Author: openjargon

• Jonathon Yarton is a real-estate agent who helps buyers and renters find spots in the Hamptons.
• He says the rental market is booming and he sees premium rentals go for up to $1 million a month.
• His favorite village is Sagaponack, and he recommends Southampton for access to NYC and retirees.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jonathan Yarton, a 27-year-old real-estate agent from Rochester, New York. It's been edited for length and clarity.

I've been a real-estate agent in New York City, Long Island, and the Hamptons for five years. I'm also on the second season of the HBO show "Selling the Hamptons," and I'm the founder of Finding Space, a weekly newsletter of the trends I'm seeing in real estate.

Six months into my career, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. I started helping people find rentals in the Hamptons as a way to leave the city. I'm also familiar with the Hamptons from visiting with friends.

Two camps of people go to the Hamptons. Some go to retreat and get away from the world, and the other group goes to be around all the people. Both are valid reasons, but you should be informed before you visit, rent, or buy.

The rental market is on fire right now

Inventory for buyers is pretty low in the Hamptons. We're seeing a lot of the market move over $5 million, and I'm seeing more cash deals for those properties.

This summer's rental market is hotter than it's been in the last few years. I've rented to clients who have paid $50,000 for a month and clients who have paid over $100,000 for a month. The ultra-premium market can cost $1 million a month.

On the lower end, you do see people renting for just weeks. Due to the 5% tax on rentals under 30 days, we see people renting longer just to avoid that.

Once the borders opened back up after the pandemic, a lot of people ran to Europe. Now, I'm seeing a renewed interest in the Hamptons, even from people not based in NYC, which has been cool. I've even gotten some calls from clients in the UK.

Reality TV is giving international exposure to the Hamptons lifestyle, making people more curious to visit, but certain areas are better for visitors than others.

Sagaponack is my favorite spot

Sagaponack is quiet, the houses are gorgeous, the lot sizes are the biggest, it's the most low-key, and there isn't everyday traffic like in Southampton or East Hampton. Jimmy Fallon has a house out there, which put it on my radar.

Some of America's most private people live in Sagaponack. It's the kind of place where, if you're driving by, you'll miss it. It's not super lively, which is great for celebrities.

Sagaponack is my No. 1 recommendation if you want to be away from the crowds and remain exclusive while having access to the beach and East Hampton.

East Hampton has a bit more to do

People really gravitate toward East Hampton. There's just a little more life there, with restaurants, designer stores, and things to do.

Sag Harbor has an old fisherman-architecture vibe and feels a little more like a small town, which I love. There's something very charming about that, especially in the Hamptons, which can feel a little commercial. Every time I'm in Sag Harbor, I feel the local energy. The average house price depends but can range from $2 million to $25 million.

Amagansett is nice, too, but it's a little far out. Many people are looking for access, and access from Amagansett is tough, especially when you get onto the main strip headed toward Montauk.

In 2024, you would expect cell service to be top-notch, but it's not what you think it is. You really have to stick at your house out there. Some people love that.

If you're looking to rent in Amagansett, you should rent at a resort, and if you're looking to buy, you should buy something with a lot of amenities since you're farther away from the main activities.

Southampton is the best for retirees

Southampton has the name power and the big restaurants. It also has communities with pools, and your lawn, landscaping, and house color are all taken care of. Keeping up with an estate is a lot of work. In these communities, life becomes the vacation that you always wanted it to be.

Southampton is also a good option to be closer to NYC. For celebrities looking to make it a little faster to the Hamptons, Southampton is where they go; if they're looking for more activities but a little more off-the-beaten-path, East Hampton is where they end up.

These are the Hamptons hot spots for summer 2024

I always rave about this Mediterranean-inspired restaurant in East Hampton called Sí Sí. I love it. The food there is fresh, you get incredible sunsets, and then at night, it turns into a really fun party. It's absolutely one of the best places to be.

Then there's Gurney's in Montauk. It's well-known, and Sunday nights at Gurney's will always be popular. People like Surf Lodge in Montauk, too, but it's a hit or miss for me.

In Sag Harbor, the place to be is Le Bibloquet. People just eat that restaurant up. It's a staple out there.

