A court has ordered the developer of the highest building in a city in eastern China to pay a neighbour compensation for blocking out the sunlight to their flat, according to a news website report.

The court in Nanjing made the order against the developers of the Zifeng Tower, the Shanghai-based news website Thepaper.cn reported.

A nearby resident, Chen Jun, will receive 100,000 yuan (HK$120,000) in compensation, the report said.

Chen bought a flat in the area in 2003 and construction on the skyscraper began two years later, according to the article.

Several complaints have been received about the 450-metre high building blocking out light since it was completed in 2010, the report said.

Chen first attempted to sue the building’s state-owned developer five years ago for not receiving compensation for loss of light, but later withdrew the case because of his lawyer’s unwillingness to pursue it.

He sued the developer again in May this year for “violating his rights to enjoy sunshine”.

Chinese law stipulates that residential apartments should have access to at least two hours of sunlight during the coldest time of the year and no structures should limit this.

The court said that the completion of the Zifeng Tower had reduced the amount of sunlight in Chen’s apartment by 30 minutes to less than two hours during the coldest months of the year, the report said.

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Many of the most attractive housing markets in the world are vastly overpriced.

That's according to Mark Haefele, who overseas the investment policy and strategy for $2 trillion as UBS's global chief investment officer.

"Among the 15 international cities we analyzed, only Chicago appears undervalued," he wrote.

New York and Boston were considered fair-valued, leaving 12 of the 15 cities surveyed overvalued.

'Bubble risk'

London and Hong Kong are the two most extreme examples of overvalued housing markets, with Hong Kong's real-estate prices nearly 200% above 2003 levels despite stagnant rent and income. In London, home prices have risen 40% since 2013 — putting both cities at risk of a housing bubble.

"Real estate is not only illiquid but also offers poor value in many major global cities ... property markets look frothy in many cities of the world," Haefele wrote. "The results indicate an elevate risk of a significant correction in housing prices in London and Hong Kong to name just two examples."

The report added that house prices in Zurich, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Geneva, Singapore, Paris, London, and Sydney are vulnerable to "sharp corrections."

"We have recommended other destinations for money currently earning meager yields in government bonds, such as hedge funds," Haefele wrote. "An alternative we recommend to clients looking for longer-term investments is exposure to structural trends, such as cancer therapeutics, clean air, or emerging market healthcare."

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Living near just one high-performing elementary school nearly doubles the value of your home, according to a new study.

That helps existing homeowners, but shuts out many buyers with average incomes trying to get their children a better education.

In zip codes with at least one good school, the median home price was $411,573, or 95 percent higher than the median price of $210,662 in areas without good schools, according to a new analysis by RealtyTrac. 

In nearly two-thirds of the good school districts, the average wage earner must spend more than a third of their income to buy a median-priced home.

The Los Angeles metro area had the most expensive zip codes with good schools at 183, followed by New York at 158 and San Francisco at 77.

Related: 7 Fixes to Do Now to Sell Your House in the Spring

Chicago topped the city list with the most affordable zip codes with good schools at 172. Other metro areas with the most reasonably-priced neighborhoods with good schools included Detroit (45), Phoenix (22), and Miami (20).

“Schools can make a huge difference in terms of where people move and relocate in certain regions,” says Scott Wilkinson, Scott Wilkinson, president and CEO of Wilkinson ERA Real Estate in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Because Charlotte is located on the border, we see people who will move into counties in North Carolina or South Carolina, specifically for the school systems.”

For those worried about affordability, Wilkinson recommends checking out all schooling options in an area, such as private or parochial schools along with public schools. Families that prioritize school district over all other factors also could consider buying a smaller home, townhouse or condo in the pricier districts, he says.

Related: The 11 States With the Hottest Housing Markets

Putting down a larger down payment can also reduce the monthly mortgage payment by hundreds of dollars.

The RealtyTrac study looked at test scores from 27,000 elementary schools and defined “good” as those that scored above the state average. A zip code was considered unaffordable if an average wage-earner had to spend more than 33 percent of their income to pay the mortgage payment on a median-priced home. The analysis assumed a 10-percent down payment and a 3.8 percent mortgage rate. It did not factor in property tax rates, which tend to be higher in better districts.

