high for: Infrastructure (first out of 50 states)

Ranked less high for: Economy (29th out of 50 states)

4. Minnesota

Population: 5,793,151

Known for: Being the "land of 10,000 lakes."

Amena Ahmed moved to Minneapolis from Ewing, New Jersey, in 2019 for college and stayed put after graduating. She found that she enjoyed hanging out at the lake more than at the beach.

"But I've grown to love these freshwater lakes way more than 'real' ocean beaches," she said in 2023. "The privacy and calm environment make the experience way more enjoyable than what I'm used to on the Jersey Shore, which feels less clean and more hectic."

Ranked high for: Opportunity (seventh out of 50 states)

Ranked less high for: Economy (28th out of 50 states)

3. Idaho

Population: 2,001,619

Known for: Idaho may be synonymous with potatoes to the uninitiated, but it has a lot more to offer. The state is climbing in favorability, up from the fifth spot on the 2024 list of best states to live in.

A family that moved from California to Idaho found it clean and quiet, with good school options for kids.

Ranked high for: Economy (fourth out of 50 states)

Ranked less high for: Education (29th out of 50 states)

2. New Hampshire

Population: 1,409,032

Known for: The "Granite State" has picturesque landscapes and relatively little crime.

Business Insider contributor Kelly Burch moved to rural New Hampshire after living in a Boston suburb and has found it a better place to raise her children.

"Our small town has a very close community made up equally of people who grew up here and transplants like us," she wrote in 2024.

Ranked high for: Crime and corrections (first out of 50 states)

Ranked less high for: Fiscal stability (37th out of 50 states)

1. Utah

Population: 3,503,613

Known for: Utah yet again took the number one spot as the best state to live, according to US News & World Report's rankings.

It has a range of places to live, from Salt Lake City, with a population of over 200,000, and more quaint towns like Midway, a popular ski destination.

A millennial mom who moved to Salt Lake City from San Diego said the costs of living and childcare were lower; she was drawn to Utah's natural beauty, safety, and family-friendliness.

Best at: Fiscal stability (first out of 50 states)

Worst at: Opportunity (19th out of 50 states)

• A legal ruling about how real-estate agents are paid has opened new possibilities in real estate.
• Home sellers have more flexibility in how and how much they pay their agents and buyers' agents.
• These startups promise to save home sellers money compared to the traditional commission structure.

Last year, a landmark court decision rocked the real estate world.

The National Association of Realtors, which represents 1.5 million agents nationwide, settled multiple class-action lawsuits over claims that its practices unfairly drove up commissions for both homebuyers and sellers.

As a result, NAR created new rules that give sellers more flexibility in how they pay their agents. Instead of home sellers paying the standard 5% or 6% of a home's purchase price — which pays their agent, who in turn passes along half to the buyer's broker — sellers now have more options that could reduce those costs. Also as a result of the settlement, buyers may be more likely to have to cover their broker's fee themselves.

In reality, not much has changed so far. Many real estate brokerages have found workarounds to ensure their agents keep getting the highest commissions. Only 6% of sellers listed their homes for sale by owner, and 86% of homebuyers still used an agent, NAR found, according to 2024 NAR data.

Startups have long tried to challenge the traditional model of buying and selling homes and its reliance on real estate agents. The court settlement gives their missions new relevance.

For example, a newly launched online marketplace called Galleon allows sellers to list their homes for sale by owner.

Listwise, meanwhile, allows sellers to put out a call for their dream agent, including the level of experience they desire and their ideal commission structure. Agents then bid for the opportunity to sell the home, and the seller has the option to choose one offering lower fees.

Below are six startups, listed in alphabetical order, that are trying to save home sellers money by shaking up the role and pay of the traditional real estate agent.

Galleon

Think Craigslist, but for homes — that's the idea behind Galleon.

Galleon is an off-market, for-sale-by-owner residential marketplace that lets homeowners name their prices to see if any buyers bite.

"We believe that there should be a free and open consumer-led marketplace," Amanda Orson, the CEO and founder of Galleon, told BI.

While similar to platforms like Zillow and Redfin, Galleon removes brokers and agents entirely — a move the company said can save sellers $30,000 or more, presuming a typical 6% commission.

Galleon doesn't post days-on-the-market data for its listings, which Orson said gives sellers "no incentive not to try" going without a broker. On traditional platforms, a high days-on-the-market figure on a listing might lead prospective buyers to think a property is either priced too high or that something is wrong with it.

Creating a listing on Galleon's app or website is free.

For $299, sellers can upgrade their listings with professional photography, a digital yard sign with a QR code so sellers don't have to post their phone numbers publicly, and featured placement on Galleon's website for added visibility.

For those wanting more support, Galleon's $899 package includes tools like a scheduling calendar for inspections and appraisals, an offer management dashboard, in-app e-signing, and access to legal support — all aimed at simplifying the sales process and cutting down out-of-pocket costs for the seller.

"We don't think there is a future without agents," Orson told BI. "We think that there is a minority of people who want to be able to transact without one. That's who we're here to support."

The platform is free for home buyers and available nationwide.

Listwise

Listwise isn't trying to push real estate agents out of the picture — its aim is to help home sellers find the right one.

The platform, aimed primarily at sellers, uses an incentive-based commission model designed to boost competition between agents and improve transparency for home sellers.

Here's how it works: On Listwise's digital platform, sellers share the commission amount they're willing to pay a listing agent and what they're looking for in one — including number of years of experience, importance of local market knowledge, or whether they prefer someone from a big-name brokerage or a smaller local firm. Sellers also propose how much they are willing to pay the buyers' agent.

Listwise then matches the sellers with qualified listing agents in its network who meet those preferences.

Each listing agent then bids for the listing by submitting a personalized offer that includes their commission charge. If a seller chooses one of those agents and the home sells, that agent pays Listwise a referral fee or commission for helping them win the business.

Off-Markt

Alison Bernstein first got the idea for a real estate app when a friend sent her a fitness influencer's Instagram video.

Bernstein liked the flow of the influencer's apartment and messaged her directly to see if she'd be interested in selling. They ended up closing an off-market deal. Bernstein then found an off-market buyer for her own apartment.

It inspired her to create an Off-Markt, an app with an Instagram-like interface that lets homeowners show off their spaces and attract prospective buyers year-round — without ever formally listing them.

"The consumer should own the story of their home. They should own that digital footprint," Bernstein, who is based in New York City, told Business Insider.

On Off-Markt, a user creates profiles for their home. They can post photos showing off the best features of their property. Bernstein's hope is that homeowners feel like they can "own the narrative" of their space and better attract future buyers.

"The average consumer is very savvy," Bernstein said.

Real estate agents create a profile on the app for $50 a month and offer their services to users who might need extra help.

Off-Markt declined to share how many homes and cities are currently listed on the site.

Redy

Josh Altman, a real estate agent featured on "Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles," cofounded Redy in 2020 to encourage transparent competition among agents.

On Redy, agents compete for the opportunity to sell your home by offering incentives like a "cash bonus" and competitive commission prices.

"For the first time, sellers get paid cash to pick an agent; as a result, agents are directly invested in the sale," Altman said in a 2024 press release. "All agents have the opportunity to own local seller listings, which will, in return, help them own the local market they operate in and level the playing field for listings. When you own local seller listings, you own your local market."

Kenneth Bloom, who used Redy to sell two homes in Michigan, told BI in 2024 that he appreciated having agents come to him. Otherwise, he said, he would've had to do a lot of legwork to find the right person to sell his homes.

He said he was able to find an experienced agent who was familiar with his area and could get his homes sold fast, which was a priority for him. He ended up finding a buyer for one of the homes in one day through the agent he found on Redy.

Bloom said he received a $1,200 cash bonus for the first house he sold through Redy and $1,040 on the second. He estimated he saved nearly $10,000 on broker commissions between the two transactions.

Ridley

When the tech entrepreneur Mike Chambers wanted to sell his Boulder, Colorado, home in February, he didn't see the point in using an agent.

He described his five-bedroom, four-bathroom home as a "turnkey house in a desirable neighborhood." He wasn't sure how much an agent would have to do besides uploading the home's photos online and unlocking the door for tours.

So Chambers listed the home himself for $2.725 million and started an Instagram called @realtorshateme to document his for-sale-by-owner adventure. The account, which has nearly 18,000 followers, quickly drew the ire of local Boulder agents. Chambers told BI he saw videos of agents on social media saying they wouldn't take clients to his house.

Chambers found an out-of-state buyer through Instagram, but his family ultimately decided to pull their house off the market and stay in Colorado.

The experience opened Chambers' eyes to the possibilities of — and appetite for — a broker-less way to sell your home.

Enter Ridley, a new app that's set to launch by the end of May. It will offer homeowners a suite of AI agents who can help people who want to list their property for sale by owner, or FSBO.

"Technology has basically made almost every step of this process more efficient, and there's been no reflection in the price or in the costs associated with these transactions to reflect that," Chambers said.

The AI agents can do things like write a listing description or book photographers. Sellers would pay a one-time fee of $999 or $1,999 to add an on-call lawyer.

"A product like this that empowers consumers to take control of this process and save lots of money is really good," he added.

Turbohome

Turbohome is a real-estate brokerage that pays agents a salary rather than a more typical commission-based compensation and gives buyers the option to pay a flat fee.

"They have healthcare, they have a salary, and they have consistent work," Ben Bear, Turbohome's cofounder and CEO Ben Bear, said of his agents.

"It's appealing for people who just like working with clients without that pressure of knowing how they're going to pay their next rent check," he told BI in 2024.

Instead of paying a percentage commission, buyers pay a flat fee to the Turbohome agent — between $5,000 and $10,000 — and the commission given to the agent is then credited to the buyer.

Turbohome's site has a "cash back calculator" that shows buyers their refund based on a home's price. For example, a buyer would be refunded $35,000 on a $1.5 million home purchase.

Arnab Dutta used Turbohome to buy a home in the Bay Area in 2024 after trying the traditional route without success in years past, and his offer beat out other offers because he said the seller didn't have to pay his agent's commission, he previously told BI.

Turbohome launched in 2024 and had raised $3.85 million as of March. The brokerage currently operates in California, Texas, and Washington.

• Airbnb's CFO said fewer foreigners are booking nights in the US than last year or earlier this year.
• Airbnb CFO Ellie Mertz also said Canadians, in particular, are pulling back on travel to the States.
• Canadians are visiting Mexico, France, Brazil, and Japan instead, she said on an earnings call.

The number of foreigners booking Airbnbs in the US has decreased from last year and earlier this year, with Canadians "traveling at a much lower rate," according to Airbnb's CFO.

CFO Ellie Mertz said during Airbnb's first-quarter earnings call Thursday that US reservations from foreign travelers were down, citing "economic uncertainty" as a factor.