Topping Rose in Bridgehampton is very nice for something a little more low-key. There's also this restaurant called Almond, with LGBTQ+ owners. As a gay man, when I was looking for a community out east, I found it at Almond, which was a very happy surprise.

Did you rent a house in the Hamptons this summer and want to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@businessinsider.com.

• Bernard Arnault's last visit to China drew large crowds and received social media coverage.
• LVMH, led by Arnault, has grown significantly in China since entering the market in 1992.
• LVMH's sales in China have declined recently due to a shift towards domestic brands and economic malaise.

Chinese customers are such big fans of luxury brands like Louis Vuitton that they reacted strongly to Bernard Arnault visiting their country.

When the CEO of French fashion house LVMH visited Beijing and Shanghai with two of his adult children last year, large groups of people came out to see him. A few of them asked him to bless their babies, he told Bloomberg in an interview.

"It was a little strange for me," he said.

During the same trip, Chinese social media was filled with details about what he ordered at a Cantonese restaurant in Shanghai. Local reports highlighted his tours of high-fashion malls in Beijing.

The French billionaire is one of the world's richest people, alongside Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Arnault is worth $205 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

LVMH's first venture in China dates back to 1859, when spirit company Hennessy made its initial shipment of cognac to the country. Louis Vuitton joined the market when it opened its first boutique in Beijing's Palace Hotel in 1992.

The company doesn't break out financial results by geography, but HSBC estimated that China was the luxury conglomerate's second-biggest market by sales last year.

Unlike other foreign companies that are cutting their presence in China because of geopolitical risks, some luxury companies are cementing themselves further. LVMH had 950 stores in China and employed 24,000 people as of 2019. It opened another 58 stores last year, per Bloomberg.

"We have significant growth with Chinese customers, which continues unabated," chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said in January following the company's 2023 earnings report.

But 2023 was rough for the company. The stock fell almost 30% over the year from its April high — a rout attributed to waning Chinese demand for luxury goods.

The trend has continued this year. LVMH reported in April that Asia's revenues outside Japan fell 6% in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. The slump hit Gucci owner and top rival Kering as well, as Chinese customers ditch foreign luxury for gold and domestic brands amid prolonged economic malaise.

• Celebrity real estate agent Josh Altman named five cities to buy homes in before the prices get too hot.
• He said home prices in Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Phoenix and San Diego could "skyrocket."
• These cities are "booming with economic growth" and have rising populations, he said. 

There are five US cities where home prices are poised to skyrocket, so people looking to get homes there should move fast, "Million Dollar Listing" celebrity realtor Josh Altman says.

Speaking to the personal finance website GOBankingRates in an article published on Tuesday, he said that predicting which cities would be good investments required examining their economic growth, population trends, and infrastructure developments.

The five cities handpicked by Altman are Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Phoenix, and San Diego.

"These cities are booming with economic growth, rising populations, strong job markets, and great affordability," he told the outlet. "We see huge potential here."

Atlanta

Atlanta has a population of about 510,000 as of 2023.

Most of its residents are millennials, with its residents' median age being 33.6 years.

The median value of a home in Atlanta is about $429,990, per May data from real estate site Redfin.

It also has a dynamic business environment, with a 2023 analysis from LinkedIn showing that Greater Atlanta had the highest number of people setting up their own businesses of all US cities.

Dallas

Dallas in north Texas has a population of about 1.3 million as of 2024.

As with Atlanta, most of its residents are millennials, with its residents' median age being 33.1 years.

The median home value in Dallas is about $499,900, per Redfin, and has increased 20.7% year over year.

Texas has received a large inflow of residents from other states, particularly California. Between 2021 and 2022, more than 668,300 people moved into Texas, according to state-to-state migration data from the Census Bureau.

Dallas' mayor, Eric Johnson, said in January that people are attracted to Texas by its relatively lower cost of housing and living and a better quality of life.

Pengyu Cheng, a tech company program manager, previously told BI that he moved to Texas from San Francisco with his wife and purchased a two-story home for $825,000.