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Real estate agents see and hear a lot, and while there are shockingly few things that surprise them, there's a fine line between need-to-know and TMI.

But the more transparent a client is during the buying or selling process, the better the broker can meet his or her needs.

Luis D. Ortiz, associate broker at Douglas Elliman Real Estate and star of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York,” equates the nitty-gritty details of a seller’s personal life to a doctor visit.

When the doctor asks how often you drink, “everybody says ‘socially’ when really they drink every night," Ortiz says. "The more transparent you are of a person, the more they can get to the core of the problem.”

To get the most out of your relationship with your real estate agent, avoid these red flags that can end up landing you with the wrong broker or the right one running for the hills.

SEE ALSO: How to sell an ugly house

Telling an agent you’re not sure about selling

Agents typically don’t collect a fee until their client either sells his or her current home or purchases a new one. Any time and money spent before then on marketing and other services is out of the agent’s pocket. Simply dipping your toes in the water to see if your house generates interest and then pulling back, isn’t going to be very enticing for a broker.

“I’m not sure I’m going to take that seller on as a client … The process costs everybody time and money, so why waste it unnecessarily?” says Greg Cooper, manager and broker at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Indianapolis.

And as Ortiz points out, putting your house on the market experimentally can have adverse effects on other homes that are actually for sale. “It gives the buyers [a] perception that the apartment is not sellable [or] that the market may be turning into a buyer's market,” Ortiz says.

Saying you don’t have a time frame

Not having a deadline can leave brokers unsure of your commitment. Agents understand when their clients have a strict time frame, and can appreciate a few extra days or weeks to close a deal on the right home, but being told they have no target date to sell or purchase a home will leave them wondering if they’re wasting their efforts.

Cooper says serious homebuyers will typically have a reason, such as a growing family or move for a job, that brings about the change in living situation. A lack of deadline puts up a flag that you may also lack commitment to carrying out a deal. "My question for them would be, 'Why do you have all the time in the world? What are you trying to accomplish?' That goes back to, 'We're not really sure what we want to do,' and that's just not a situation, in all candor, that's beneficial 98 percent of the time to the client and the broker," Cooper says.

One of the first questions Ortiz asks on any listing appointment is "Why are you selling?"“You have to know if this person is real or not," Ortiz says. "I want to know because that sets the conversation and what my expectations should be.”

Lying about why you’re selling

Your real estate agent will have to know a lot about you – your financial health, your needs and wants in a living space and any life-changing events that could cause you to buy or sell at a specific time – to do his or her job properly. In order to work successfully with your broker, honesty is the best policy.

Cooper says one of the first questions he asks potential clients is why they are looking to sell, primarily to get a full understanding of the clients' needs throughout the process and how he can best fill them. “If I’ve got a seller who is changing jobs or who is going through a divorce, those things clearly affect the motivation level they have to sell the home,” he says.

An agent you’ve carefully selected and can trust will keep your personal life private, and by knowing your reason for moving, he or she can better meet your needs. Joe Manausa of Joe Manausa Real Estate in Tallahassee, Florida, says full disclosure can also help prepare brokers for what they may face down the line. He gives the example of spouses left in the dark: “There are times we’ve been hired to sell a home, and after they sign the documents I get a call from one of them saying, ‘Hey, he doesn’t know it, but we’re getting divorced, and that’s why we’re selling.”

Chinese insurers are expected to spend US$73 billion in acquiring overseas properties over the next five years as they speed up diversification, according to a research report published on Wednesday by real estate services firm DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield.

The report says the recent volatility in equity markets worldwide would prompt mainland Chinese insurers to accelerate their real estate investment strategy, diversifying away from domestic holdings.

“Major gateway cities will form the initial focus of activity. Current investments in London and New York underscore this move. Other leading cities will also regularly witness transactions of over US$100 million,” said Cristine Lai, an analyst at the Asia-Pacific forecasting team of DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield.

The major cities include Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo in the Asia-Pacific region. Property investment activity will expand to Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Paris, according to the team. The North American markets of Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington will also attract high investment activity, she said.

Last year, the report said total real estate holdings accounted for 0.8 per cent, or US$13.4 billion, of Chinese insurance industry’s assets under management, well below the permitted allocation of 30 per cent. Just under half of this US$13.4 billion is estimated to have been deployed overseas.