"We absolutely have seen a decline in popularity of foreign travelers coming to the US," she said on the call.

"Guests who would have in a prior year come to the US are simply choosing a different location," she added.

Nights booked by Canadian guests to Mexico increased 27% between March 2024 and March 2025, according to Airbnb's letter to shareholders about first-quarter earnings.

In earnings calls this week, executives at Hilton and Booking Holdings, which owns Booking.com, Priceline.com, and Kayak, said that Canadian travel to the US had flagged, spotlighting Mexico as a place with upticks in Canadian visitors.

On the Airbnb earnings call, Merrtz said that Canadians are traveling more domestically. She also said they visit Mexico, Brazil, France, and Japan.

"In this moment, it's not necessarily that people don't want to travel, they are just using different destinations," Mertz said.

Canadians have expressed dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump's tariffs and remarks about annexing it as another state. Some have boycotted travel to the US.

Mertz also said that even if Canadians and other international travelers are choosing destinations outside the US, foreign travelers to the States only make up about 3% of Airbnb's business.

She said most nights booked on Airbnb in the US are by domestic travelers, and only a "single-digit percentage" of global nights booked come from international travelers to the US.

Shares of Airbnb closed higher by about 1% on Friday after the company reported earnings that were roughly in line with expectations.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told investors and analysts on the earnings call that he believes the booking platform has endured during past periods of economic stress because it offers travelers options at affordable price points.

"We started Airbnb during the Great Recession of 2008. People turned to us for a more affordable way to travel, and they started hosting Airbnb to earn extra income. Then, in 2020, when the pandemic hit, we provided a way for people to travel close to home," he said. "Today, things feel uncertain once again. But just as we've shown in the past, as the world changes, Airbnb will continue to adapt."

• Darrel and Patrice Maxam started renting out bedrooms in their Atlanta home on Airbnb in 2015.
• They ended up building additional units — tiny homes and treehouses — on the property to rent out.
• Their latest project: a group of wooden cabins in upstate New York that make over $30,000 a month.

When Darrel and Patrice Maxam moved from Connecticut to Georgia, they bought a 1956 bungalow for $249,400. Because they'd used most of their money to buy the home, they struggled to afford the $1,400 monthly mortgage payments.

"When we moved to Atlanta, we were really broke," Darrel Maxam told Business Insider. "We literally spent all of our money on a down payment — we had $1,000 in our bank accounts."

They decided to list a bedroom in the three-bedroom bungalow on Airbnb. Then they rented the entire house. Later, they began renting out a tiny house on the property. Eventually, the Maxams filled their two-and-a-half acres with nine different short-term-rental units: the main house, a tiny home, a converted barn, a triplex, and three "treehouses."

Now, the Maxams build and operate short-term rentals full-time. They sold the Atlanta property in September of 2024; Fulton County property records show it sold for $655,000. Their focus is a village of 13 custom-built cabins and properties in upstate New York that brings in between $30,000 and $60,000 a month.

Read on to see how the Maxams built their Airbnb empire.

They evolved from renting a single room to renting out the entire house

Renting out rooms brought in about $1,000 a month in profit, Maxam said, and renting out the entire home doubled that amount.

Maxam recalled packing up every weekend during the summer and vacating the premises while Airbnb guests were staying in their Atlanta home.

He said the couple would take 10% of his weekly paycheck, 10% of his wife's weekly paycheck, and 10% of the amount they were making from Airbnb and use it to find a hotel within 300 miles that worked within that budget.

"If we only had $400, we were going to plan a trip for $400," he said. "We would go as far south as Destin, Florida, as far east as Mississippi, and as far north as the Carolinas and Tennessee area."

Maxam figured the more units they put on the Atlanta property, the more money they would make.

First, the Maxams partnered with the HGTV show "Tiny House, Big Living" to build a tiny home on their property, which Maxam said earned them an extra $2,500 a month in profit.

"I was hooked at that point," Maxam said. "We had a barn in the backyard. I converted that barn to another livable space. Then, another year after that, I ended up building three more units. After the fifth unit on the property, we were generating roughly $15,000 a month."

At one point, the Maxams had their main house, a tiny home, a barn, a triplex with three rentable units, and three treehouses on the property. They took the tiny home with them when they left.

Maxam resigned from his full-time job working for the Department of Aviation and made hospitality his career.

They've built a village of cabins in upstate New York

In 2022, the Maxams' main project became Finger Lakes Treehouses in Sodus, New York, a small town 33 miles east of Rochester.

They partnered with Red Falls Timber, a New York-based firm that sources its wood from Finland, to build five A-frame cabins.

Each one has a kitchenette, a bathroom, air conditioning, and a private wood-fired hot tub. Nightly rates are around $250, according to the Maxam Hotels website.

Each A-frame structure cost him about $65,000, Maxam said. Since launching in 2023, the five cabins have brought in anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 a month, he added.

"We don't touch a project unless we can be cash-flow positive within 18 months," he said.

The Maxams are planning to build five non-A-frame cabins with Red Falls Timber on the Sodus land this year.

Both cabin styles are prefabricated, which means they can be put together quickly, cutting down on both time and cost per unit.

"It'll take about three days to get them erected," Maxam said.

"You, right now, can come on site, look at my plans, and be able to put my building together," he added. "That's how easy they are — they're like Lego."

The Maxams have other dreams for the Sodus development.

"We have three Airstreams on the property right now, so by the start of the season, we'll have 13 units total," Maxam said. "Next year, we're going to go into phase three. We have these really luxury-style safari tents, and we'll build a bathhouse for them, also."

The plan is to have 19 total units in Sodus by next year, he added.

The couple has also purchased land in Belize with plans for a beach-centered venture in 2026 or 2027.

They believe slow and steady is the best growth

The Maxams entered the short-term-rental world humbly, but now feel like they are thriving.

Maxam said to get here, they took their time, using proceeds from one unit to build the next one.

"Everyone wants to rush and rush and race to do the largest project — and they don't know what they're getting themselves into," Maxam said.

"The only advice I have to someone starting out like me is to stay small enough, long enough, because soon enough you'll be big enough," he added.

• A Department of Defense contractor feels insecure about their job given federal reductions in force.
• They pursued degrees in government-related fields and are now worried that they'll be worthless.
• They're looking for jobs in the private sector due to the uncertainty in the federal government.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a federal contractor for the Department of Defense in the Washington, DC, metro area. They've asked to be anonymous for fear of job repercussions. Business Insider has verified their identity and employment. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.

My end goal was to work on the Hill, or at the very least somewhere inside the policy-making area of the federal government. That's what I would have said my end goal was if you'd asked me in high school.

I came from Texas for school, did one year at a college in New York, and transferred to American University because I wanted to have experience on the Hill. I wanted my foot in the door to better understand how to get a job with the federal government.

I stayed in the area because it's the hub for all things government.

I got my master's because I was having a hard time breaking into the policy field. I've been told that it really helps, especially in the early stages of your career. I'm glad I did because it ultimately landed me at least two jobs, so I still stand by the decision.

Even if you had told me back in 2020, when I entered the program, that Trump was going to be elected and throw a wrench into everything, I would still do it — but I would still have my same worries now.

I interned twice on the Hill — once during my undergraduate and once during my graduate studies. I worked for the Democrats, for a Department of Defense procurement firm, and then worked in the veteran space for a year and a half. I left to come to my current company.

I'm a Department of Defense contractor — a policy analyst providing contract support to a DOD office. This is the first position I've actually been inside the government, the first time I've received any credentials from the federal government.

Job security is definitely not 100%, but I do feel safer because I'm in the Department of Defense space.

Still, my thinking was that the administration could take a cleaver to the federal government — to my field — and make it to where my degree would not be worth anything.

The first Trump term wasn't as disruptive

Trump was elected during my sophomore year at American.

American University would bring in people from the state department or other federal governments for seminars, and they said it was still business as usual.

I didn't get the sense that there was a slowdown or that hiring took a hit during Trump's first term.

The first term and the second term have been night and day.

I didn't think that it would be as hostile as it is now.

There have been massive repercussions for my field and people I went to school with.

One friend worked for the Office of Personnel Management for a month and a half into this administration. They're still looking for a new job.

My LinkedIn feed for the first two months of this term has just been people posting, "I am looking for work. I can no longer work for this thing. The RIF hit me."

I'm looking for work outside the government

I am submitting résumés — not nearly as much as if I were unemployed, but I am submitting résumés.

There's definitely more stress. The job postings for anything related to the government kind of cratered. So if I did get laid off, it might be "What can I get?" rather than, "Can I see myself working for this company?"

I used to want to break into federal government work because of security, pension, and all of that good stuff, in addition to civic service.

Right now, I would not touch a federal job with a 10-foot pole.

It would have to be a really, really sweet job — one that I would die for. Right now, though, if you offered me a federal job, I probably wouldn't take it.

Before, I was prioritizing federal positions — things inside the federal government sphere. Now, if it touches policy at all, I'm looking at it.

I am stressed and worried at work every day

The office I support lost several people, and they're expecting to lose more.

I am worried every day I log on. I'm worried about waking up to a notice from my boss saying, "Hey guys, we have a meeting with HR today," or hearing the news that the contract's gone.

I've set up news alerts for anything Pete Hegseth, because he's announcing cuts in contracts.

Anytime I hop on a meeting with the government, I am petrified that something's going to happen.

I can't focus. I have trouble sleeping. I have anxiety.

I've severely cut back on my discretionary spending. Before, I put 20% of my paycheck into savings; now, it's about half.

I've also cut back on personal spending. My fiancé and I now rarely go out to eat. Last year, we would go out every Friday, just to celebrate the workweek being over. That's gone by the wayside.

There have been less expensive gifts, and less traveling. I was planning on visiting my parents in Texas during the summer, now I'm really on the fence about that.

Before this year, I knew what was coming. I knew not only what the next day would look like, but I also knew what the next week and the next month would look like.

Now I don't know what work I'll be doing for them a month or two. It could be all the same, or it could be a lot more because they've lost people. And when they're going to need someone to fill the gap, who do we put that on? The contractor.

• Some American towns and cities offer major incentives to lure people to move there.
• The perks, often aimed at qualifying remote workers, range from cash to free land to gift cards.
• Business Insider rounded up 21 places that compensate people to move there in some way.

Remote work and a search for affordable housing have reshaped where people live.

Cities across the US that might have previously flown under the radar are offering new residents big incentives, from cash to free land.

Lillian Griffith moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, from Alpharetta, Georgia, in August 2022 to take advantage of the Tulsa Remote program, which granted her $10,000 simply for relocating to the city.

