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Over the next week, super heavy showers are set to hit the Indian subcontinent, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, South Interior Karnataka, Konkan and Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, and Gujarat, the IMD (<keyword id="19963725" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Meteorological-Department" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Indian Meteorological Department" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Indian Meteorological Department">Indian Meteorological Department</keyword>) has predicted. Yesterday, India's financial capital, Mumbai was hit by a surprise, albeit hefty deluge of rain. Consequently, a yellow alert was issued for Thane, Pune, Palghar and other areas near to Mumbai. Between October 13-16, very heavy rainfalls are also expected in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. It's no secret that incessant rains also bring about significant economic damages. As seen very often in the past, a constant barrage of torrential rains can also quickly create a flood-like situation, which can wipe away houses, vehicles and everything that comes in its way. Per media reports, the average economic impact on India due to <keyword id="19912527" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="floods" source="keywords">floods</keyword> between 2011 and 2021 has been a staggering Rs 25,805 crore. Imagine this-your entire se is flooded. Water has seeped into everything—your walls, furniture, and even the plumbing. Without a <keyword id="22058670" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="home-insurance" source="keywords">home insurance</keyword>, you'll have to spend a hefty amount towards repairs and to get your life and home back on track. <h2>Getting your home insured</h2>So, if you are wondering how to protect your hard earned material but immovable assets like house, the answer is right in front of you- Home Insurance. Says Dilip Baba, Head of Commercial and Speciality Underwriting, Go Digit General Insurance, "People usually spend their entire life savings on purchasing a home. However, people rarely think about how to protect their investment. By investing in the safety of home insurance, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your property is covered in case of unforeseen events. With home insurance, you can opt for three types of coverage-structure, content and comprehensive. While structure simply insures the physical, immovable formation of your house (walls, roofs), content coverage goes a step ahead and takes care of damage caused to your movable items like furniture, electronics and other items due to natural calamities, theft and more, up to a certain limit. This can also include any valuable artwork or antiques, or additional installation like solar panels you might have at your home. A comprehensive home insurance brings together both structure and contents in its insurance ambit. Having a home insurance can not just protect you from natural calamities like floods, but also from unforeseen events like theft, fire and more. The annual premium of a home insurance policy can range between Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 depending on the type and extent of coverage taken. Before buying a policy, be sure to clarify whether it offers actual cash value, which considers depreciation, or replacement/reinstatement cost, which covers the full replacement without depreciation deductions. To be on the safe side, you can also choose additional covers like accidental death insurance, or rent coverage, if you lose out on rental income due to damage caused to your property. You can use the carpet area of your house to get a sense of your home insurance requirements. Other covers you can opt for include valuable contents (on agreed value basis under home contents cover), additional living expense cover, tenant liability insurance, among others. Says Amit Bhandari, Chief Technical Officer at Magma HDI General Insurance, "When selecting a policy, it’s crucial to assess the unique risks that your home may face, particularly if you live in an area susceptible to <keyword id="19922196" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="natural-disasters" source="keywords">natural disasters</keyword>. You should tailor your coverage to address these risks while considering premium reduction strategies, such as excluding unnecessary coverages".

Heavy rains to lash across the country between Oct 12-16, here's how you can insure your home from rain's fury