“For the five largest Chinese insurers, total allocations remain low and no greater than two per cent, with some below 1 per cent,” said director and head of capital markets research Nigel Almond.

Over the next five years, the report forecast, allocations are expected to grow from the current levels to nearly five per cent, with an additional US$73 billion poured into overseas real estate properties.

That will raise total overseas real estate investment from US$6 billion last year to US$79 billion by 2019, and to US$154 billion by 2024.

The report comes two weeks after China Life Insurance (Group) agreed to buy an office tower with retail space in Hung Hom from Wheelock & Co for HK$5.85 billion, in the single largest office-tower purchase in Kowloon district.

DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield said the 15 largest insurance companies are expected to take the lead in overseas investments, although smaller companies are also likely to follow in their footsteps as they grow their teams.

Chinese insurers’ rapid expansion into overseas real estate investment follows the China Insurance Regulatory Commission’s permission to allocate up to 30 per cent of total assets in real estate, half of it overseas, since October 2009.

Lai said more sophisticated insurers are also expected to move into development projects in major gateway cities.

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Sitting atop the historic Lowell hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a three-bedroom suite recently came onto the market for a whopping $300,000 a month.

The roughly 2,900-square-foot penthouse comes fully furnished, including an Apple desktop and five landline phones. It has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, including a stunning master bath that's covered in Italian marble.

Tenants will also be able to enjoy all of the usual hotel amenities, like room service — including a menu for pets — and laundry.

"It has the warmth and elegance of a beautiful, private residence within the complete comfort of a five-star boutique hotel,"listing agent Therese Bateman, of Brown Harris Stevens, told Business Insider. 

SEE ALSO: These hotshot brothers sell $50 million penthouses for Manhattan's elite — and their swanky new home is the ultimate bachelor pad

The penthouse is perched atop the historic Lowell Hotel, which dates back to 1927. The apartment, however, has sleek modern finishings.

The ideal tenant would be "those who seek a sanctuary of privacy, security, and complete pampering in the perfect location," Amie Buchanan, Director of Sales and Marketing at The Lowell, told us.

The monthly rent will include access to a number of amenities, including Wi-Fi, dog-walking, twice-a-day turndowns, and packing and unpacking services.

What does the most expensive house in one of America's most expensive cities look like?

According to Curbed SF, 2250 Vallejo, a circa-1901 mansion-turned-contemporary dream home built on one of San Francisco's highest streets, just became the most expensive listing in the city.

Meticulously refurbished on the outside and completely recreated on the inside, the 9,095-square-foot home is a rare mix of modern luxury and historical character. It has seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms spread out over three floors of space.

Neal Ward of Neal Ward Properties has the listing.

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Welcome to 2250 Vallejo Street, the most expensive home for sale in the city of San Francisco.

The building was originally built in 1901 for wealthy fish-packing mogul James Madison (no, not the president). Its outdoor facade was completely restored to its original Beaux-Arts beauty.

The top-to-bottom restoration of the property took two years to complete.

Want to be the mayor of your own ghost town?

Sixteen months after the South Dakota town of Swett went on the market for $399,000— a price that lured many buyers, but none who could follow through — Swett is back on the market.

This time, the asking price is just $250,000.

Local real estate agent Stacie Montgomery handles the listing — a 6.16-acre property that comes with an empty house (thought to be haunted) and a defunct bar called the Swett Tavern.

But the town isn't back on the market because people lacked interest in 2014, as Montgomery tells the Rapid City Journal.

In fact, it became something of an international sensation.

"I got my first media call at 11 that morning from FOX’s New York bureau and the phone did not stop ringing for two weeks," she told the Journal. "I was getting calls in the middle of the night, answering emails at 2 in the morning, and got several verbal offers and three written offers."

But due to some of the prospects' faulty finances (among other things), the offers she received fell through.

Now, 16 months after the first go around, the Nebraska bank that handles the property has cleaned up parts of the ghost town, removing a beat-up truck and three large trailers.

Montgomery tells the Rapid City Journal that the prospective buyers for Swett are mostly people who want to live off the grid, hunters, production companies looking to film reality shows, and people who just like the idea of having their own town.

Swett has some company in the realm of outrageously cheap real estate listings. 