"The Tulsa Remote program is not some elitist program that only accepts people who work in high-paying positions," Griffith, a data engineer, told Business Insider in 2023. "It's more about pulling people who can bring a good culture to the city."

New residents can boost the communities offering the incentives, too.

Perry County, Indiana, located an hour west of Louisville, Kentucky, offers qualifying new residents $7,000 split into two payments — $3,500 when they arrive and $3,500 after 12 months.

It's an investment in the region's future, said Shiraz Mukarram, manager at the Perry County Development Corporation.

"We do not want Perry County to be one of those statistics of a declining population. We want to make it grow," Mukarram told BI.

Since the program began in 2023, 16 families have moved to Perry County from states like Florida, Georgia, California, and Massachusetts with great success, Mukarram added. Just this past February, a high schooler whose family moved from Virginia was elected to the high school's Homecoming Court.

The perks offered vary from place to place. Hamilton, Ohio — a city of 63,000 about 20 miles north of Cincinnati — is courting recent college graduates with a program that offers up to $15,000 a year toward student-loan repayments. Meanwhile, Manilla, Iowa, a small town about 90 minutes west of Des Moines, offers relocators free plots of land to build houses.

Business Insider rounded up 21 places across the US that are dishing out perks to anyone who moves there, presented in alphabetical order.

Do you know of another city that pays people to move there? Did you get paid to move somewhere? We'd love to hear about it. Email reporter Jordan Pandy at [email protected].

A lottery program in Baltimore wants to reduce the upfront costs required for prospective residents to buy a home.

Buying Into Baltimore is a program that awards $5,000 in down-payment and closing-cost assistance to a few lucky prospective homebuyers who enter a lottery after attending a special Trolley Tour that is held three times a year. (The next one is Saturday, May 3.)

The prize is not limited to first-time homebuyers, but following the event, applicants have 10 business days to make an offer on a home, have the offer accepted, and obtain a contract of sale to be eligible to even enter the lottery.

A special note for remote workers considering making a move — the property must also be used as a primary residence.

A city on a lake in Minnesota wants to reimburse you for your relocation costs.

Bemidji, a 15,000-person city in northern Minnesota, has a program offering remote workers interested in moving to the area six months of free internet service, a one-year membership to a coworking space, a one-year membership to the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce, and free access to community programs and events.

To qualify, movers must work primarily from home and be relocating from at least 60 miles away.

Columbus, Georgia, will pay remote workers $5,000 to move there.

Columbus, a 200,000-person city on the Georgia-Alabama border, is offering $5,000 to remote workers who move there.

Together with MakeMyMove, a site that connects remote workers with places offering them incentives, Columbus also offers relocators other perks, including six months of time at a coworking space, coffee with the mayor, and a two-night hotel stay for a visit before your move.

The total package is worth $8,700, according to MakeMyMove.

In order to qualify for the program, you need to be employed full-time, earn at least $75,000, and live at least 75 miles outside Columbus at the time of the application.

A Kentucky nonprofit is trying to reverse population loss by offering $7,500 to people who move to one of 34 counties in the state.

The nonprofit Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) was founded to reverse population loss in the rural, mountainous regions of Kentucky.

It offers relocation grants to remote workers, which include $5,000 for the worker who moves, plus an additional $2,500 bonus if their partner secures a job in education or healthcare.

Interested remote workers can move to any of 34 eligible counties in the eastern part of Kentucky; the swath includes a scenic network of canyons called the Red River Gorge and the Country Music Highway Museum, dedicated to artists from the region like Billy Ray Cyrus and The Judds.

Applicants must make $70,000 and currently reside outside Kentucky.

A small town in Indiana is offering "Grandparents on Demand" to movers and $5,000 to offset relocation costs.

Greensburg, a 10-square-mile Indiana town between Indianapolis and Cincinnati, is offering several incentives to potential movers.

The town worked with MakeMyMove to create the program, which offers anyone relocating to the area $5,000 cash, roughly $2,000 in gift cards to local businesses, a yearlong membership to a local coworking space and the YMCA, and access to childcare.

Greensburg's "Grandparents on Demand" program pairs newcomers with older adults in the area who can provide babysitting services or even act as stand-ins at school Grandparents Day free of charge.

Hamilton, Ohio, assists recent graduates with their student-loan payments.

Hamilton, Ohio — a city of 63,000 about 20 miles north of Cincinnati — is encouraging recent college graduates to apply for its Talent Attraction Program Scholarship.

Scholarship recipients can get up to $15,000 a year toward student loan payments. 

In order to qualify for the scholarship, you must have graduated from a STEAM (science, tech, engineering, the arts, or math) program within the last seven years. You must not already live in the city of Hamilton but have plans to move or live in what the city defines as one of its urban neighborhoods.

Applicants must demonstrate employment within Butler County or a full-time remote position. Preference is given to people "with a desire to give back to the community and become engaged in activities."

Applications are open until July 1 and are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Ketchikan, Alaska, pays up to $2,000 a year to live there and provides free internet.

Ketchikan, a scenic coastal city near the southernmost tip of Alaska that is a 90-minute flight from Seattle, launched the Choose Ketchikan program in November 2021.

Applicants over 18 must be "fully employed." To be eligible, an individual or family must currently live outside Alaska while working remotely for a company that is also outside Alaska.

After relocation, all Alaska residents get an annual payment from Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend, which can be as much as $3,000 a year or more.

Ketchikan, which touts its clean air and drinking water, is also offering new residents three months of free high-speed internet.

A quaint town in central Kansas is giving away free land to build your home on.

Lincoln, Kansas, a town of about 1,100, is offering free residential land plots just outside the city's downtown.

The city grants a deed to people who agree to build a home, which can range from 14,000 to 35,000 square feet, on one of the lots — as long as it meets certain design guidelines. 

Before building the house, the applicant must provide a deposit of 8 cents per square foot; the money is refunded upon completion of the home. It's a modest request since one contractor said the cost to build a custom home in the state starts at more than $100 per square foot.

Lincoln has a deep culture of history with museums such as the Post Rock Scout Museum and the Lincoln Historical Museum.

According to Live Lincoln County, you do not have to be a resident of Lincoln, or even the state of Kansas, to participate in the program. There are no rules against building a home for the sole purpose of reselling or flipping it.

The state of Maine offers student-loan repayment assistance to eligible college graduates.

Maine has said it can reimburse residents who graduated after 2007 through its student loan repayment tax credit program.

If you live in Maine during the tax year, you are likely eligible for a tax credit that could total up to $2,500 annually, up to $25,000 lifetime, toward student-loan payments.

Additional perks are available for graduates with STEM degrees, including the possibility of refunding the entirety of their state tax payments.

Manilla, Iowa, is offering free plots of land to people who will build homes on them.

Manilla — a small city in western Iowa — is offering free lots of land to anyone looking to build a single-family home.

Manilla is also eliminating taxes on the homes built on the "no cost lots" for the first five years.

A program in West Virginia is offering potential new residents $12,000 in cash.

West Virginia launched a program named Ascend WV to attract out-of-state remote workers to Morgantown, a vibrant college town home to West Virginia University.

To be eligible, potential residents must be 18 years or older, able to verify remote employment, and willing to move to the city of 30,000 for two years.

Those accepted to the program are expected to relocate to Morgantown within six months and receive $12,000 in cash in monthly installments. If people choose to purchase a home in West Virginia, they can get the remaining cash payments in a lump sum.

Other perks of the program include a coworking-space membership and free outdoor-gear rentals.

In addition to Morgantown, Ascend WV also incentivizes moves to other parts of West Virginia: the Greenbrier Valley, the Eastern Panhandle, the New River Gorge area, and Greater Elkins community.

Newton, Iowa, is offering homebuyers more than $10,000 to buy a house priced at $240,000 or more.

Newton, Iowa, about 30 miles east of Des Moines, wants to give relocators who purchase a home there cash upon closing.

The city is offering $10,000 in cash to buyers of homes valued at more than $240,000 and a five-year tax abatement for homes below that value. Eligible homes include single-family new builds that started construction in 2020 or 2021.

There's also a "Get to Know Newton Welcome Package" that includes gifts from local businesses and opportunities to attend local events, including at the Iowa Speedway.

A town outside Indianapolis is offering a $5,000 grant and other perks to new residents.

Located just 30 minutes from downtown Indianapolis, Noblesville is home to the Ruoff Music Center, the region's most significant outdoor concert venue.

The town is offering new residents a package that includes a $5,000 relocation grant, a $500 health and wellness stipend, and a one-year membership to a local coworking space, among other incentives.

Remote workers interested in the program must make at least $80,000 annually and be able to relocate within six months of applying.

A small Illinois town is offering $5,000 to movers looking for work.

Quincy, Illinois, a town of 40,000 on the Missouri border, has also launched a program to incentivize Americans to relocate there.

The Quincy Workforce Relocation Assistance Program, also called Quincy's Calling, offers movers who can get a job within the county a property-tax rebate of up to $5,000 after one year of living and working in the area.

If you would prefer to rent, you can get a rental rebate of up to $3,500 after six months of residency and employment.

Remote workers aren't eligible for the program. New residents must work in Adams County, where Quincy is.

A small county in Indiana is paying qualified remote workers $7,000.

Since 2023, Perry County has offered a cash incentive of $7,000 to qualifying remote workers and their families who move to the rural community. Located between Evansville, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky, along the Ohio River, Perry County has less than 20,000 residents, according to the most recent census data.

The $7,000 payment is split into two installments — one when families first move and another after 12 months. Families also receive a welcome basket that includes freebies from local fudge to discounted WiFi.

Eligible applicants must make $50,000 at a job they can retain when they move and be able to relocate within 6 months.

A handful of cities in Alabama are offering remote workers who move to the area $10,000 cash, paid out over a year.

The Shoals in Alabama — a cluster of municipalities including Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia that straddles the banks of the Tennessee River — is offering remote workers $10,000 to move to the area.

Near the border with Tennessee and Mississippi, the four cities are just a few hours from hubs including Memphis, Nashville, and Birmingham. 

The program offers $2,500 upfront for relocation costs, an additional $2,500 six months after moving there, and $5,000 at the end of the first year of residency.

Eligible applicants must be over 18 and able to move to the region within six months. They must also be employed outside the area and have a minimum annual income of $52,000.

Southwest Michigan is offering remote workers $15,000 toward a down payment on a home, along with other perks.

A string of ZIP codes in southwest Michigan is looking to entice people with up to $15,000 to put toward a home purchase and more than $5,000 in additional perks. Those extras include memberships to athletic clubs, driving ranges, coworking spaces, and more.

Applicants to the Move to Michigan program must be willing to purchase a $200,000 home in the region, which is on the shores of Lake Michigan.

They must also be willing to become a full-time Michigander by securing a Michigan driver's license and claiming the state as their primary residence.