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Beazer Homes is building "zero energy," climate-friendly homes even though they're more expensive. </li><li>CEO Allan Merrill said the upfront investment will pay off long-term. </li></ul>A new community of 19 single-family homes north of Baltimore is at the forefront of the green-building movement.Solar panels are on the roofs. Garages come with electrical-vehicle charging. Energy-efficient appliances, including electric heat pumps and induction stoves, are installed. Airtight insulation prevents leaks that waste energy. Fresh-air systems keep indoor air clean. The homes use so little energy that solar could offset most or all energy utility costs.The project was developed by Beazer Homes, one of the largest US homebuilders. Several years ago, the company set a goal that by 2025, all its new homes would meet the US Department of Energy's "Zero Energy Ready" <a target="_blank" href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/zero-energy-ready-home-program">certification</a>. Its CEO, Allan Merrill, said Beazer was close to meeting the goal.The effort has come at a cost; Merrill said climate-friendly features can add $10,000 to $30,000 to construction and that the market for these homes is still emerging. It's also a precarious time, with so many Americans struggling to afford a home and the reelection of Donald Trump threatening to reverse many environmental regulations. But there are tailwinds, including state laws that require industries like utilities and real estate to decarbonize and a record amount of renewable-energy projects across the US.Merrill thinks the up-front investment will be worth it in the long term, even if shareholders haven't rewarded Beazer yet. Prioritizing sustainability helps the company attract the best talent, he said, and homeowners are increasingly concerned about rising utility costs. Now Beazer has to educate customers and the broader real-estate market about the value of green homes."Leadership requires investment," Merrill said. "We made a conscious decision to make less money on all of these homes. Now it's about talking to more customers, becoming more effective at communicating the value, and getting paid for it."<div type="image" title="People stand in the kitchen of a &quot;Zero Energy Ready&quot; home in Parkville, Maryland." height="3463" width="3024" msid="115056622" hostid="261" sizebytes="404276"></div>Merrill added that Beazer is in the middle of that journey. The 19 single-family homes in Parkville, Maryland, cost at least $700,000, which is more than double the area's median sales price in September of $300,000.Merrill said the value of Zero Energy Ready homes comes from lower utility bills, healthier air quality, a quieter living space, and a reduced environmental impact. Beazer estimated that owners of the new homes in Parkville would save about $453 a month in energy-utility costs compared with owners of older homes in town, and $311 a month compared with owners of a typical new build. Better indoor air quality is a selling point for buyers with asthma or other respiratory problems. Renewable energy and electric appliances don't emit fossil fuels."The tricky thing is when people walk in, they're not wearing a button that tells you which of those issues are relevant to them," Merrill said. "That's the discovery process. It's finding a way to connect what we've done to each buyer."He said another challenge is that home appraisals generally don't account for energy efficiency or renewable-energy technologies.Woody Fincham, a residential appraiser in Charlottesville, Virginia, who also teaches courses on sustainable homes for the Appraisal Institute, says few appraisers have the expertise. But he argued that the problem is broader. Real-estate agents need to market green features so that prospective buyers understand their value, which then has to be communicated to mortgage lenders who can seek out qualified appraisers.Still, there's no guarantee that a green home can fetch a higher price, because the market largely depends on what's sold nearby."If you're in a community where people put a lot of value on efficiency — and there are some parts of the country where they do — the appraisal will be able to show that the market is willing to pay more," Andrew Pizor, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, said. "But if you're in a community where people don't care about that kind of thing, the appraiser is going to compare prices and likely find that no one's willing to pay extra for it."Two Democrats in Congress have proposed legislation that would require appraisals to consider a home's energy use compared with that of nearby properties, as well as whether the home has energy-efficient appliances, solar panels, and EV charging. The bill would also require additional training for appraisers.But it hasn't passed, and Merrill said Beazer isn't waiting around.