In the Sicilian town of Gangi, the local government has offered to give away free homes to anyone who agrees to restore the dilapidated structures back to good health.

The stunt was designed to attract tourists since much of the local population vanished over the last several years, mostly because of immigration to the US and parts of South America.

The "free" homes came with more than $17,000 in hidden fees, however.

South Dakota has some history with last-ditch sales, like when a Philippines-based church bought 46 acres of land and properties in Scenic, South Dakota, for $700,000 in 2011.

Now that Christmas is coming up, maybe Swett can be the gift for the person who has everything. 

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If the plan for a brand-new tower known as "The Bride" is completed as proposed by AMBS Architects, it will be the new tallest building in the world. 

Set to rise in Iraq's oil-rich Basra Province, the complex is actually made up of four conjoined towers, totaling 604 stories and 16.6 million square feet.

They combine to create what the architects are calling the world's first "vertical city."

A 616-foot antennae sits on the tallest of the towers, which would soar 3,780 feet into the sky.

This makes it taller that both the current tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which rises 2,723 feet, and the future tallest building, Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Tower, which will be 3,307 feet tall when completed.

"The Bride" would have a glazed canopy — or "veil"— cascading down from the towers, which would provide shade for the complex's ground-floor developments. These would include hotels, retail, parks, gardens, and even a rail network just for the complex. 

The plan is to make the development "net-zero," meaning it produces as much energy as it consumes.

Why create the tallest tower in the world in the middle of the desert? Simple — preservation of the fertile farmland which surrounds it, according to the architects.

Locals refer to Basra as "the bride of the gulf," which served as inspiration for the complex's name. The Basra Governorate, who commissioned the project, has an ambitious goal of maximizing the city's capacity by 2025. "The Bride" was designed to reach staggering heights in an effort to avoid urban sprawl. 

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Qualcomm co-founder Andrew Viterbi has hoisted his contemporary southern California mansion onto the market for a whopping $60 million.

Designed by renowned architect Guy Dreier, the 26,000-square-foot home has lots of modern features, including an array of solar panels and gardens filled with drought-tolerant plants. 

Viterbi is perhaps best known for inventing the Viterbi algorithm, which has been key in the development of cell phones and satellite receivers.

He told the Wall Street Journal that he's selling his home because it's too big for him now, as his wife died earlier this year. 

With nearly 1,500 lemon trees, gorgeous mountain views, and sculptures by Fletcher Benton all included in the asking price, the home is a luxurious paradise. 

Jason and Catherine Barry of Barry Estates have the listing.

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The home sits on 33 pristine acres in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Viterbi told the WSJ that he spent around $50 million building the house, which was completed in 2008. A modern outdoor entryway, complete with a large sculpture by Fletcher Benton, leads into the open and airy home.

Source: WSJ

Dreier custom designed most of the furniture, including the dining room table. A granite fireplace spans the living room and dining room, and there's a sleek staircase made of glass and steel.

New York City is the greatest city in the world, and it draws people looking to find their fortune from just about everywhere.

Next Step Realty, a New York City real estate brokerage that matches recent graduates and young professionals with luxury apartments, shared data with Business Insider on 1,026 young professional renters that the company worked with in 2015.

The ten most popular Manhattan neighborhoods for Next Step's customers include several locales that have long been home to New York's elite:

Seeing as we are looking at apartments in Manhattan, rent is not cheap. Among those ten most popular neighborhoods, the average rent for a studio varies from $2,000 per month on the Upper East Side to $2,975 in Midtown East:

SEE ALSO: The most popular college major for Wall Street

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Some people escape to The Hamptons to party, others to catch a wave.

Reading and basking and generally behaving like a writer on retreat appear to be the speed for this little cottage in the Long Island enclave of North Haven.

The 600-square-foot, rustic dwelling is listed for $550,000, which Curbed Hamptons says is about right for the neighborhood.

It has two bedrooms and one bath, plus a free-standing artists’ studio.

Located an easy walking distance to shopping and beaches on Sag Harbor and Noyack bays, the home sits on a smidge more than a fifth of an acre, perfect for retreating into the quiet of nature — or for building a bigger home.

The listing agent is Mary Ann Cinelli of Brown Harris Stevens.