He said this was a fraction of what they could have paid in California, where they were renting a two-bedroom home for $3,100 a month.

Orlando

Popular for its Disney World and Universal amusement park, Orlando has a population of about 330,000, a 5.43% increase from 2020.

The median age of its residents is 34.67, and homes have a median price of $407,440, per Redfin. The median price has risen 8.7% year over year.

The city is luring people from its pricier neighbor, Miami, particularly young people attracted by its lack of state income tax, good weather, and job opportunities.

Phoenix

Phoenix is the fifth-most populous city in the US, with nearly 1.65 million residents.

The median age of its residents is young, at 34.4 years old. Houses have a median cost of $461,000, per Redfin, a figure that has risen 5.5% year over year.

The city is hot, not just in terms of its climate but also in terms of an inflow of new residents.

Young, wealthy people are putting down roots here, attracted by the warm weather all year round and the bigger, more affordable homes.

San Diego

The quieter sibling of Los Angeles, the seaside city of San Diego has a population of about 1.4 million and is the US' eighth most populous city.

The median age of San Diego residents is 35.8 years.

Prices of homes in this city top this list, with the median being $980,000, a figure reflecting a 7.7% increase yearly, according to Redfin.

But it's also true that housing in San Diego trends toward the pricier end. San Diego, along with four other Californian cities, was marked as "impossibly unaffordable," according to the 2024 Demographia International Housing Affordability report.

If Altman's words ring true and prices here are set to spike more, serious buyers should lock their house purchases in soon.

Altman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

• I'm a 35-year-old American mom living in the UK. 
• I took my three kids to the US for the first time in eight years and they were surprised by things.
• They thought cars and meals were big, and that there was always too much ice in drinks. 

It has been nearly eight years since my three Welsh children have visited my family in the United States. Even though I would have loved to make the eight-hour plane trip with them more often, logistics, the pandemic, and cost have kept us away.

For months, we prepared for our monthlong trip, with the kids getting increasingly excited about the food and fun they would have with their grandparents in a foreign land. Even though you'd imagine the two countries to be very similar as they speak English, there are multitudes of differences.

From my adult perspective, I know that healthcare, education, salaries, and culture widely vary, but I was excited to see what differences they, as children, would notice.

Bigger cars and bigger roads

After landing in Washington, DC, and retrieving our bags, we entered the parking lot. The two older kids quickly observed that the cars weren't like the ones in the UK. There were Chevrolets, GMCs, Lincolns, and endless pickup trucks.

They were also much bigger. In the UK, it's twice as expensive to fill a car with gas, roads are much narrower and windier, and there is less parking, so smaller cars are often preferable.

My kids immediately noticed that, along with cars, the roads in the US are much bigger than in the UK.

In DC, they tried to figure out how overpasses worked, roads overlapping each other in a complicated shape. In the UK, motorways, equivalent to highways, converge at roundabouts.

Even though they had expected it, they found it funny Americans drive on the opposite side of the road.

They were surprised by AC

The UK rarely gets very hot. At most, there are four to six weeks of the year when the temperature rises above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. When it does, we just open all the windows, strip down to our select few summer clothes, and keep the curtains shut because very few homes have air conditioning. Those weeks are boiling hot, but we grit our teeth and bear it because they don't last long.

When we got to our hotel the night we landed, they asked me what the metal box contraption making noise was in the corner of our room. It was the air conditioning unit, which pushes cool air through vents.

Since we've been here, they have relished in the ability to cool off inside after playing in the heat.

They think the portions are too big and there's always too much ice in drinks

We have been out to eat, and when my parents get the kids drinks in the house, ample ice is in every glass of water, juice, or soda.

The kids both love and hate it. They enjoy sucking on the ice as a novelty, but they've been complaining that the freezing cold temperature of the drink hurts their teeth.

You might have a few cubes of ice in a restaurant in the UK, but I have never once been served a drink in someone's home with ice in it.

They also feel like the portions are way too big. Our first meal in the US was at Bob Evans. The kids each ordered a kid's meal with a side of pancakes to share. The food was served to us over several trips.

"Look how many pancakes there are," one of the kids said when the plate of four enormous pancakes with syrup and jam was put down in front of us.