Why the CEO of a big US homebuilder is gambling on green homes

The experience of lying in bed late at night and scrolling through a nearly infinite feed of homes is a modern miracle — not merely because of all the tech packed into your iPhone, but for the simple reason that all those houses are gathered in one place. Open up Zillow, Redfin, or any of their competitors, and you'll have a clear picture of almost all the homes up for grabs around the country.That may be about to change. Real estate's power players are engaged in a bitter standoff over who exactly gets to see the millions of homes listed for sale in the US each year. At the center of the debate are the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-agents-lawsuits-buy-sell-homes-forever-housing-market-2023-6">multiple-listing services</a>, or MLSes, local databases that gather pictures and details of homes for sale. Almost as soon as a real-estate agent starts touting a home publicly — via an email blast, a post on their website, or a sign in a front yard — they'll throw the listing on the MLS to be fed to other agents and aggregator sites like Zillow. Smart business move? Sure. But agents also don't have a choice, thanks to a rule handed down five years ago by the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lawsuits-verdict-realtors-brokerages-real-estate-agents-home-buying-selling-2023-11">powerful National Association of Realtors</a> called the "clear-cooperation policy," which requires them to list a home on the MLS within one business day of marketing it to the public.Some of the industry's high-profile figures are pushing for the NAR to loosen the rule or get rid of it, which they say would give sellers and their agents more freedom to choose where — and to whom — they advertise their properties. The NAR's top brass are set to consider the change in the coming months.The cynical take is that those in favor of a shake-up — including the leaders of some of the country's largest real-estate brokerages, like Compass and Anywhere Real Estate, the owner of big-name brands like Coldwell Banker and Century 21 — just want to hoard listings on their own websites. As gatekeepers, the thinking goes, they'll be able to lure agents and clients with exclusive access to these properties, growing their businesses and padding their bottom lines. The result would be a more fractured market; instead of going to just Zillow or Realtor.com, a buyer might have to comb through individual brokerages' websites. Agents might be emboldened to share listings among private networks of in-the-know brokers rather than market them to everyone. More homes could trade hands out of view of the average homebuyer."If you were to ask people, 'Should houses be hidden?' most people would say no," Brian Boero, the CEO of 1000Watt, a brand and marketing agency for real-estate companies, told me. "If you asked people, 'Should everybody be able to see the houses that are for sale on the market at any time and have, at least, access to them?' I think most people would say absolutely."It's not quite so cut-and-dried. Opponents of the rule say sellers should be able to market their homes however they see fit, arguing that there are all kinds of reasons someone might not want to list their home on the MLS. And if the goal is a transparent market that prioritizes consumers, the clear-cooperation policy is a flawed tool. It contains a glaring loophole that critics say may have actually pushed more home sales into the shadows.This latest conflict pits Goliath against Goliath, but the stakes are highest for the millions of Davids just trying to put roofs over their heads. The typical buyer wants to see all the homes available, while the typical seller wants a quick sale and a good price. Which kind of housing market will get them there? Both sides claim to know the answer, but their visions for the future of homebuying are miles apart.In the not-so-distant past, MLSes distributed home listings via books — thick, unwieldy tomes that were outdated by the time they made it into a real-estate agent's hands. The introduction of the online MLS around the turn of the century was a revelation, providing a central repository of reliable info on an area's available homes. The system isn't perfect: Access to the MLS is often restricted to licensed agents who pay hundreds of dollars in dues each year to belong to their local, state, and national Realtor associations, on top of MLS fees. Since there are more than 500 local MLSes in the US, an agent might have to pay dues to several of these groups just to see all the homes within an hour's drive of their office. But the databases are still widely considered a model for the rest of the world.While an agent doesn't technically have to participate, the MLS's trove of data is practically a necessity to do the job. And in order to play in the MLS sandbox, you have to follow the MLS rules. About 97% of local MLSes are effectively controlled by the NAR, a trade group with roughly 1.5 million members who pay for the "Realtor" designation and agree to abide by the organization's ethical and professional guidelines. The NAR doesn't own the MLSes directly, but it sets the rules for most of them. Five years ago, the organization's leaders pinpointed a growing problem: Some agents weren't playing fair. They were keeping select listings off the MLS and marketing them on their own websites or among clubby groups of brokers known as private listing networks. The prevalence of so-called pocket listings has always been hard to quantify, but pretty much everyone agrees they were on the rise in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Redfin estimated that in the second quarter of 2019, about 1.7% of listings, or some 18,000 homes, were likely pocketed. Those homes were marked "sold" or "pending sale" the same day they were put in the MLS — a sign that the transaction may have already been wrapped up in private. Agents promoting pocket listings might argue that they were acting in the best interests of their clients; a seller going through a messy divorce, for example, may prefer a quiet sales process rather than the fanfare of a public listing. The MLS also displays information that may not be favorable to a seller. It shows the number of days a home has been on the market and keeps track of price cuts, offering buyers leverage points that would never be found on a listing broker's website. There are, of course, self-serving reasons an agent might prefer to advertise a home off the MLS. If they find an unrepresented buyer, they may be able to pocket the portion of the commission that would have otherwise gone to the buyer's agent, upping their haul from the sale to, say, 6% instead of the typical 3%. Belonging to private listing networks could also help drum up business: Work with me, an agent could tell a buyer, and you'll get access to all these listings that Joe Schmo at XYZ Brokerage doesn't even know about. Indeed, Top Agent Network, a destination for high-achieving brokers to share "not-yet-on-MLS properties" with each other, claims on its website that agents can help buyers find their dream homes "by staying ahead of the market."The whole point of the MLS, though, is to have all listings in one place for everyone to find — the system falls apart if agents get to pick and choose which ones to contribute. The NAR's answer to this chaos was the clear-cooperation policy. The rule, which went into effect in May 2020, tightened the screws on agents by requiring them to put a listing on the MLS within one business day of marketing it to the public. For-sale sign in the front yard? Better get it on the MLS pronto. Gush about it on your Facebook page? Clock's ticking. Teasing homes in a private listing network without also posting on the MLS was a no-go.The idea was that any alternative to the MLS would harm both consumers and their agents. A seller risks getting a lower price if there are fewer eyeballs on their listing. A buyer might know of only a fraction of homes for sale at any time, limiting their options. Agents can't make money off shadow listings that they don't even know