Related:

• Tiny Homes Under 400 Square Feet
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Ever dreamt of owning your own town? Well, now your dreams can come true. Swett, South Dakota is an abandoned ghost town on sale for just $250,000. Here's what's included.

Produced by Jenner Deal. Original Reporting by Chris Weller.

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Previously for sale with a price tag of nearly US$19 million, Kilkee House in the Bahamas - once the party pad beloved of The Beatles and Hollywood’s elite - is now available at nearly half price.

Previously offered for close to US$19 million, a historic Georgian-style estate at Nassau Paradise Island in The Bahamas is now available at nearly 50 percent off. Kilkee House will go up for auction as one of four luxury estates offered at Concierge Auctions’ 2015 winter portfolio in cooperation with Lamond and Robyn Davis of Sterling Bahamas Realty.

The beachfront property, with its own private beach, was once known to Hollywood’s elite as a party hub and was famously graced by The Beatles in the 1960s. It is accessible only by boat and now attainable for US$10 million or above.

The drop in price may come as a surprise, given that the property was given an extensive face-lift by its current owners. Its 11,000 square feet of restored interior includes four bedrooms, multiple living rooms, a formal dining room that seats 18, and independent staff quarters. The property was previously owned by the late Sir Richard Harris, who named it Kilkee House after County Clare in Ireland where he holidayed as a child. Despite standing for more than 60 years, Kilkee House has only been in the possession of three owners and retains most of its original structure and layout.

The two-acre plot spans the full depth of Paradise Island, from the beach to the harbor. Dock a yacht of up to 150ft at one of the six boat slips at the marina and then head straight to lounge by the stone pool grotto with a spa. Other outdoor features include several gardens, a poolside guest cottage with a private terrace and an outdoor kitchen, advantageous for hosting a party under the sun.

Commenting on the impending sale on 3 December 2015 at Trump SoHo in New York, Lamond Davis, president of Sterling Bahamas Realty, says: “This auction presents an incredible opportunity to purchase a unique property with an incredible back story.”

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A modern California masterpiece of a mansion in the Silicon Valley town of Los Altos Hills just listed for an eye-popping $88 million.

That number makes it "one of the most expensive properties ever to be publicly listed in the area," listing agent Michael Dreyfus of Sotheby's International Realty told the Wall Street Journal. It's important to note, however, that homes in the area have changed hands privately for more. 

The home is owned by tech entrepreneur Kumar Malavalli, founder of Brocade Communications Systems and current head of venture capital firm VKRM.

The compound includes two structures: a 20,400-square-foot main house and a 1,024-square-foot "executive center." Malavalli used the compound for both living and working, ensuring a commute as easy as a walk through the property's meditation gardens.

He and his wife are now selling the home to be closer to their grandchildren. 

SEE ALSO: Go inside the most expensive home in San Francisco, on the market for $28 million

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Hidden in the Silicon Valley enclave of Los Altos Hills, California, lies a huge, eight-acre estate.

This is no mere cookie-cutter McMansion.

The grand entryway is framed by lattice and guarded by a lion statue.

Nearly three years after winning a competition to design a residential building with units smaller than 400 square feet, Carmel Place is on the verge of completion.

Located in Manhattan's Kips Bay neighborhood, the building is the first micro-apartment development in New York City. Its 55 units range between 265 and 360 square feet, and market-rate units cost between $2,650 and $3,150 a month.

Since 1987, New York has required units to be 400 square feet or larger, but the city made an exception for this project — which was pitched as a solution to the lack of affordable living options for singles who want to live in Manhattan by themselves.

Tobias Oriwol, project developer for Monadnock Development, told INSIDER that the units are specifically designed to make the most out of their limited square footage.

"People really don't care too much about the size as long as the apartment does what they want it to do," he said. "This small apartment, even though it's smaller in size than the average studio in the city right now, really functions much larger than all those other small apartments."

The ceilings are nine-feet, six-inches tall and the units have double windows with Juliet balconies, giving the space an airy feel. In addition, the bed folds out of a wall, the closet extends into the apartment, and a tiny desk converts into a 10-person dining table.

"This is 302 square feet, and it's 302 usable square feet," Oriwol said.