Applicants must also have current full-time, remote employment outside Michigan.

Sign up for the program's newsletter for updates.

Texarkana, which straddles Texas and Arkansas, offers a $5,000 relocation bonus to new residents.

Texarkana is a pair of neighboring twin cities with the same name in both states it straddles: Texas and Arkansas.

The cities have separate municipal governments but often operate as one metropolitan region. It has a joint offer for remote workers moving to either city.

Texarkana is offering a $5,000 relocation bonus along with other incentives, including free tickets to the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra and a 25% tuition discount at Texas A&M at Texarkana, the local four-year public university.

Eligible applicants must make at least $75,000 a year. They must reside outside the state of Arkansas or, if a Texas resident, at least 75 miles from Texarkana.

Topeka, Kansas, is offering potential new residents up to $15,000 to move there.

Kansas' state capital has teamed up with employers to offer cash to those willing to move there.

Participants of the program, called Choose Topeka, can receive up to $15,000 if they purchase a home in Topeka and secure a job in the area. Remote workers with employment outside the area can earn up to $5,000 toward rental costs or $10,000 toward a home purchase.

As an added bonus, Jimmy John's, the sandwich franchise, throws in an extra $1,000 for anyone who moves within delivery range of one of its shops.

Tucson, Arizona, is offering remote workers perks and services worth about $7,500.

A local economic-development organization launched Remote Tucson during the pandemic to lure remote workers to the area.

The program offers relocators $1,500 toward moving costs, one year of free internet, free trials at local coworking spaces, membership to a local cultural institution, networking opportunities, and more.

Eligible applicants must be over 18 years old, have full-time remote employment outside the area, and be able to move to Tucson within six months.

Tulsa Remote, one of the country's most well-known incentive programs, offers remote workers $10,000 grants.

Tulsa Remote, a program that started in 2018, is designed to draw new residents to Oklahoma. Since 2018, the program has helped more than 1,400 people relocate to Tulsa.

The program offers $10,000, which people can put toward purchasing or renting a home in Tulsa. It also offers $500 travel reimbursements and a $150 Airbnb credit for applicants to familiarize themselves with the area.

Insider previously interviewed four folks who hailed from major cities on both US coasts and made the move to Tulsa; most said it was a fantastic decision.

To qualify for the program, applicants must be over 18 and live outside Oklahoma. They must also prove a consistent stream of income and the ability to work remotely. Applicants must also promise to commit to moving to and living in Tulsa for at least one year.

Taylor Borden, Libertina Brandt, and Leanna Garfield contributed to previous versions of this story.

• Erin and Jon Carpenter bought and renovated a laundromat in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2022.
• Initially, the goal was to make a few extra dollars, but the reward has been the community.
• A love for Charleston led them to more renovation projects in the city.

This as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Erin and Jon Carpenter, a married couple living in Charleston, South Carolina. The two have residential-renovation experience, but bought their first commercial property, a laundromat, in 2022. The conversations have been edited for length and clarity.

Erin: It was definitely Jon's idea to buy a laundromat.

He went down a rabbit hole on YouTube with laundromats — and he is an entrepreneur, he went to business school — so he'd always heard that they were a good investment.

So we were thinking — well, he was thinking — why not try a laundromat?

Jon: I had a marketing business that I saved some money from, and I was just seeing it deflate. I think the inflation had started, and we started seeing high inflation numbers at 8%, 9%, and 10%. And I was like, "What is a good recessionary business that does well?"

We had a background in traveling and going to laundromats, and then this one came.

Erin: It was very, very cheap. And we went to see it, and we saw why it was very, very cheap.

It was in absolutely horrible condition, and I was horrified. I was like, "Oh, wow, this is crazy. This is going to be a funny story to talk about later."

And then we walked out, and Jon said, "I love it." I said, "Then let's do it."

Jon: It was a little over $50,000. The guy who owned it wanted to move on.

Erin: And we had no idea what we were doing. We were kind of just learning as we went.

Jon: We thought we'd love to be in the local business community, it's not far from our house, and it would be a fun pet project to renovate. Then we got into it knowing that if it lost money, it wouldn't make or break us if we lost it. At least we'll learn something. Or maybe we can sell it before we get into it, but it wasn't a huge risk.

The laundromat doesn't make us that much money, but we love the community

Erin: Thankfully, all the machines in the laundromat were still good, so we didn't have to replace any. We just rehabbed the seating areas and how they looked on the inside, making it a more comfortable place for people to sit, because it didn't even feel safe to be inside.

It just felt very dingy and gross. All the furniture was broken, and there were trash cans and trash everywhere. It was not a great place to be.

We just threw ourselves into that.

We put in new flooring. We ripped out the old front desk. We did all new ceiling and new lights. We built out a back office. We painted all the existing dryers, and built a window counter in the front with stools up at the counter for seating.

Jon: Over the past three to four years, we've probably put $75,000 into it.

Erin: The renovation took about three months. It's definitely our shortest renovation.

We knew nothing about that neighborhood. Our initial thought was: This will be a really good business investment.

Jon: When we got it, it lost $800 a month, and then we got it to about breakeven, then to about making $1,000 to $3,000 a month.

The problem is that machines break down, and then that costs, or we have to redo something, and that costs a couple of grand, so the net income goes down.

But our highest months have probably had a net of $5,000 to $6,000. We've started getting our pickup and delivery business going, so that's starting to grow at a rapid pace.

Erin: But the moment we walked in the door, we met Steve, the attendant who'd been there for 11 years. And then throughout the whole renovation process, we got connected with all sorts of people in the neighborhood, like Leroy, who is at the church across the street, but he's also a painter. He painted the dryers, and his wife, Emily, would stop by and help us out with whatever we needed.

It really gave us a window into this tight-knit community. We did the first free laundry day, and that's when we really got to know people and felt like it was way bigger than just a laundromat.

Ever since then, we've been doing free laundry days about once a month, and also trying to do more events. It's been really cool to see.

That's why we hang on to it. We're stressed all the time; it's not a passive business, but it's just this awesome community, and it's a good business too. I think the people are really what make it so memorable and so valuable.

Jon: We fell in love with community. My goal was to make $1,000 a month of net income off of it. I thought that'd be equivalent to getting a rental house. We're doing better than my initial goal. And I think if we keep growing it and do more, we can do even better.

If there's anything that I've learned about this investment, it's that we went in there to not make a lot of money, but it ended up doing so much good in the community that the money didn't matter that much.

• More than 817,000 people moved out of California from 2021 to 2022, per most recent census data. 
• It's not just regular people: Celebrities have left Los Angeles for places like Texas and Florida.
• Here are 20 celebrities who left LA — plus where they chose to move to and why. 

California is the US state with the most people moving out, with about 817,000 leavers between 2021 and 2022, according to the most recent census data.

A higher cost of living plus the increased threat of wildfires have people choosing other places across the country.

And while regular people ditch the Golden State, several celebrities, who can typically afford to live wherever they want, have also decided California is no longer the place for them.

Singer-turned-talk show host Kelly Clarkson traded Los Angeles for New York City post-divorce for in 2022, while actor Sylvester Stallone said earlier this year that he and his family are "permanently" vacating California for South Florida.

Popular moving destinations for Californians include Arizona, Florida, and Texas. And some have chosen different countries completely.

People have told Business Insider recently that reasons for leaving LA and California include high taxes, expensive home prices, and challenging social and political conditions. Some celebrities remain tight-lipped when sharing moves of their news, simply saying they're looking for a fresh start. Other high-profile actors, however, admit that the fast-paced, stressful scene in Hollywood can be another motivation.

Los Angeles, in particular, is experiencing an exodus of wealthier people in search of places where their money goes further.

Take Gus Lira, a managing partner at a private jet charter company, who had a condo in Malibu overlooking the ocean. California taxes were wearing him down, so he decided to move to Nevada.

"For me, really the main reason, and for many of the people that I know, is just taxes," Lira told Business Insider in January. "You can't get ahead when you get $100 and they take $60."

Business Insider compiled a list of 20 celebrities — some in celebrity couples — who left California for greener pastures, presented in alphabetical order by last name. We tried to include both where they moved to and why they left LA.

Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake left LA to shield their kids from the glare of the paparazzi.

The power couple has dealt with the paparazzi for most of their professional careers. But they had enough of their kids also having to endure it.

Since 2018, Biel, Timberlake, and their two kids have lived predominantly at their properties in Tennessee and Montana.

"You get hammered on the East Coast. You kind of get hammered on the West Coast. That's why we don't really live there anymore," said Biel in a May 22 episode of SiriusXM's "Let's Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa," seemingly referring to her former home of LA. "We're just trying to create some normalcy for these kids."

Dean Cain left LA for Las Vegas because of the "incredible taxation" and "horrible regulations for business" in California.

Dean Cain, best known for playing Clark Kent/Superman in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," was fed up with how things were run in California.

The actor split for Vegas last year.

"It's the most ridiculous large government, incredible taxation, horrible regulations for business," he told Fox News Digital in 2023. "Very anti-business."

Cain said California's personal income tax felt especially high.

"I moved to Las Vegas. I live in Nevada now," he added. "I have 10 times as nice a house. I'm not kidding. Ten times as nice a house as I had in Malibu. The house is absolutely stunningly built. Gorgeous, beautiful. Everything is brand new."

Kelly Clarkson didn't just move from LA to New York — she took her daytime talk show with her.

Kelly Clarkson felt she had a new lease on life when she moved to New York City last year.

After finalizing her divorce from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in 2022, she didn't just take her kids east. She also brought "The Kelly Clarkson Show" — it started taping in New York in season 5.

"I was very depressed for the last three years — and maybe a little before that, if I'm being honest. I think I really needed the change," the Grammy winner told People. "I needed it for me and my family as well. My kids are thriving here. We're just doing so much better, and we needed a fresh start."

Jesse Eisenberg

Actor and director Jesse Eisenberg took the pandemic as an opportunity to leave Los Angeles. Eisenberg, his wife, and their son packed up an RV and drove to his wife's hometown of Bloomington, Indiana.

"We have driven cross-country a lot, but we thought it would be prudent to isolate in an RV instead of stopping at hotels," Eisenberg told The Hollywood Reporter.

Initially, Eisenberg moved to Indiana to help take care of his late mother-in-law after she got sick and also help out at a domestic violence shelter where she worked.

But Eisenberg was happy to be in Indiana.

"I've lived in Indiana for a decade on-and-off and that's where I feel the most comfortable," Eisenberg told CBS News in February. "I'm not somebody who wants to surround myself in an industry that just feels kind of unstable."

Walton Goggins

"The White Lotus" star Walton Goggins and his wife Nadia Conners moved to New York's Hudson Valley during the pandemic in 2021. But, he told Architectural Digest in February, the move was less about California, and more about New York.