about. MLSes are also <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bad-real-estate-agents-realtors-homebuyers-sellers-housing-market-2023-7">huge sources of revenue</a> for the many local Realtor associations that own and operate them — the NAR has a direct interest in making sure they remain valuable."Everybody benefits when we all pool our listings, and we do so in a timely manner," Saul Klein, a longtime real-estate executive who's the CEO of the San Diego Multiple Listing Service, told me. "And people are hurt, potentially, when we don't do that."The new rule, however, included a loophole. It allows agents to market a home to other agents within their brokerage without sharing it on the MLS, a practice known as "office exclusives." The carveout effectively allows for private gardens within each brokerage, filled with homes you can't find anywhere else. Large brokerages like Compass, which has more than 30,000 agents across the country, can make a pitch to a seller like this: "We'll maintain your privacy by keeping your home off Zillow and test your chosen price across our huge network. We can limit the showings so you don't have random people traipsing through your home. And if you're not satisfied, we can always turn to the MLS later."Today, many large brokerages tout offerings that attempt to capitalize on this state of play. Compass, for instance, will offer to list your home as a "private exclusive" within its brokerage before launching it to the public. Howard Hanna's "Find It First" program allows sellers to "benefit from broad exposure without compromising on control," the company's CEO, Howard Hanna IV, said in a statement. In a lawsuit after the unveiling of the rule, Top Agent Network accused the NAR of privileging large brokerages (which belong to the association) while stamping out the competition from alternatives to the MLS. It complained that the organization's rule was "a transparent attempt at protecting its turf, not helping consumers."The clear-cooperation rule faded into the background as the pandemic upended the industry. But as the market settled and other big changes, like the class-action lawsuits over agent commissions, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/homebuyers-real-estate-revolution-nar-lawsuits-new-rules-realtors-agents-2024-4">reached a resolution</a>, a group led by Compass' CEO, Robert Reffkin, began publicly pressuring the NAR to reconsider clear cooperation. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-housewives-mauricio-umansky-agency-daily-schedule-2022-8">Mauricio Umansky</a>, a celebrity agent and brokerage CEO known for appearing on "Buying Beverly Hills," "Real Housewives," and "Dancing with the Stars," was already part of the opposition to the rule, having sued the NAR over his attempts to start an MLS alternative known as the PLS, or the Property Listing Service. Executives at Anywhere Real Estate, one of the largest brokerage companies in the country, have pushed for the rule to be loosened but not eliminated — one suggestion is to give agents more time to market a home publicly before listing it on the MLS. On the other side, executives at Zillow and Redfin decried the potentially disastrous consequences of a fractured housing market. In a recent op-ed article, Redfin's president and CEO, Glenn Kelman, argued that the end of clear cooperation would allow large brokerages to control more inventory, forcing buyers, sellers, and their agents to flock to big players rather than smaller outfits."The goal in weakening Clear Cooperation is to make being bigger matter — more than being better," Kelman wrote. "That is the law of the jungle, masquerading as freedom."It's not clear, though, that the clear-cooperation rule made things much better for consumers. In a hot market, it's easier for brokers to market a home off the databases and still get it sold. Redfin estimates that in the second quarter of 2021, the share of listings that were likely pocketed increased to 2.8%, or almost 35,000 homes. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-ice-age-higher-home-prices-fewer-sales-inventory-2023-5">The market has since slowed</a>, and Redfin's estimation of pocket listings was down to 1.8% of sales in the second quarter of this year, roughly in line with the same period in 2019. These are imperfect estimates; it's possible for a home to debut on the MLS in the morning and have a sale pending by the end of the day without anything unscrupulous happening. They could also be undercounts, since some homes may never be listed in the MLS at all. Ultimately, the data from one of clear cooperation's biggest advocates doesn't prove that the rule has actually reduced off-MLS sales. What has changed since the rule went into effect is brokerages' eagerness to control access to home listings. Home sales volume has plummeted since the heady days of 2021, which means <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/compass-layoffs-robert-reffkin-housing-market-2023-1">less revenue for the businesses that make their money by taking a cut of their agents' sales commissions</a>. Without clear cooperation, brokerages could drive more traffic to their own websites by publicly advertising homes that aren't available in the MLS or on sites like Zillow. And they could continue to tease office exclusives that are accessible only if you work with their agents.Both sides of this debate can reasonably claim that the industry will face legal trouble if they don't get their way. The Department of Justice, which has been fighting to reopen a wide-ranging investigation into the NAR, has signaled that the organization's control of the MLSes could be anticompetitive, stifling the development of alternative databases. What incentive is there for someone to start an MLS rival, the thinking goes, if basically everyone who uses the new database would still have to put their listings on the MLS anyway? On the other hand, proponents of clear cooperation argue that not showing homes to everybody could run afoul of fair-housing laws designed to ensure that buyers have equal access to the market."The fact that every listing is contributed to the MLS and that every consumer has access to that information is an enormous and overwhelming benefit to support fair housing," Victor Lund, a founder and managing partner of Wav Group, a consulting firm for real-estate companies, told me. "There is too much opportunity for housing discrimination without it."There are a lot of ways this could go. The final call will rest in the hands of top leaders at NAR, whose board will likely mull over the issue at its annual convention in the second week of November. It could be months before a decision, however, especially since it's not clear what kinds of actions the DOJ may take against the organization. NAR leadership could keep clear cooperation as is, repeal it entirely, or revise it in ways that might not even be obvious right now. Several people I spoke with, including Kelman, told me they'd like to see the office-exclusive loophole closed — no more exceptions for agents marketing homes within their brokerages."If you haven't bought a home yet," Kelman told me, "there is nothing more unsettling than seeing a moving van outside a house that never showed up in any of your searches." An imperfect rule, he argued, is better than no rule. Those in Kelman's camp say a housing market without the current version of the MLS would be more divided and more difficult to parse. At the same time, it's impossible to brush aside the criticisms of the rule. There's no guarantee it will remain as it is when the dust settles.The lawsuits over agent commissions last year were seismic, but they were ultimately about the practical matter of consumers' wallets: how much they were paying agents and what they were getting in return. The debate over clear cooperation strikes me as much more existential. Its result will determine the kind of housing market we have in the future. Buckle up.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/james-rodriguez">James Rodriguez</a> is a senior reporter on Business Insider's Discourse team.