There are both furnished and unfurnished units in the building, and Wi-Fi and cable are included in the rent. A 302-square-foot unit will rent for $2,750 when the building is completed in February of 2016.

The building started leasing its market-rate units at the end of November. Its 14 affordable housing units — which are reserved for tenants with income limitations — rent for around $950. Sixty thousand people applied to live in those units, Oriwol said.

Story by Tony Manfred and video by Adam Banicki

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A glassy apartment tower between two bridges is being called the most expensive in Brooklyn.

60 Water Street sits in one of the best locations in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn — only 85 feet from the historic Brooklyn Bridge.

Dumbo is no stranger to high rents. With an average of $2,880 a month for a studio, $4,043 for a one-bedroom, and $5,788 for a two-bedroom, the neighborhood has the most expensive rentals in Brooklyn, according to a report by MNS real estate brokerage.

Units at 60 Water are even more expensive. In the building, 452-square-foot studios start at $2,964, 621-square-foot one-bedrooms start at $3,498, and 963-square-foot two-bedrooms start at $6,018. Amenities like large terraces and city views can cause the rent to shoot up dramatically.

According to the building's developer, Two Trees Management, 60 Water is now 85% rented.

Keep scrolling to see what it looks like inside the priciest rental in one of the hottest development markets in the US.

SEE ALSO: Inside One57, the new most expensive building in New York City

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Gaze upon 60 Water Street, the most expensive rental building in Brooklyn. Its glassy exterior separates it from Dumbo's typical post-industrial architectural style.

This is what a one-bedroom apartment in the building looks like.

The amenities are just as nice as you'd expect. Top-of-the-line Bosch appliances fill the space.

Five years into the recovery, renters are still paying the price for the Great Recession.

Rents are high and rising across much of the nation, at least in the places where many people live.

That’s not surprising. What’s fascinating is the flip side—the changes happening in homeownership.

The U.S. Census Bureau has just released data from its regular five-year American Community Survey.

The survey provides detailed statistics on all kinds of factors in American life, including college graduation rates, poverty rates, segregation and integration, and housing data—lots and lots of housing data.

The latest batch shows that rents are red hot in the nation’s largest and fastest-growing cities. That’s something people who live in those places know from experience.

The median gross rent is more than $1,000 in 182 counties, split fairly neatly between the South (65 counties), West (62), and Northeast (49). In the Midwest, where rents are a lot cheaper, just six counties boast such high rents.

The ACS data track big shifts over time, namely between the 2005–2009 survey and the 2010–2014 survey. In most counties, the rent did not change very much: in fact, more than 2,200 counties posted no significant increase or decrease at all. But that isn’t saying a lot, because more than 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas. And in most of those places, rents shot up. The ACS data show that median gross rent increased in 719 counties between 2005–2009 and 2010–2014, while the median gross rent decreased in 204 counties.
 Again, not so surprising. Renters have returned to cities in droves. Housing starts are still at near-historic lows five years into the recovery—even after median house prices returned to pre-crisis levels. And for a number of reasons, Millennials aren’t forming new households even when they move out of their parents’ homes.

So it’s to be expected that homeownership rates aren’t up. Between 2005–2009 and 2010–2014, the percentage of homes that were owner-occupied fell in 931 counties. The number ticked up for just 115 counties. Overall, there was no change in homeownership figures across most of the nation—in 2,096 counties, to be exact—but those places aren’t where most of the nation lives. This all squares: Where renting is waxing, owning is waning.

What’s more surprising is what’s happening with the costs of homeownership: They’re falling, and they’re falling all over the place. Between 2005–2009 and 2010–2014, the median monthly costs of owning a home decreased in 1,163 counties. In another 1,798 counties, the change wasn’t significant. The costs of homeownership—including mortgage, insurance, loan fees, and so on—rose in just 177 counties. Many of those overlap with the 171 counties where owners paid mortgages of more than $1,750, and a lot of these counties (63 counties, nearly 40 percent) are located in the Northeast.

Put more simply: More renters should be buying homes. It would be the cheaper option for a lot of them. Except for in the cities where housing prices are simply soaring (New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., to name three), more renters ought to be availing themselves of homeownership.