At the gas station, they were amazed by the size of the chip bags, chocolate bars, and drink cups. "All the food is big," one of them whispered to me as he gazed at the shelves of food.

• China's leader, Xi Jinping, is urging his country's scientists to innovate in the tech sector.
• While praising China's progress overall, he also highlighted several pressing shortcomings in the country.
• He said China's innovation was "still relatively weak," and had a shortage of top talent.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, made several admissions of the country's shortcomings in its race to become the world's tech powerhouse, saying its innovation is "relatively weak" and that its scientists are overburdened.

To be sure, Xi's remarks on Tuesday at a national conference in Beijing lauded China's science industries overall.

But he also highlighted glaring challenges and pressed the country to focus on tech growth, which he said is now the "main battlefield of international competition."

"Although the country's science and technology development has made great progress, its original innovation capabilities are still relatively weak," Xi said.

Indeed, Xi mentioned innovation 55 times in his speech on Tuesday, emphasizing it while discussing artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotech, and new energy.

And China's tech breakthroughs are too scattered across various companies and sectors for Xi's liking, with him saying they suffer a "low degree of organization and coordination" that needs addressing.

Core technologies are out of China's hands, Xi says

Key to his push for innovation is the idea of China becoming self-reliant — a common theme across all of his ideologies — especially as tensions with the West grow.

"The scientific and technological revolution and the wrestling between superpowers are intertwined," Xi said.

While he did not name the US, Xi said it was clear China would have to fix how "some key core technologies are controlled by others."

The comment comes as the US has threatened to expand sanctions on several Chinese chip firms linked to Huawei and blocked the sale of advanced semiconductors essential to developing artificial intelligence technology.

Last week, the US Treasury Department labeled China a "country of concern" and proposed new rules to limit international investment in "the next generation of military, intelligence, surveillance or cyber-enabled capabilities that pose national security risks to the United States."

Researchers still caught up in red tape

Xi also raised a shortage of manpower and top talent in the tech and science spaces. Researchers were still complaining of "heavy non-academic burdens" like red tape with publishing papers, busywork in official reports, and asking for resources, he said.

He added that China would have to "improve incentive systems" like better awards for science and tech and a more even wage system for employees and researchers.

While the US has been in the middle of its own technological boom, thanks in part to giants like OpenAI, Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft, Business Insider previously reported that bosses in China's tech sector are upping the pressure on workers following the loss of around $1.3 trillion in market value by the country's top five tech companies since 2021.

The Chinese government has been especially focused on developing artificial intelligence technology. BI previously reported that an April report by Microsoft indicated China-linked social media accounts plan to use AI-generated media to influence elections in the US.

With all said on Tuesday, it's clear Xi wants China to not just be a major player in the tech space but to dominate it.

"We must bolster our sense of urgency. We must go further with our efforts to innovate," Xi said. "To occupy the commanding heights of science and tech competition and future development."

• Twitch streamer Kai Cenat was so frustrated with a video game that he got a therapist on his stream.
• He had been struggling for 60 hours to beat the final boss of "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree."
• Cenat eventually beat the video game boss about six hours after the mental health session.

Frustrated with his performance against a video game boss, Twitch streamer and YouTuber Kai Cenat went viral on Tuesday evening for bringing a therapist to his livestream to help process his emotions.

Cenat, 22, was well into his 60th hour of fighting the final boss of the "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree" when Aubri Williams appeared in his streaming room.

Williams, a full-time model who also provides counseling sessions, told Cenat that someone booked him an appointment with her, but did not say who.

What ensued was a bizarre blend of two worlds. For half an hour, Cenat haphazardly talked through the mechanics of "Elden Ring" as Williams taught him to breathe, think positively, and envision the outcomes of him achieving his gaming goal.

Cenat had been streaming his playthrough of the video game for a total of 92 hours, with six to seven hours of sleep interspersed between gaming sessions.

"I've been on the last boss for the past 60 hours of my life that I can't get back," Cenat lamented. "And I'm trying everything, I went to get a new weapon, I went to go upgrade new stuff like my dexterity, my arcane, I dropped my faith, I got more strength. I've done so much."

