The Millstone Times March 2019

HOME IMPROVEMENT Crazy Real Estate Facts By Lauren Kolacki

Real Estate has always contributed to the U.S. economy and keeps on being an essential bellwether of the nation. Private land gives lodging to a large number of families and is regularly the best wellspring of riches and reserve funds for some families. The greater part of us doesn’t ponder the significance real estate has played in a part of the world's history and social occasions. Below is a collaboration of some of the most interesting real estate facts.

• There are two houses in Florida that share a backyard fence, but the shortest driving route between them takes 20 minutes and traverses more than 7 miles • In the United States there are 5 times as many vacant houses as there are homeless people • Utah has been giving free homes to the homeless since 2005, which has cut chronic homelessness by 74% • When the Eiffel Tower was constructed, the designer included a secret apartment for himself at the very top • The Seattle Kingdome was so expensive that the building wasn't paid off until 2015, a full 15 years after it was demolished • In New York, it is a legal requirement for a seller to disclose if a property under inspection is believed to be haunted by ghosts • Monica’s apartment from the hit TV show Friends is estimated to be worth $3.5 million.

• The burg Khalifa is so tall that you can watch the sunset from the base of the building, take an elevator to the top, and watch the sunset all over again • Since the Empire State Building was opened during the Great Depression, much of its space initially went unrented. As a result, many New Yorkers referred to the building as the “Empty State Building” • In 1997, Pepsi held a contest to win a life-size replica of the Simpson’s house or $75,000. The contest winner chose the cash. The house was then renovated to look like a normal home and re-sold. • In several major cities like London, Toronto, New York and elsewhere around the world, there are entire buildings and developments that exist solely for purpose of hiding ent shafts, utilities cellphone towers, railways and simply to give off the “illusion of occupation” • Amazon named a building after its first customer, who spent $27,95 to buy one book • Mark Zuckerberg purchased four houses next to his home in Palo Alto and leased them back to the families that lived there. He did it

to avoid the houses from being marketed as “next door to Mark Zuckerberg” • New York City’s Central Park has an estimated land value of $512,626,276,800 • Aspen, Colorado has such high real estate prices that in 2011, the cheapest listing was a $559,000 trailer • The Mall of America is owned by a Canadian real estate group

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