Posted by Christina Huh
For Marketplace Money, Friday, June 24, 2011
For a while, getting a house in the ‘burbs was au courant. And then the housing bubble burst. Now the new thing is to rent an apartment in a metro area. It’s a landlords’ market now, so be prepared to butter them up with offers of larger deposits, along with paying a higher monthly rent. And for those who have a house or are looking buy one, Tess talks to Zillow.com’s chief economist about changes the company made to its algorithm, which caused Tess’s home’s value to drop significantly.
The debt ceiling debate may seem to be a fight isolated on Capitol Hill, but Congress’ decision whether to raise the federal debt ceiling or not can have real implications on the pocketbooks of average Americans. Reporter Nancy Marshall Genzer looks at one family’s financial status and how it can be affected if the ceiling isn’t raised.
Author Zac Bissonnette makes his case on why it’s a better financial decision to buy used or vintage furniture. Career coach Tim Tyrell-Smith helps Tess and listeners get over the “icky” factor of branding yourself. And Tess and David Lazarus of the Los Angeles Times try to talk one groom out of dipping into his 401(k) to fund his wedding, among other things. Here are the other songs we played:
- Our House — MadnessBuy
- Things Can Only Get Better — Howard JonesBuy
- Who — Benny GoodmanBuy
- Happy Workers — Tori Amos
- You Talk — BabyshamblesBuy
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
