Got junk? Local haulers give it new life | Real Estate Newsletter
And mayor’s housing spending plans.
A few weeks ago, I introduced you to some locals who’ve downsized and gotten rid of a lot of their stuff.
They turned to family and friends, acquaintances, social media, charities, and yard sales to rehome belongings.
Now, let’s hear from some people who also had a lot of stuff to get rid of and hired junk haulers to work out the details of where it all went.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Housing funding: Find out how Philly’s mayor plans to spend $800 million on housing.
Summer plans: Learn how much it’ll cost you to stay at a Jersey Shore hotel that’s offering monthlong stays as an “alternative to pricey Shore home rentals.”
Kitchen IQ: Peek inside the multibillion-dollar smart appliance industry, which has gone more mainstream.
📮Do you have smart appliances in your kitchen? What do you have and why? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me.
— Michaelle Bond
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… is another person’s treasure. And locals I talked to for a story about junk hauling told me they were glad to see belongings go.
Listen up if you were inspired by the downsizing piece earlier this month, are starting to plan for the future, or just want to go all-in on spring cleaning this year.
I spoke with some folks who all faced similar situations: They had to get rid of a lot of stuff pretty quickly.
For example, Joe Colangelo had to clear out both his mom’s home in an assisted living community and his parents’ Moorestown house — complicated by the fact that his dad was a “chronic buyer” and the home was filled with stuff.
People I spoke with said cleaning out their parents’ homes was emotional and overwhelming. So they decided to hire some help.
One local “junk” hauler is an offshoot of the nonprofit that runs the Philadelphia Furniture Bank, which gives away donated pieces to furnish homes for formerly homeless people, refugees, and victims of disasters. I wrote about it a few years ago.
Keep reading to hear people’s hopes for the stuff hauled out of their homes and what Philly-area haulers told me about their approach to dealing with customers’ former treasures.
This week, we got some more details about Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s plan to build or repair 30,000 homes in Philadelphia, called the Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative.
Specifically, we learned how she wants to divvy up a proposed $800 million in bonds.
The money would be spread across 38 programs, but most would go toward a handful of priorities.
Parker wants to spend more than $600 million on seven initiatives, including programs aimed at preserving and building affordable housing, helping first-time homebuyers, and keeping tenants from being evicted.
Philadelphia’s chief housing and urban development officer said Parker’s housing plan aims to tackle housing needs “from every angle.”
Keep reading for more details on how the mayor plans to spend hundreds of millions on housing.
The latest news to pay attention to
An Ocean City hotel is offering 30-day stays this summer as an “alternative to pricey Shore home rentals.”
The old Eagles bus on top of the former Northeast Philly Paintarama was taken down before the sale of the building.
A metal recycler in Camden will pay the city millions of dollars for housing, neighborhood improvements, and more after a disastrous fire.
A Camden nonprofit that renovates and builds homes has opened a hub to teach construction skills and basic home maintenance and repair.
The fate of the Germantown YWCA remains in limbo as a developer’s appeal for control of the building fails.
Philly-area coworking spaces are expanding as entrepreneurs and remote workers pay to be “part of something bigger.”
House of the week: For $949,000 in Center City West, a bi-level penthouse condo with a roof deck.
Luxe listing: This Bryn Mawr home designed by an acclaimed architect gives Mad Men vibes and is for sale for $2.2 million.
Today, we’re not going on a home tour. (You can nominate your property for a future tour by emailing [email protected].)
Instead, we’re focusing on appliances. And not just regular appliances, but the high-end, “smart” ones that have gone more mainstream in kitchen renovations.
You can preheat your oven using your phone on your way home from work. You can check your refrigerator’s camera to see if you’ve still got leftovers or you need to swing by the grocery store to restock. You can get recipe suggestions from your smart appliance.
The global market for smart appliances has been growing and is predicted to keep growing. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry.
Smart features used to only be available for the pricier appliance brands, but now they’re showing up in entry-level ones.
Keep reading to learn about a microwave that can grill, ovens with probes that monitor how food is cooking, and more smart kitchen features.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Shoutout to Deborah S., Lars W., and Scott G. for giving specific answers to last week’s photo quiz.
They knew the building in the background is the former Metropolitan Hospital, which is now a condo building. I would have accepted just Seventh and Race Streets.
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Does anybody here watch the show Severance on Apple TV+? Meet the two-person Philly shop that’s responsible for some of the iconic furniture on the hit show.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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