"We weren't running away from Los Angeles," he said. "We were running toward something."

"The pandemic opened windows of self-perception and possibility," he added. "It was an opportunity to do something different, not to start over from scratch but to change, to evolve."

Goggins, who was raised in Georgia, chose to live in a 1920s home upstate that resembles a hunting lodge — with an abundance of wood paneling and wood flooring — instead of the glitzy surroundings of Los Angeles.

John Goodman left LA in the late '80s.

John Goodman figured out a long time ago that Los Angeles wasn't for him and has been living in New Orleans since the late 1980s.

Like many, the Emmy winner first visited Crescent City to party. In the late 1970s, he showed up with his fraternity pals. A few years later, as an actor, he was shooting the movie "Everybody's All-American" alongside Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lange, and Timothy Hutton when he met his future wife, Anna Beth. He's been attached to the city ever since.

"I used to come down here every time I'd get a few dimes to rub together, and it felt like I was missing something unless I was here," he told "Today" in 2023. "I consider myself very lucky to be here."

Josh Harnett has been living in the English countryside since the pandemic. He left Hollywood after dealing with a stalker.

The actor recently gained renewed attention thanks to movies like "Oppenheimer" and "Trap," but don't expect to find him hanging out on the Sunset Strip. Since the pandemic, he's ditched LA for the English countryside.

Harnett and his wife, British actor Tamsin Egerton, have lived in Hampshire since COVID hit, bringing up their four kids. He's living in the UK on a marriage visa, so he can only leave the country for work 180 days a year.

After spending his early career in the Hollywood spotlight, Harnett told The Guardian he loves the village country life where "nobody cares" who you are.

"This is all brand new to me," he said. "I never would have expected it. And time passes quickly. With four children, you have so much to do. In a way, less is happening. But more of the important stuff is happening."

Being outside Hollywood is also safer for Hartnett. He told The Guardian that when he lived in LA, he had experiences with stalkers.

"People showed up at my house. People that were stalking me," he said. "A guy showed up at one of my premieres with a gun, claiming to be my father. He ended up in prison. There were lots of things. It was a weird time. And I wasn't going to be grist for the mill."

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban moved to Tennessee to be closer to the country music scene.

A year after Nicole Kidman tied the knot with country-music star Keith Urban, the two got the heck out of LA.

In 2007, they moved to Nashville, where the Australian Oscar winner dove headfirst into Urban's world.

"That country-music community is a very warm community," she told People in 2016. "It's very protective. Keith's been a part of it for decades now. It's his home, it's our home."

Eva Longoria and her family split time between Mexico and Spain.

The star and producer made the decision a few years ago to move out of Los Angeles.

She now splits her time between Mexico and Spain. She told Marie Claire in 2024 that she left Hollywood behind because it felt like that "chapter in my life is done now."

While recently on "Live with Kelly and Mark," Longoria said she loves traveling to the Andalucía region of Spain to enjoy the small beach bars and restaurants.

Matthew McConaughey headed to Texas to help his family.

A few years before the McConaissance led to Matthew McConaughey's best actor Oscar win, he and his wife Camila Alves fled Hollywood for his home state of Texas.

The two settled in Austin in 2012 after buying a 10,800-square-foot mansion. According to a profile in Southern Living, it was initially because of a "family crisis," as he needed to help his mother and two brothers. That led to the couple deciding to stay put to raise their three children there.

"Ritual came back," McConaughey said of being back in Texas. "Whether that was Sunday church, sports, dinner together as a family every night, or staying up after that telling stories in the kitchen, sitting at the island pouring drinks and nibbling while retelling them all in different ways than we told them before."

Glen Powell moved to Texas after making it big in LA.

Glen Powell left Los Angeles and returned to his home state of Texas in 2024.

Powell, who had a breakout role in "Top Gun: Maverick," has lived in Los Angeles for more than 15 years, but told The Hollywood Reporter that he's done enough in Hollywood and he feels he can now live elsewhere. "It's like I've earned the ability to go back to my family," he said.

Not only does living in Texas allow Powell to be closer to family, but he's also finishing his degree at the University of Texas.

"I think this is going to be good for my head, heart, and soul," he said.

Amanda Seyfried headed to upstate New York for a taste of the simple life.

With movies like "Mean Girls" and "Mamma Mia!" in her filmography, you would think Amanda Seyfried would want to lay her head down somewhere glamorous.

But she actually prefers life on a farm.

Seyfried spends most of her time on a farm in the Catskills, a mountain range north of New York City, told Architectural Digest reported in 2023. in 2023 that that she purchased in 2014.

"It's insane how much I can feel so accomplished and successful here without having to be in a successful movie," she told The New York Times in 2020.

Sylvester Stallone wanted a new start in Florida.

After decades of living in Los Angeles — including in his first dingy apartme.nt on Balboa Boulevard, which would become the inspiration for his iconic character Rocky Balboa — Sylvester Stallone packed up and left town in 2023.

This was first revealed in early 2024, during season two of his reality series "The Family Stallone".

"After a long, hard consideration, your mother and I have decided, time to move on and leave the state of California permanently, and we're going to go to Florida," Stallone said. "We're going to sell this house."

Stallone and his wife, Jennifer Flavin, gave multiple reasons for the relocation, including the desire for a fresh start after their children moved out of the family home.

Rod Stewart went back to his roots in England.

The legendary rocker decided that at 79 years old, it was time to stop traveling across the pond.

Last year, he put his sprawling 38,500-square-foot Beverly Hills property, which he has lived in since 1975, on the market.

Selling the home is bittersweet for Stewart: "I don't want to sell it, and the kids don't want me to sell it either," Stewart told People. "There's too many fond memories. I've lived [in LA] since 1975, and I adore the place."

But he said he's making England a more permanent home since wrapping up his latest world tour and Las Vegas residency last year.

Hilary Swank moved to a Colorado ski town.

The Oscar winner is loving her new life in the mountains of Telluride, Colorado, on 168 acres with five rescue dogs.

She and her husband, Philip Schneider, bought the land in 2016, broke ground in 2018, and finally completed the home in 2020.

A year later, she put her LA home on the market and has been living it up in the great outdoors.

"I have been looking for land since I was in my mid-20s," Swank told Architectural Digest in 2022. "I find nature to be my happiest place, and animals are my other happiest place. And to be with both of them is everything to me."

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively left LA after just six months of dating.

When you know, you know. After less than a year of dating, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively packed up their stuff and left Hollywood for the suburbs of New York City.

In 2012, after six months of dating, the couple bought a $2.3 million home in Pound Ridge, New York.

"We don't live in LA. We live on a farm in New York," said the "Deadpool" star in a 2015 interview. "And we don't lead a wild and crazy life. It's not that hard. It's not a big deal."

Julia Roberts hasn't lived in LA for decades.

The Oscar winner realized many years ago that Los Angeles wasn't for her.

Roberts moved to a 32-acre ranch in Taos, New Mexico, in 1995.

The "Pretty Woman" star told Oprah back in 2003 that in New Mexico, everything is "clear."

"Around here, I come and go like it's nothing," she said. "Los Angeles is such a town of show business, and I'm a terrible celebrity. I find it difficult — it's the beast that must be fed."

Eric Stonestreet left Hollywood for Kansas City to get away from the "douchebaggery" of the business.

"Modern Family" star Eric Stonestreet did not mince words when he explained why he's been living in Kansas City since the acclaimed show ended after 11 seasons in 2020.

In a September interview with long-form interview journalist Graham Bensinger, he said a big reason he left LA was to get away from all the fake people in Hollywood.

"What I realized it does is it highlights everything great about our business, the entertainment business," the actor said on what it's like to no longer live in LA. "And it highlights all the douchebaggery of our business. It amplifies it. Because I'm here, I'm dealing with people from here, and I'm going into the store and having all these authentic, real moments, and then I go to Hollywood, and you're reminded of some of the types of people that you deal with."

James Van Der Beek moved his family out of LA after he and his wife renewed their vows in Austin.

In 2020, James Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly renewed their wedding vows for their 10th anniversary in Austin, Texas.

A year later, they moved their six kids from LA to Austin, where they now live on a 36-acre property.

"We wanted to get the kids out of Los Angeles," Van Der Beek told Austin Lifestyle in 2021. "We wanted to give them space and we wanted them to live in nature."

Mark Wahlberg moved his family to Las Vegas for a "fresh start."

Boston-born Mark Wahlberg set out to LA years ago to make it as an actor. Over his career, he realized he rarely stayed there to make any of his movies. So, in 2022, he packed up and moved his family to Las Vegas.

He told The Talk in October 2022 that in Nevada his four kids can more easily pursue their hobbies, including golfing, riding horses, and playing basketball.

"We came here to just kind of give ourselves a new look, a fresh start for the kids, and there's a lot of opportunity here," Wahlberg told The Talk. "I'm really excited about the future."

• A family that got rich selling baking powder is selling a private island priced at $35 million.
• The Ziegler family has owned Hay Island, just off the Connecticut coast, for over a century.
• Family members have moved to other spots in the US, so they no longer need such a large property.

Summer vacations on a private island are a dream for most families.

They were a luxurious reality, however, for descendants of William Ziegler Sr., an industrialist who cofounded the Royal Baking Powder Company in the 1800s.

Over 100 years ago, the Ziegler family acquired Hay Island, an 18-acre spit of land off the Connecticut coast with a 8,684-square-foot New England colonial home, a two-bedroom guest house, an infinity-edge pool, and two beaches.

While it previously served as summer "cottage," it was recently used as a full-time residence. As family members moved to other places in the country, though, they no longer needed the island in the Long Island Sound. Now, the family has put Hay Island on the market for $35 million.

The Zieglers have recent experience offloading a private island for a eight-figure sum. In 2023, the family sold Great Island — just across Ziegler Cove from Hay Island, for $85 million to the town of Darien, which plans to turn it into a public park.

The Ziegler family's current net worth is unclear, but Forbes estimated it to be $2.8 billion in 2015, due in part to investment in a cigar company.

Take a look around Hay Island to see how the Zieglers lived and vacationed.

Hay Island has been in the Ziegler family for over 100 years.

William Ziegler Sr. amassed the family's wealth in the late 1800s after cofounding the Royal Baking Powder Company.

The current house on the property was built in 2010.

The island was used as a full-time residence. Before the construction of the current house, it was used as a summertime retreat.

The 8,684-square-foot home was designed by architect Austin Patterson Disston.

Now the island is on the market for $35 million.

Leslie McElwreath of Sotheby's International Realty's Greenwich brokerage has the listing.

The family has relocated south and no longer regularly visits the Connecticut home.

