It's that time of year where people start thinking about vacations and the possibility of buying that second home somewhere tropical. Bill Furlong, Vice President of Americas at HomeAway, joins Your Future Home to give a few tips on how to settle on the perfect second home.
Furlong says that people look for different amenities in a second home and some of them are little more fun than what they would prefer in the main house. Perhaps they want a pool or a hot tub. Some even splurge for an in-home theater or putting green. He says the average person spends around $330,000 on a second home and may rent it out during certain weeks of the year.
Plus, before purchasing a second home you need to consider the costs. Furlong says you'll need to budget for new furniture, upkeep, repairs, taxes and seasonal implications such as weatherproofing and lawn care.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