Take Nashville, for example. In Nashville, 27 percent of homeowners are paying monthly housing costs of $1,000 to $1,499. That’s the largest share of mortgage costs: 8 percent pay mortgages in the next bracket down, while 11 percent pay mortgages that cost a little more.

Renters are paying the same rates: 25 percent of renters are paying rents of $1,000 to $1,499. About 11 percent of Nashville renters pay slightly less in rent ($900 to $999) and just 5 percent pay slightly more ($1,500 to $1,999).

So why aren’t more renters taking part in the American Dream? Last year, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies posed one possible answer: Renters can afford mortgages, but they can’t afford to purchase homes.

Student debt means lower credit—not necessarily bad credit, but less competitive credit. Institutional investors and all-cash buyers, meanwhile, put homes out of reach for normal buyers who need loans to purchase. These factors are keeping renters (mostly Millennials) out of the post-crisis, first-time-homebuyer market.

In the end, it’s a portrait of inequality: If renters wanted to buy a home, they should have gotten rich before now. So long as investors can beat first-time home-buyers to the punch with larger down payments and cash offers, renters are going to stay renting. Even the people who can afford a mortgage.

SEE ALSO: Inside London's largest luxury flat in Britain's hedge fund capital

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Even though expiration dates aren't always accurate, home owners should always pay attention to them.

With the help of the 2007 National Association of Home Builders report and expert sources online, we compiled when to replace 37 things you rely on daily around the house.

Keep reading to see if you need to buy anything new this weekend.

HVAC filter — 1-3 months, depending on the season

Source: National Association of Home Builders

Brita water filters — 2 months

Source: Brita

Toothbrush — 3-4 months

Source: American Dental Association

Certified financial planner Sophia Bera answers: "Should I pay off my mortgage early?"

YES. Done! Just kidding.

Well, the answer is that it actually depends. When it comes to debt, mortgage debt is probably the best kind of debt that you could have, but it's still debt.

People like to say that you get a nice tax deduction, but it's usually overrated for the amount of money that they debt is actually costing you over your 30-year mortgage.

If you have any other debt, I would pay that off first. If your mortgage is the only debt you have left, I would want to know more about your mortgage: Is it a 15-year or a 30-year mortgage? What is the interest rate? When do you want to retire?

I would also want to find out how you're doing on reaching your other financial priorities? Do you have adequate emergency savings (three-six months)? Are there any big upcoming expenses on the horizon (i.e. car purchase, paying for college, trip around the world, starting a new business)? Are you saving enough for retirement?

Currently, the rates on 15-year mortgages are about .75% cheaper than 30-year mortgages and they tend to be under 4%. So if you really want to pay off your mortgage faster and you have a 30-year mortgage, I would probably suggest that you consider refinancing to a 15-year mortgage and cut your interest rate at the same time. That's the first step.

The next step is something that's going to cause a lot of controversy, but I'm going to say it anyway: If the only debt is a mortgage, you have enough emergency savings, you're on track for retirement and there's no big expenses on the horizon then I say GO FOR IT! Pay down your mortgage with gusto!

This is contrary to what most traditional financial planners will tell you. They will say that if your mortgage is only at 4% then you should invest in hopes that you get an 8%-plus rate of return on the stock market over the long term. (But also remember that this is how most financial planners get paid, on how much of your money you invest with them. So if you take out $200,000 from your portfolio to pay off your mortgage, their income goes down).

I didn't always see the logic in paying down your mortgage instead of investing, until one of the smartest and most well-respected financial planners I know wrote this article: Why Keeping A Mortgage and a Portfolio Might Not Be Worth the Risk.

He also argues that most financial planners wouldn't tell clients to take out loans to make a 401(k) contribution so, "we probably shouldn’t be telling them to keep their mortgage and direct savings to the investment accounts, either." Because it's the EXACT SAME THING.

Now, go have a mortgage burning party! (Apparently, that used to be a thing).

This post is part of a continuing series that answers all of your questions related to personal finance. Have your own question? Email yourmoney[at]businessinsider[dot]com.

Sophia Bera, CFP® is the Founder of Gen Y Planning and has been quoted in The New York Times, Forbes, Business Insider, AOL, The Wall Street Journal, and Money Magazine. She tweets, travels, and loves helping millennials manage their money more effectively. Curious? Sign up for the free Gen Y Planning Newsletter.

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