Helen M. Ziegler, an heiress to the baking-powder fortune, sold a home in Palm Beach for $15.9 million in 2024, Palm Beach County property records show.

The family also owned other islands in Connecticut, and this is the last of their collection.

The Ziegler family listed Great Island, a 60-acre island across Ziegler Cove from Hay Island, for $100 million in 2022. Darien, a small town know for its wealthy residents, bought Great Island for $85 million with plans to turn it into a public park.

Most rooms in the home have views of the Long Island Sound.

The home has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

The Ziegler family once gathered in the family room.

The family room offers room for indoor and outdoor seating with access to a screened-in porch.

The library — like most rooms in the house — has water views.

According to the listing, the library includes custom bookshelves, window seats, a wet bar, and a fireplace.

The chef's kitchen gets plenty of light from several windows facing the water.

The breakfast room has its own fireplace — one of six fireplaces in the home.

Hay Island is 18 acres.

The island has two beaches — the rest is a rocky shoreline.

The infinity pool also overlooks the Long Island Sound.

The outdoor terrace also includes an outdoor fireplace and a built-in barbecue.

The property also has a two-bedroom guest house.

The guest house has a fully equipped kitchen, a private office, and a fireplace.

• Several members of Donald Trump's inner circle have bought luxury houses in Washington, DC.
• Mark Zuckerberg and cabinet appointees have spent between $4.4 million and $25 million on homes.
• The purchases suggest that power is consolidating in Washington at the start of Trump's second term.

President Donald Trump moved back to Washington, DC in January. At least a few of his supporters and allies are following suit.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the latest Trump ally to buy property in DC, following other administration appointees, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Their purchases have bolstered Washington, DC's luxury housing market with what local real-estate agents have called a "Trump bump."

While many government officials move to DC at the start of a new administration, the high price tags of some of these properties are notable.

According to Long & Foster's latest luxury housing report for the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, 224 homes priced at $1.5 million or more were sold in February 2025 — an 11.4% increase from the previous year.

The median sales price for a typical home in Washington, DC, is $642,500, according to Redfin. Properties are more expensive, however, in the upscale neighborhoods where members of Trump's inner circle are buying. Georgetown's median sales price is $1.65 million, while Kalorama Heights' is $777,500.

Here's a look at six Trump-adjacent people who've moved to DC so far.

Mark Zuckerberg bought a $23 million Washington, DC house in March.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has grown his mainly West-Coast-focused real-estate portfolio with a $23 million mansion in Washington, DC.

"Mark and Priscilla have purchased a home in DC, which will allow Mark to spend more time there as Meta continues the work on policy issues related to American technology leadership," a Meta spokesperson wrote to Business Insider in an email.

Politico identified the home Zuckerberg bought as a 15,000-square-foot property in DC's swanky Woodland Normanstone neighborhood, about four miles from the Capitol. Builder magazine profiled the house, designed by Robert Gurney Architect, describing it as three gable-roofed sections linked by glass-enclosed walkways.

While most of the information about the property has been scrubbed from listing sites and images of it on Google Maps' Street View have been blurred, listing agent Daniel Heider's website still contains snippets of info. It was built in 2017, sits on 1.08 acres, and is the "Third-Highest Ever Recorded Sale in Washington, DC history."

Zuckerberg traveled to Mar-a-Lago twice between Election Day and Inauguration Day. He and his wife sat on the platform at Trump's inauguration and, according to the Wall Street Journal, has visited the White House three times since, in part to lobby Trump to settle and avoid an antitrust trial.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent paid $12.5 million for a house in Georgetown.

Scott Bessent purchased a home for $12.5 million in the classy Georgetown neighborhood just a few days after his confirmation as Trump's treasury secretary, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Before moving to Washington, DC, Bessent was the CEO and CIO of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management. He was confirmed as treasury secretary on January 27, and the 8,048-square-foot home's sale went final on January 31, according to Zillow.

The 1941-built home was formerly owned by Constance J. Milstein, the ambassador to Malta from 2022 to 2025. It has five bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms, and a saltwater pool.

The husband of Trump nominee Jacob Helberg bought a $6.7 million house in Kalorama Heights earlier this year.

Washington, DC, property records show that venture capitalist Keith Rabois spent $6.7 million on a house in January.

Rabois, the managing director of venture firm Khosla Ventures, is married to Jacob Helberg, who Trump has nominated as undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment. Helberg, a senior advisor to the CEO of software development company Palantir Technologies, hasn't yet been confirmed.

The listing for the Kalorama Heights townhome Rabois bought says it has seven bedrooms and 6,620 square feet of space.

Helberg and Rabois are quietly trying to find a buyer for their $65 million Miami mansion, which has an aquarium so big a scuba diver has to clean it.

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent $4.43 million on a house in Georgetown.

Newly confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bought a house for $4.43 million in early April, according to the local publication, the Washingtonian.

Zillow shows the four-bedroom, 4,876-square-foot townhouse in Georgetown listed for $4.85 million in December 2024. The seller bought the home for $2.675 million in 2013.

The house is about half a mile from the house where JFK and Jackie Kennedy lived shortly after they married in 1953. JFK, the 35th president, was RFK Jr.'s uncle.

Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick bought a $25 million house, setting a new Washington, DC, sales record.

Howard Lutnick didn't wait for Congress to confirm him as Secretary of Commerce before securing housing in DC.

In December 2024, he bought Fox News anchor Bret Baier's home for $25 million in an all-cash deal — setting a record for the most expensive home sale ever recorded in Washington, DC.

The 16,250-square-foot mansion in the Foxhall neighborhood hit the market in 2023 with an asking price of $31.9 million. It previously sold for $5.4 million in 2018.

According to the listing, the home is "drenched" in marble throughout and has a 56-foot heated pool, an indoor sports court, and a golf simulator.

Lutnick is the former CEO of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

David Sacks, Trump's "czar" for cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, spent $10.5 million on a DC penthouse.

The Trump administration's "crypto czar," David Sacks, bought a Washington, DC, penthouse in December 2024, Axios first reported. Sacks purchased the property for $10.25 million, records show.

The 6,400-square-foot penthouse in Georgetown has four bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a terrace.

Sacks — an investor, entrepreneur, and member of the "PayPal Mafia" — spent the majority of his career in tech and has now been tapped to work on regulating and boosting the cryptocurrency and AI industries.

• The "Full House" house in San Francisco has sold for $6 million.
• The sitcom's creator, Jeff Franklin, bought and renovated the property before selling it in 2020.
• The home's new owners put it on the market in June of 2024; the sale closed on April 7.

The San Francisco house used as the Tanner residence in the beloved sitcom "Full House" has sold for $6 million.

The early opening credits of the show — which chronicled the hijinks of three men parenting three sisters over eight seasons from 1987 to 1995 — ended with a shot of the Victorian townhouse at 1709 Broderick Street.

In reality, though, the show filmed all of its interior scenes at a studio in Los Angeles. So the memorable living room and kitchen where countless humorous exchanges took place never actually existed inside the house.

That doesn't stop people from showing up and taking pictures.

The "Full House" fandom is still alive — so much so that the show's creator, Jeff Franklin, paid $4 million for the house in 2016 and planned to turn the interior into a replica of the TV set and allow fans to visit.

Those plans fell through and Franklin renovated the home in a more modern fashion. The outside looks the same as it did in the '80s, but the red door has been repainted a more neutral black color. The same can't be said about the inside, which was completely updated with upscale 21st-century finishings and furniture.

Franklin sold the house for $5.35 million in 2020. Those buyers turned sellers who put the home on the market for $6.5 million in June 2024. In April 2025, they sold the four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom townhouse for $6 million, according to its listing history on Realtor.com. (TMZ first reported the sale.)

Take a look at the "Full House" house, which remains a pop-culture touchpoint even as it's undergone many changes.

The "Full House" home made famous by the sitcom sold in April for $6 million.

Rachel Swann of The Swann Group listed the four-bedroom home, which last sold in 2020 for $5.35 million. Swann didn't immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.

Jeff Franklin, the show's creator, bought the home in 2016 for $4 million and renovated it before the 2020 sale.

The opening credits of "Full House" actually showed two different neighborhoods.

In the opening credits of the show, the family is seen driving across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and picnicking by the famous row of "Painted Ladies" — pastel-colored Victorian townhouses — across from Alamo Square.

The house that the Tanners "lived in" during the show — the one used for exterior shots that sold in April of 2025 — is actually about a mile north of Alamo Square.

Although the red door is missing, the home still looks similar to when it was featured on the show.

The exterior of the home looks slightly updated since the show first aired in 1987, but it retains a neutral-colored facade, a big bay window, brick steps, and a door framed by white columns.

It's still a tourist attraction for many fans of "Full House," and many paid pilgrimages and left flowers after star Bob Saget's sudden death in 2022.

Immediately, the inside takes on a very different vibe than the Tanners' living room.

The inside of the home always looked different than it did on the show because all indoor scenes were filmed using a soundstage.

Franklin's original plan after buying the house was to renovate the 3,737-square-foot home to replicate the set of the show, but those plans fell through.

Unsurprisingly, the kitchen looks way more modern than the woodsy kitchen showed on air.

The house was originally built in 1883, but architect Richard Landry renovated it most recently in 2019.

The bedrooms definitely aren't stuck in the '80s.

With the lack of wallpaper, posters, and other colorful decorations, this couldn't be one of the girls' rooms.

The home retains a few nods to its place in TV history.

In the backyard garden, there are concrete slabs with handprints and signatures from the original cast.

• Trump's childhood home in Queens recently sold for a $1.2 million loss.
• The home last sold for $2.1 million in 2017 but has fallen in disrepair.
• The CEO of the auction house that sold it in years past said it was his most-profiled sale.

President Donald Trump is known for the art of the deal. However, his childhood home in Queens sold at a $1.2 million loss last month.

While Trump had nothing to do with the sale of the Jamaica Estates home, where he lived until he was 4 years old, it sold for just $835,000 after selling for $2.1 million in 2017.

New York City records show the 2,500-square-foot home, located 22 miles from Manhattan, was sold to a New York-based LLC named 1388 Group. The home sold in an off-market deal, and the seller "just needed the money," according to the New York Post.

Unlike the previous two sales in 2016 and 2017, this sale went under the radar — those sales were auctions with major national media attention. Misha Haghani, the CEO and founder of Paramount Realty, the auction firm that handled the first two sales, said he'd never seen anything like it.

"I don't think there has ever been an auction on the planet for a property that was more high-profile — I'm pretty sure of that," Haghani told Business Insider.

"He was running to be the 45th president of the United States," he added. "Before that, there were only 44 US presidents. How many of their childhood homes do you think still stood?"