Realtors are fighting over hidden listings. Their battle could make it harder to find a home.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su is launching a nationwide tour to promote good jobs.</li><li>The tour aims to highlight the importance of good jobs in pivotal swing states.</li></ul>Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su is hitting the road — and wants <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/julie-su-wants-fill-economy-good-jobs-2023-12">good jobs</a> to follow.Su is bringing the Department of Labor's "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osec/osec20220621">Good Jobs Principles</a>" — a national framework for better working conditions and positions — across the country. And she's hitting several states that may <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/battleground-states-2024-presidential-election-road-white-house-2022-12">prove pivotal in the 2024 election</a>, with her first stop scheduled in Phoenix. Other stops include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Michigan."A good job is one that not only pays family-sustaining wages and benefits, but also one in which workers have a voice, where every worker goes home healthy and safe every day, and where families can get — in the President's words, 'some breathing room,'" Su told BI. "Throughout this summer nationwide tour, I will be highlighting the work that the Department of Labor has done with community partners on the ground to help ensure that every job is a good one, and that every worker feels the commitment that this Administration has made to fight for them."The tour comes as the Biden Administration faces a continued mismatch between economic reality and perceptions. While the labor market is booming, and wages are still going up, many Americans <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-is-us-economy-recession-outlook-2023-6">have felt continually dreary</a> about their economic outlooks over the past few years — what some have termed the vibecession.But the labor market has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-confidence-economy-stock-market-gas-prices-eggs-vibes-recession-2024-1">emerged as one bright spot</a> and bolstered Americans' perception of the economy in the latest reading of the Conference Board's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.conference-board.org/topics/consumer-confidence/press/CCI-May-2024">Consumer Confidence Index</a>."The Biden Administration has made improving job quality for this country's workers a priority—and we're seeing those efforts pay off," Su said.As part of the tour kickoff, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego will also announce the city's commitment to the Good Jobs Principles. When city officials sign on to the initiative, they commit to the framework as they seek federal funding for different types of projects.It's the DOL's latest attempt at promoting the idea of "good jobs," and making them more widespread. Part of Su's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/julie-su-wants-fill-economy-good-jobs-2023-12">guiding edicts</a> is to fill the economy with jobs that provide workers security, stability, good pay, and benefits. The Good Jobs Principles framework outlines eight hallmarks of what makes a job good quality; that includes hiring and recruitment from underrepresented backgrounds and doing away with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ibm-accenture-dell-companies-no-longer-require-college-degrees-2023-3">unnecessary educational</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/job-postings-no-education-college-degree-requirements-hiring-skills-indeed-2024-2">credential requirements</a> — a major barrier for many workers. It also includes better pay, benefits, job security, and access."It's not just good enough that we have created these jobs when a lot of people can't get to them. So it's embedding equity in the way that we're creating these jobs, " Teresa Acuna, the senior policy advisor and deputy director of the Good Jobs Initiative, said. That could mean everything from training to a transportation voucher to childcare."It means taking the more comprehensive look of some of the obstacles that workers have as to why we have a lot of over-representation of people in certain types of jobs versus others," she said.The tour stops are cities and communities that have already been actively working with the Good Jobs Initiative, as workers receive training and get to work."We're not parachuting in," Acuna said. "These are places we have relationships and we're probably going to be revisiting a few times in the next couple of months, but the tour is a snapshot in time of what a lot of this work has been happening already. And that's pretty exciting to us."Are good jobs a key issue for you in this upcoming election? Contact this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jkaplan@businessinsider.com">jkaplan@businessinsider.com</a>.