Initially, an in-person auction was planned for the day of the final presidential debate in 2016, but there was so much attention that it had to be postponed.

Haghani believes the commotion surrounding the first sale increased the home's value — he thought it was worth about $950,000 at the time.

Haghani said the seller still received a bid and wanted to accept, so they sold the home for $1.39 million in December 2016.

In January 2017, the house was up for auction again — this time, a sealed bid auction, where hopefuls submit a bid blindly by a certain deadline. The second sale raised the value another 50% as the home sold for $2.14 million.

Haghani said he "was surprised" by the numbers.

However, the more recent sales price wasn't surprising, as the home had recently fallen into disrepair. In October, the real estate website Curbed reported that 20 to 30 feral cats commandeered the now-abandoned property.

Trump's father, a real-estate developer, built the five-bedroom home and the neighborhood itself. According to Realtor.com, the median listing price for a home in the neighborhood today is $1.5 million.

• Starting April 1, New Zealand is easing its golden visa rules to lure wealthy people to move there.
• Most visa inquiries so far have come from Americans, the New Zealand government told BI.
• Americans jarred by political tumult may be drawn to New Zealand's lifestyle, safety, and stability.

New Zealand's breathtaking landscapes and temperate climate lured 370,000 American visitors in 2024, according to government arrival data.

Other Americans may want to make more permanent trips.

About 40% of inquiries about New Zealand's "golden visa" program have come from the US, according to Benny Goodman, the investment general manager for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, or NZTE.

Some Americans are exploring moves out of the country because of dissatisfaction with the political climate. Google searches for "moving to New Zealand" spiked around Election Day and Inauguration Day, as did related searches for "moving to Canada" and "how to move out of the US."

Starting April 1, it'll get a little easier for wealthy foreigners to pay for a pathway to New Zealand residency. The country is changing the requirements for its golden visa program, formally called the "active investor plus" visa.

The lightening of golden visa requirements comes as New Zealand is trying to boost an economy grappling with recession, its worst downturn since 1991 except for the pandemic.

The government is itching for high-net-worth immigrants, according to Dominic Jones, the managing director of Greener Pastures New Zealand, which helps people get residency through investment.

Jones said there are three main reasons wealthy Americans might be drawn to New Zealand: its laid-back lifestyle, its political stability, and its lack of crime.

"If you go back 10 or 20 years, the drivers around safety in particular may not have been that important, but now it's increasingly on people's minds," he said.

Americans are intrigued by the new visa options

The new golden visa requirements are as follows: Prospective residents can invest $5 million New Zealand dollars (or about $2.8 million) in "higher-risk" investments, like managed funds, and hold them for at least three years to receive permanent residency.

Investors can choose a second option and invest $10 million New Zealand dollars (or about $5.7 million) — with somewhat safer investing options, like bonds or a list of equities — and hold them for five years.

Previously, there were three, not two, different investment groups, more time required in the country to qualify for residency, and an English-speaking requirement that has been removed. The previous minimum investment was more expensive: $15 million New Zealand dollars.

Bloomberg reported in February that only 43 golden visa applicants from all countries were approved between 2022 and 2025, when the old rules were in place. They brought in a total of $545 million New Zealand dollars.

According to the New Zealand Herald, since the changes were announced in February, NZTE saw a 400% rise in visits to its visa web pages.

Since Greener Pastures' website launched in December, inquiries about relocating from America to New Zealand have tripled, beating out increases in interest from other countries, said Mischa Mannix-Opie, the director of client experience at Greener Pastures.

"Americans have been our key focus — that's been our priority," she told BI. "That's where we've seen the biggest lift which has been quite pleasing for us to see."

There are also less-expensive options to spend a few months in New Zealand, including a digital nomad visa that allows travelers to work from New Zealand for up to 92 days. If you qualify, it costs about $193.

Some Americans are already enjoying the New Zealand lifestyle.

Take Garvey Daniels, who moved his family from California to New Zealand in 2022, after falling in love with the scenery while living there in the '90s.

Daniels told BI in 2023 that he worries less about his kids' safety in New Zealand.

"My kids just get to go and have an education," he said. "They can walk to the dairy with their friends, and if they decide they want to go eat ice cream on the beach and they're not home right away, I don't go into a mad panic."

• A formerly remote federal worker based in Illinois was called back into the office in March.
• They were asked to report to an office building they'd never heard of that has a trickier commute.
• They said other employees who RTO at the same facility don't work together but do commiserate.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a federal worker based in Illinois. They've asked to be anonymous for fear of job repercussions. Business Insider has verified their identity and employment. It's been edited for length and clarity.

My agency announced the return to office.

I had been expecting it, so it wasn't that bad. But grieving the remote work took a couple of days — and grief is nonlinear, so it came and went and came and went. When I thought I was over being upset about it, it came back.

I was fully expecting to be assigned to downtown Chicago in the district office, but instead, I got an email at 10 o'clock on a Wednesday night with orders to show up on Monday at some place I'd never heard of.

I was like, "What the hell is this place?" I thought I had seen the full list of available places they could assign me to go. That one came out of left field, and it was a shock.

I was surprised at the office I was assigned to

I'd been looking in my agency's facilities resources, and they have these cool occupant guides that tell you everything you need to know about each one of their facilities. They didn't have one for this office. There was barely anything about it on my agency's internal website.

That area is home to a lot of industrial parks. There are some residents who live there, but it's largely office parks and factories. The only time I'd been here previously was to pick up something at a UPS center.

The nearest place to get lunch is the better part of a half-mile walk up the road to your choice of Mexican restaurants. No shade, I love Mexican — it's my favorite non-steak and potatoes cuisine.

At any rate, I showed up there on the Monday and I'm in a room with 10 other people who had their remote agreements terminated. There were people who used to work at the Chicago district office, there were people who have been remote for over 10 years, and there was me.

When we first got here, they hadn't cleared out offices for us, and they hadn't moved staff to other offices. They had to move people to accommodate us because this facility simply isn't built for this many employees, I guess.

The RTO process felt a bit rushed and mean

The speed of the return was, I want to say, intentional cruelty.

Still, the staff who manage the facilities have done their best to minimize the impact of that cruelty.

The people who made the decisions and the schedule on the return to office had almost no consideration for the space and administrative services people who actually handle the facilities. Those people have done heroic lifting in trying to make this all work. They shouldn't have had to move mountains on the schedule that they did.

Some of that was consistent with the Russell Vought quote about terrorizing us as federal employees. It's one thing for a private citizen to want to terrorize us. It's another for the director of the Office of Management and Budget to want to do it.

My commute is tricky — it's 42 stops if I take public transit

Getting here by public transit is very complicated. I haven't actually done it yet; I've been getting a ride from my wife.

I'm going to be busing when she goes back to work, but fortunately for me, she's not going to work right now.

It's six miles to my office, and then she has eight miles to her work — but this is all rush hour on city streets. It's about 25 minutes to get to my office if we leave early. It's going to take what was her 40-minute commute and make it over well over an hour.

To my office, it would be 42 stops on one bus and then a mile-and-a-quarter walk that involves going under a highway underpass. It's not the greatest walk.

In an ideal world, you can do it in an hour and five minutes. In the real world, I don't even know. If you miss one of the long buses, that's an extra 23 minutes while you're waiting for the next bus.

Going to the downtown office would have taken about 45 minutes — nine stops on the train. You miss a Chicago Transit Authority train, and it's only another five to seven minutes during rush hour. It's not a big deal.

It's $4 a day to take public transit, paid by the taxpayer due to the provisions of the Clean Air Incentives Act. While it's still intact, federal employees get subsidies if they take public transit.

If I drove, the car maintenance, gas, and total cost and depreciation would be all on me. Still, if I were here long-term and I knew I had certainty in my job, I would buy a second car.

I don't work with anyone else in the office

The people who RTO-ed were assigned to a conference room for a few days while we sorted things out.

We were all a little gobsmacked about being there. We're 10 randos thrown together from random divisions in a company.

None of us work together. None of us are from the same division. None of us have anything in common other than locality and having been remote.

There is almost no synergistic benefit to the American taxpayer or the government to have us stationed here in addition to the regular staff already stationed here.

We're a bunch of spreadsheet monkeys who could maybe show each other neat tricks in Excel. Otherwise, there's no knowledge transfer. There's no collaboration. We're not like a normal office as people would understand it.

Most of the people I work with are in Maryland.

When people return to the office, even at a large company that has maybe 10 sites or something, the people who are thrown back into the office generally work together. They generally sit together and maybe go to lunch together.

That's not what's happening here.

This is people from disparate parts of a big agency being thrown back together in whatever the nearest facility was regardless of what they do. There's no search for synergy in the return to office, at least from my experience.

We're commiserating. We're doing our best to support each other.

That was something that I thought would happen with return to work in general — that people would find other people, we would have some mutual solidarity and support, and we would be there for what I call a good water cooler session.

Even though we don't have a water cooler, we can still stand around and chat. That's something that just helps the morale and helps you get through the day.

• A penthouse in the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, is on the market for $49 million.
• The home is about 2,300 feet off the ground, about 845 feet higher than the Empire State Building.
• The listing agent told BI he's surprised at how many calls he's gotten from interested Americans.

One homeowner has the chance to live above the clouds.

It'll only cost about $49 million.

A penthouse on the 107th and 108th floors of Dubai's iconic Burj Khalifa — a skyscraper with offices, a luxury hotel, and restaurants — is on the market for 180 million United Arab Emirates dirhams, or about $49 million.

The duplex home is nearly 2,300 feet off the ground, while the Burj Khalifa stands at 2,722 feet tall. For context, the Empire State Building is a mere 1,454 feet tall. New York City's Central Park Tower is the world's tallest primarily residential building at 1,550 feet; its penthouse previously held the highest title.

We don't even know how many bedrooms or bathrooms the 21,000-square-foot residence will hold — that'll be up to the buyer.

"It hasn't got rooms or toilets or baths or kitchens or anything like that, so it's just concrete ceilings, concrete floors, and just glass all around," listing agent Asad Khan told Business Insider.

"The type of person that would look at it would be an investor, who will take on the project and then obviously do the fit-out according to their requirements," Khan, of Invest Dubai Real Estate, added.

The duplex also comes with an indoor pool, a private elevator, and 12 parking spaces.

Khan's client, investor Karl Haddad, purchased the unit in 2020 for an undisclosed amount from Mohamed Alabbar, a founder of Emaar Properties, which developed the Burj Khalifa.

Haddad, the chairman and CEO of IRC Invest, doesn't have the time to build out the unit because he's busy with other projects, Khan said.

When he officially listed the duplex earlier this year, Khan added, he was "overwhelmed" by the amount of Americans who expressed interest.