The Biden Administration's labor department is hitting the road for 'Good Jobs Summer'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US is warning against travel to Jamaica because of the threat of violence.</li><li>The US embassy highlighted home invasions, armed robberies, and homicides. </li></ul>The US government has elevated its travel alert level for Jamaica and the Bahamas, cautioning Americans against visiting the Caribbean nations due to violent incidents.The <a target="_blank" href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/jamaica-travel-advisory.html">State Department has raised the advisory for Jamaica </a>to "Level 3: Reconsider Travel," citing concerns over crime and unreliable medical services. The announcement follows a <a target="_blank" href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/the-bahamas-travel-advisory.html">warning about the Bahamas, </a>which remains at a Level 2 advisory, urging increased caution after a series of murders.The US embassy in Jamaica warned of home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults, and homicides. Sexual assaults have been reported at all-inclusive holiday resorts, said the State Department's Jamaica travel advisory. It also noted: "The homicide rate reported by the Government of Jamaica has for several years been among the highest in the Western Hemisphere."Furthermore, it said Jamaican police often do not respond effectively to serious criminal incidents, and hospitals and ambulances may not always provide reliable services, with some private institutions requiring upfront payments.The cost of air ambulance services from the Caribbean to the US can range from $30,000 to $50,000, it said.The State Department's warning to US visitors is important because tourism is a vital economic driver for Jamaica, the largest island in the Caribbean.It recorded 4,122,100 visitors from January to December 2023 — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jaxfaxmagazine.com/2023/11/02/jamaica-expects-record-number-of-visitors-in-2023/">three out of four come from the US</a> — a 23.7% annual increase, injecting about $4.2 billion into <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-jamaica-travel-advisory-bahamas-caribbean-spate-of-murders/">Jamaica's economy</a>, per CBS News.<div type="image" title="Nassau, Bahamas." height="3543" width="5314" msid="107385777" hostid="261" sizebytes="1349866"></div>In the Bahamas, the US embassy in Nassau highlighted 18 murders in the capital since the beginning of the year, linked mainly to gang violence.The "<a target="_blank" href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/the-bahamas-travel-advisory.html">Over the Hill" area of Nassau </a>has seen heightened violent activity as a result of gang-on-gang violence, per the State Department travel advisory.The State Department also warned against water-based activities, such as tours on commercial, recreational watercraft, stressing that these are not consistently regulated.Likewise, the Bahamas relies heavily on tourism, a crucial sector that the amped-up travel warning could hitLast month, The <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://co.usembassy.gov/security-alert-risks-of-using-online-dating-applications/">US embassy in Colombia also issued a security alert</a> warning of the risks of using online dating sites in the South American country after eight US citizens died under suspicious circumstances in the city of Medellín between November 1 and December 31, 2023.

US citizens planning to visit Jamaica should reconsider due to the threat of violent crime and sexual assaults, the State Department said

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new model of public housing is gaining steam among Democratic lawmakers across the US.</li><li>AOC is behind a new bill to create a federal social housing developer.</li></ul>All over the country, skyrocketing rents and home prices have made housing one of the most urgent issues facing voters in this election.About half of renters <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/half-american-renters-ignore-key-financial-rule-on-housing-spending-2024-9">spend more than 30% of their income on housing</a>, while <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-crisis-homeowners-struggling-mortgage-interest-rates-insurance-home-equity-2024-6">homeowners</a> are facing rising insurance premiums, home repair costs, and property taxes. At the same time, government housing aid for the neediest <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/politics/housing-aid-rent-costs.html">recently hit a quarter-century low</a>.Vice President Kamala Harris has zeroed in on the issue, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-kamala-harris-plans-to-build-3-million-new-homes-2024-8">promising to</a> build 3 million new homes over her first term, send $25,000 in downpayment assistance to first-time homebuyers, and spend billions on housing innovation. But some progressive lawmakers in Washington want to go much farther.In September, two Democrats — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota — <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aoc-democrats-build-european-style-social-housing-lower-home-costs-2024-9">introduced a bill called the HOMES Act</a> that would create a federal housing development authority charged with building and rehabilitating more than a million permanently affordable homes. The housing would be owned and operated by local governments, nonprofits, or some kind of cooperative, and rent would be capped at a percentage of income. The legislation aims to solve the fundamental issue plaguing homebuyers and tenants: a shortage of affordable homes."There has been a lot of talk about building new housing in this country, but too often we don't talk about who will be building that new housing," Ocasio-Cortez said <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://x.com/SenTinaSmith/status/1836472272481386676">last month</a>. A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez didn't provide comment before publication of this story.The new developments would be so-called "social housing," which means it exists outside the for-profit market, caps rent at a percentage of income and is owned by the government, a nonprofit, or some kind of cooperative.Unlike traditional American public housing, which is usually reserved for low-income families, social housing is intended to be mixed-income. Under the HOMES Act, 70% of a given development's units would be reserved for low- and extremely low-income people, while 30% of homes would be reserved for people making up to the area's median income.But some pro-housing policy experts — who subscribe to the YIMBY, or Yes in My Backyard, movement — are skeptical that a federal social housing authority makes sense. They want to see more experimentation at the local level first and don't think many state governments — let alone the federal government — have the resources or know-how to do the work of developers and real estate companies.<h2 id="56639616-796e-430b-a657-ba434db7f258">Local and state governments are experimenting with social housing</h2>A 2022 trip to Austria changed how New York State Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher views housing.Gallagher, a Democrat who represents gentrifying neighborhoods in North Brooklyn, was struck by the stability created by social housing in Vienna. Residents "were not thinking about their rent getting raised. They were not worrying about being displaced and the things that consume New Yorkers' minds," she said.So, earlier this year, she introduced legislation to establish a new state housing authority tasked with building permanently affordable housing for both very low-income and middle-income New Yorkers.Progressive policymakers across the country, including Rhode Island and Atlanta, are exploring the model, too. California <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB555">passed a bill</a> last year to study the concept. The wealthy DC suburb of Montgomery County, Maryland, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/business/affordable-housing-montgomery-county.html">has already built its own</a> social housing.In Reno, Nevada, Mayor Hillary Schieve, who's prioritized housing in a state facing a severe shortage, argued that the success of a social housing effort would likely rely on the quality of the local housing authority and the partners it works with. "It just worries me because we aren't developers," she said. "You have to have very knowledgeable people at the table."While "high-capacity, wealthy local governments with political will" can make it happen, "Jenny Schuetz, an expert in urban economics and housing policy at the Brookings Institution, said many other localities lack the resources or know-how."The reality is many states and authorities are not going to be interested in building housing themselves," said Shane Phillips, a housing researcher at UCLA's Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies.Unlike traditional public housing — which relies on fickle federal lawmakers to supply funding for maintenance and operations — the social housing that US lawmakers have proposed would be funded in part by marketing bonds and operated by a range of local organizations, including nonprofits and tenants unions.Schuetz is concerned that co-ops and tenants' unions might not be able to tap the kinds of capital that real-estate companies have access to and that's needed to continue investing in the buildings. Local housing authorities also have limited budgets. "The challenge is always where do you come up with the money 10 years out, 15 years out, when you have real capital expenses?" she said.<h2 id="3c31ea6f-abfe-4e31-af57-7237875ee96a">Tricky politics in Washington</h2>Federally funded public housing has a flawed history. Between the 1930s and the 1960s, the government <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america">reinforced racial segregation</a> by clustering public housing in poor Black and brown neighborhoods, even as it built highways <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/america-highways-inequality/">that tore through those same communities</a>. A lack of ongoing congressional funding meant the housing deteriorated over time, and much has been demolished.Over the last several decades, the US has moved away from the tarnished model of publicly built and owned housing and embraced federal subsidies for privately built below-market-rate development powered by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.Under the Homes Act, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development would have to work with states and cities to take on the role of the developer. Schuetz argued that the federal government would have to outsource so much of the work to local governments and developers that a national approach would look pretty similar to the Low-Income Tax Credit model of development."Could HUD even hire a team of people who know how to work through the land development and entitlement and construction process in localities around the country?" Schuetz said. "There's a reason we've evolved from public housing to LIHTC."Congress would likely not support a federal social housing authority until there is evidence of its success at the state level.After states build out their programs, "it's far easier to go back and say, 'Okay, we need a national coordination entity to manage this,'" one national affordable housing expert, who requested anonymity to protect his relationships in Congress.Schuetz would also like to see HUD invest in a range of local pilot programs to experiment with different versions of social housing, evaluate them, and then help scale whichever model is most successful. "It's not as headline-grabbing and sexy as a social housing program, but would actually be a lot more effective and more likely to get through Congress," she said.