Managers and agents of athletes, from basketball players to NASCAR drivers, have requested more information about the home, Khan told BI.

One of them was boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, he added.

"They're from various walks of life," Khan said. "We had a huge amount of inquiries in the US — and I don't know why that is."

Recent government data shows that Dubai's population has jumped by 3.85 million people since March 2020 — and 87% of that increase is expats.

The Burj Khalifa has 900 residential units ranging in price from 2.29 million United Arab Emirates dirhams (about $623,000) to 100 million United Arab Emirates dirhams (about $27.2 million), according to United Arab Emirates real-estate listings site Bayut.

Take a look at the highest penthouse in the world, nicknamed the Sky Palace.

Completed in 2010, the Burj Khalifa is 2,722 feet tall, making it the tallest building in the world.

New York City's Central Park Tower is the world's tallest primarily residential building at 1,550 feet.

The Burj Khalifa took six years to build between 2004 and 2010, costing about $1.5 billion, according to regional magazine Arabian Business.

Emaar Properties, one of the largest real-estate firms in the United Arab Emirates, developed the project.

The Burj Khalifa was designed by architect Adrian Smith, who also designed Central Park Tower in New York and the 1,380-foot Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai.

The Burj Khalifa has residences, retail, office space, and a restaurant across its 163 floors.

The residences end on floor 108. Above that are corporate offices.

Below the residences is a 304-room Armani Hotel.

According to the Armani Hotels website, a weekend stay in March costs between 1,650 United Arab Emirates dirhams and 22,500 United Arab Emirates dirhams a night (from $450 to $6,100).

Other amenities for residents of the tower include Japanese gardens and padel courts.

There are also three different observation decks in the building open to the public.

Floors 45 to 108 are private residences, topped by the two-floor penthouse on floors 107 and 108.

The residences range from studios to four-bedroom apartments.

The penthouse duplex for sale has a total of 21,000 square feet of space.

One of the floors has 7,000 square feet, and the other has 14,000 square feet, according to Khan.

It's the only unit in the building with a private indoor pool.

It also comes with 12 parking spaces.

The penthouse's 360 views from above the clouds, though, might be its unique selling point.

"On a clear day, you can see the mountains in Ras Al-Khaimah," Khan, the listing agent, told Business Insider. "You can see across the sea. You're looking down on all the other buildings below you — it's called 'Sky Palace' because you're above the clouds.'"

The seller, Karl Haddad, bought the property as an investment opportunity but had funding partners back out, so now he wants to sell.

"He's busy with other projects and other businesses that he has and doesn't have the time to run such a project," Khan said. "He's not a developer, he's not a builder, or a designer — that's not his game. He's into investments."

Haddad officially put the penthouse on the market earlier this year.

"We've been talking about selling since the middle of last year, and it's been floated around very softly," Khan said.

Khan said whoever buys the unit probably won't live in it and instead treat it as an investment.

"I don't think they're going to live in it because the kind of people that we've been approached by — these people are traveling all around the world, they're busy with their own lives in the US," Khan said. "I think it's more of a status symbol. 'I've got this,' or 'I will have this.' It just adds to the portfolio."

While the unit is unfinished, Khan thinks construction shouldn't take more than a year and a half to complete.

"The hard part is done," he said. "A project like this could potentially turn around within 12 months."

Khan believes that an investor has the potential to sell the penthouse for double its purchase price after it's complete.

Dubai has become popular among American expats.

Dubai's population has been increasing, adding to the demand for housing and squeezing supply.

Khan said he believes that the Dubai market is great for buyers who want to get a lot back from an investment.

"The supply is not there — the demand is there for buyers," he said. "Whoever takes this project on — and if they do it to the ultrawealthy level that it deserves — they will be rewarded accordingly."

It might be an American buyer who has the potential to create their dream home in the sky.

"It's a very iconic building," Khan said. "It's a world-class trophy asset. It's one-of-one and can't be replicated."

• Grace Hern, 36, moved to Canada in 2023 to pursue graduate school and escape US politics.
• She hopes to pave the way for her friends and family to give Canada a try, too.
• Canada's rising displays of nationalism make her a conscious of being an American who lives there.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Grace Hern, a 36-year-old office assistant who moved from Milwaukee to the greater Toronto area with her husband in September of 2023. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

When people asked me, "Why did you move?" I had to answer, "I'm kind of afraid of what my country might do."

Wisconsin is really progressive now, but it's a purple state. So what I felt was, "What if somebody takes over and just starts breaking laws? What if somebody ousts the person that I want in power and then the laws all change?"

The last straw was when Roe v. Wade got overturned. We thought: Let's move to a country where I can get healthcare for my entire body, not just most of it.

When I started telling my friends I was moving to Canada, they were like, "Maybe we should think about that, too." It surprised me a little bit. I thought it was an extreme decision, that it was kind of crazy, but everybody I talked to was like, "Huh, I wonder if that's feasible for me."

I keep encouraging people to get their passports in order and visit — I'll show you around and tell you what it's like to immigrate. I'd like to be that stepping stone if they need it.

I thought a student visa would be my best bet to get into Canada

My husband and I were very lucky that we saved up enough money that we could make the move. We were very lucky that our jobs didn't tie us to Milwaukee. We were very lucky that we had never bought a home in Milwaukee, so we weren't really tied to it financially or legally in the ways that some of my friends and family are.

Now I'm in the greater Toronto area, between Toronto and Stratford. With traffic, it would be about two and a half to three hours outside Toronto.

Everybody says I moved "up north," but, actually, I moved east, across the lakes. When we talk to our parents, they tell us it's snowing, and then we get snow two days later.

I went for a graduate program that was only a year long. I figured if it made our visas that much faster, that would make it a little easier. I wanted to also make some income as a teaching assistant. Then my husband got a work visa. Immediately after I graduated, I had to apply for a postgrad work visa.

My partner and I got married to make our visas easier. I've been with my partner for close to 13 years and we just had never signed a paper. When we wanted to move countries, we were like, "We better make this legally official so that we can cross a border more easily."

Housing is expensive everywhere and hard to find

Jobs and housing are scarce.

There are a lot of housing scams. We went with one of two apartments that we actually saw with our eyes and met the landlord. We were like, "I guess we got to go with one these two that we actually saw because we know that this one isn't a scam."

The only reason our housing is secure now is because I made friends who were like, "My aunt owns a home. You can live in the basement and I'll live on the first floor." I got lucky. It doesn't have air conditioning, but it's OK because it's in a basement. It's a little smaller and more expensive than my place in Milwaukee.

Our last apartment in Milwaukee was $1,200 a month for an actually spacious two-bedroom with a living room, a dining area, a full kitchen, a small backyard, and a parking space.

Now I'm spending $1,800 Canadian dollars (or about $1,258).

Our first very small apartment in Canada was $2,040 Canadian dollars (or about $1,422) a month. It was listed as a two-bedroom but it wasn't really — and we had to pay for a storage unit when we got here.

I'm not exactly sure where I stand with Canadians right now

The Canadians I know right now will look at their phones, reading the news about tariffs, and be like, "Oh my gosh, have you heard how crazy this is?" I'll ask, "Oh no, what happened now?" And they're like, "I can't buy orange juice."

Because of the tariffs, we're going to put little red maple leaves on everything if it's made in Canada.

Everybody is getting pretty nationalististic, at least in their economic choices. People are putting flags on their front lawns and on their cars, and they're all buying Canadian.

Unfurling flags already makes me anxious because in 2016, when all the American flags came out, it tended to be a very white nationalist thing.

My big question is: When you unfurl your Canadian flag, does it include all of the international students? Does it include the Indian grocery store down the street? Does it include all of your immigrants? There's a sense that the flag owners would say, "Yeah, of course it does."

I know that the Canadian flag is not the American flag, and the American flag on your truck is a different thing than the Canadian flag on your truck. But there are similarities.

I just would love to know for certain that somebody flying their Canadian flag really does actually want to include everybody living in their country because that's not what flag-flying meant at home, so it makes me a little nervous.

There's also a social element, where Canadians are more polite and Americans are more friendly. Especially now, it's really weird to figure out where you stand with Canadians. They're always going to tell you the polite thing.

I haven't really felt a shift in how people treat me personally. Although I still have Wisconsin license plates on my car, so people have been asking me, "Are you worried about being vandalized?" I'm like, "No, should I be?"

• Vice President JD Vance sold a Washington, DC-area home for over asking price in less than three weeks.
• Its buyer worked for the last Trump administration and benefits from government contracts.
• A rep for the buyer has said he and Vance had no direct communication during the transaction.

JD Vance sold his home just outside Washington, DC, for $1.87 million after less than three weeks on the market, according to property records.

The buyer is a former deputy director under Trump's first administration who now works as a government contractor — and paid $172,000 over asking price.

Christopher Garcia manages a domestic limited liability company registered in Nevada that purchased Vance's home in Alexandria, Virginia, a Washington, DC, suburb about eight miles from the nation's capital.

Garcia was the national deputy director of the US Department of Commerce from 2017 to 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Garcia — who still owns other property in Washington, DC, records show — is currently listed as president and CEO of Health Supply US, a government-contracted manufacturer and distributor of medical devices, personal protective equipment, and consumables.

According to government spending data, Health Supply US received nearly $179 million in government contracts between 2020 and 2021.

A spokesperson for Garcia confirmed to Forbes that Garcia was behind the purchase and that the sale price was based on the market. The spokesperson also told Forbes that Garcia and the seller had no relationship and no direct communication. Garcia did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The history of JD Vance's house in Alexandria

Vance and his wife, Usha, bought the Alexandria house in 2023 for $1.64 million.

The couple made $228,025 more than they paid on the sale, but it's unclear whether they spent any money on renovations or upgrades that would cut into their profit.

The five-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom, farmhouse-style home hit the market on February 27 listed at $1.69 million, according to its Redfin listing. The sale officially closed on March 17, just 18 days later.

Real-estate agent Justin Tanner of ReMax Allegiance, who represented the buyer, told Business Insider that he heard there were nine offers on the home.

Robert Crawford and Tyler Jeffrey of TTR Sotheby's International Realty listed the property. Crawford and Jeffrey did not respond to a request for comment.

Vance will spend most of his time in the official home of the vice president, which is on the grounds of the Naval Observatory.

Property records show, however, that Vance still owns a home in Washington, DC. In 2014, Vance and his wife purchased a DC townhome for $590,000 in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, within walking distance of the National Mall.

According to Redfin, the house was listed for rent in October 2023 for $3,700 a month.

In 2024, the Vances' renter at the time told the Washington Post that she planned to stay there for a while and that her landlords were responsive.

"I love this house. I love this block. I want to be here for a long time," she said. "So I want to be a good tenant. And I have great landlords — Usha's great."