AOC and progressive allies want the federal government to build over a million homes. Even YIMBYs don't think it's a good idea.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill aimed at lowering housing costs.</li><li>Arizona's housing crisis is worsening with rising rents, home prices, and homelessness.</li></ul>Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs just proved yet again how scrambled the politics of housing are.On Monday, the Democratic leader vetoed a bipartisan bill designed to cut red tape and lower the cost of housing.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/56leg/2R/bills/HB2570P.htm">Arizona Starter Homes Act,</a> or HB 2570, would have prohibited cities with more than 70,000 residents from requiring minimum lot and home sizes for single-family houses, ended mandatory homeowners' associations, and loosened requirements for how far a home needs to be from the street, among other measures.The bill was designed to encourage the construction of more affordable homes, as smaller lots and fewer regulations make the construction of starter homes easier — and cheaper — for developers.In remarks on Monday, the governor argued the bill was unproven and "too expansive.""We have no idea that this will actually solve the problem of affordable housing and I am confident that there are several bills moving through that do address these issues," <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1769837584698544185">Hobbs said</a>.Arizona is in desperate need of new affordable housing as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/real-estate/arizona-housing-market/">rents have surged about 50%</a> and home prices have risen about 60% over the last six years. The state's unhoused population <a target="_blank" href="https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2023/12/15/homelessness-record-arizona-hud-united-states-2023">grew by 30%</a> between 2020 and 2023, in part as a result of soaring housing costs.In state legislatures across the country, pro-housing policies have both Democratic and Republican supporters and opponents. For example, Montana's Republican-led state legislature and conservative governor <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-supporting-republican-montana-governor-yimby-housing-policies-lowering-rent-2024-3">passed a slew of pro-housing policies last year</a>. But in Washington, Democratic lawmakers are more likely to be interested in finding solutions, particularly as rising housing costs drive inflation.President Joe Biden has put a strong emphasis on addressing the nation's housing crisis recently. Notably, the president <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-sotu-housing-affordability-stimulus-buyers-sellers-mortgage-credits-supply-2024-3#:~:text=President%20Biden%20laid%20out%20new,a%20lack%20of%20housing%20supply.">mentioned</a> his new housing proposals in his State of the Union address earlier this month. The proposed policies aim to send federal funds to states to subsidize new housing construction, bring down costs, and help low-income renters and homebuyers.Hobbs' veto flies in the face of Biden's promises and comes at a particularly inopportune time for the president as he visits Nevada and Arizona this week to promote his housing proposals.The White House detailed the president's housing policies and previewed his trip out West on a call with reporters shortly after news of Hobbs' veto arrived on Monday afternoon. Asked about the governor's decision, a White House official said he didn't have any comment, but he noted that the administration is focused "on trying to provide incentives for state and local governments to build more housing and to reduce barriers to building housing."Arizona state lawmakers who championed the legislation criticized Hobbs' move. Democratic State Rep. Analise Ortiz said she was "deeply saddened and disappointed" by the veto."HB2570 was a historic bipartisan solution to our state's housing crisis and it would have created a pathway to the American dream of homeownership," Ortiz <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/RepAnaliseOrtiz/status/1769800422837846248">said on X</a>.Hobbs sided with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, a group that advocates for municipal power, which <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/AzCities/status/1769813327717536254?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">called</a> the bill "a giveaway to developers." The US Department of Defense also <a target="_blank" href="https://mcusercontent.com/44a5186aac69c13c570fca36a/files/bb17d25c-4dd2-2010-0af0-bb53c9cc5e7b/DoD_Oppose_HB2570.pdf">raised concerns</a> about new construction disrupting the state's military facilities and called for a veto. The Professional Fire Fighters Association of Arizona <a target="_blank" href="https://mcusercontent.com/44a5186aac69c13c570fca36a/files/52e9b52d-1c78-3202-0a7b-3e42fd68240c/PFFA_HB_2570_Veto_Request.pdf">argued</a> that increased density would pose a challenge to emergency service and also supported a veto.Pro-housing advocates across the country were <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/YIMBYLAND/status/1769806419216195732">outraged</a> by Hobbs' decision and pointed to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/adammillsap/2023/08/28/new-studies-provide-further-evidence-that-zoning-reforms-work/?sh=7bea433f5f7e">abundant research</a> finding that loosening zoning laws and other land-use regulations encourages more construction and makes housing more affordable. A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/12/07/restrictive-zoning-is-raising-housing-costs-and-homelessness-in-arizona">December 2023 Pew report</a> found that restrictive zoning policies in Arizona have inflated housing costs and exacerbated the homelessness crisis in the state.Some housing advocates pointed out the apparent contradiction between the Department of Defense's stance and Biden's positions on housing."Not even a week after he talked a big game about getting cities building again in the State of the Union, individuals in the direct chain of command to Biden are killing bipartisan pro-housing bills," Nolan Gray, a city planner and research director for California YIMBY, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mnolangray/status/1769858610593726812">wrote on X</a>.

You Searched For "state home department" and got 7 results

Heavy rains to lash across the country between Oct 12-16, here's how you can insure your home from rain's fury

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Why the CEO of a big US homebuilder is gambling on green homes

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Realtors are fighting over hidden listings. Their battle could make it harder to find a home.

James Rodriguez

The Biden Administration's labor department is hitting the road for 'Good Jobs Summer'

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US citizens planning to visit Jamaica should reconsider due to the threat of violent crime and sexual assaults, the State Department said

Rebecca Rommen

AOC and progressive allies want the federal government to build over a million homes. Even YIMBYs don't think it's a good idea.

Eliza Relman

Arizona's Democratic governor squashed an effort to make homes more affordable as Biden travels to the state to promote his housing plans

Eliza Relman

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