"Let's close our eyes for a sec," Williams said.

"Oh, I got scared, I see Radahn again," Cenat said, referring to the final boss blocking his victory.

Calming down and steeling his mind under Williams' guidance, Cenat played the boss fight again for her to observe.

"When I win, I win," Cenat said. Williams applauded his newfound positivity.

His character spun and slashed for several minutes but eventually fell to Radahn's two gigantic swords. A death counter on Cenat's stream updated to 992.

He slapped his knee in anger. "I got greedy," he said, raising his head and roaring the same words.

"You might need to pull away and give yourself a good five minutes of just resetting and putting your energy only on seeing that good run. Only a continuous good run," Williams told him later.

The streamer eventually appeared to get insecure. "92 hours and 992 deaths. Am I a bad player?" he asked Williams.

"I would probably have way worse. So no, you're actually a phenomenal player," Williams replied, encouraging Cenat to avoid "negative self-thoughts."

Her advice appeared to take root when Cenat's character died again. "It's OK," he said. "And that's fine. That was just fine."

After a few breathing exercises — and a brief segment where Cenat seemed to get suspicious that his therapist was laughing at his gaming performance — Williams wished Cenat luck and exited his stream.

Williams, who has 72,500 followers on Instagram, said on social media that she had opted not to run a full clinical session with Cenat when he was "trying to reach his goal" on a livestream.

"Did this young man need some mental health support during a tough time while he's legit LIVE STREAMING? Yes," wrote Williams, who said she has a Master's Degree in Marriage, Couples, and Family Counselling from Stetson University.

Cenat would defeat Radahn about six hours and 40 deaths later, or 67 hours after his first encounter with the video game boss.

It was the end of an ordeal for the streamer, who collapsed on the floor in ecstasy. He'd also broken down days earlier in front of his fans because he kept losing.

Williams and representatives for Cenat did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular business hours.

Cenat, with 11.7 million followers on Twitch, is one of the biggest creators on the streaming platform, just behind the likes of Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, who holds the top spot with 19.1 million followers.

The game that frustrated him, Bandai Namco's "Elden Ring," is notorious among avid gamers for its almost torturous difficulty but has sold over 25 million copies since its release.

Though its main title was launched in February 2022, Cenat was playing a recently released expansion, "Shadow of the Erdtree," when Williams appeared on his stream.

• Space barons Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have long had competing ambitions to take over the skies.
• Bezos' Blue Origin recently proposed a cap on SpaceX's launches due to environmental concerns.
• Musk slammed the move and gave the company a new moniker: "Sue Origin."

Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, thinks the FAA should cap SpaceX's launches — and Elon Musk isn't too pleased about it.

Blue Origin recently expressed concerns over the environmental impacts of SpaceX's rocket launches on nearby facilities in a filing to the FAA, which the agency published on Friday.

The company also recommended imposing a cap on the Starship-Super Heavy mega-rocket's "launch, landing, and other operations" so that it would have a "minimal impact on the local environment, locally operating personnel, and the local community."

"An obviously disingenuous response," Musk said on X on Tuesday. "Not cool of them to try (for the third time) to impede SpaceX's progress by lawfare."

"Sue Origin," Musk said in a subsequent post, taking a jab at the company's name.

This isn't the first time the two space barons have feuded.

In fact, Musk himself mentioned two other disputes that SpaceX had with Blue Origin in the past in an earlier post he made on Tuesday.

In 2013, Blue Origin filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) after NASA chose to lease one of its launchpads at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to SpaceX. The GAO rejected their complaint.

Then, in 2014, Blue Origin was granted a patent for a reusable rocket concept that involved landing the rocket on a boat. The US Patent and Trademark Office canceled the patent a year later after SpaceX protested that the technology being patented "was, at best, 'old hat' by 2009."

To be sure, Blue Origin isn't the only party that has flagged the environmental concerns posed by SpaceX's rocket launches.

In 2021, residents of Brownsville, Texas, told BI that rocket explosions at a nearby SpaceX launchpad were a source of environmental pollution.

"SpaceX explosions are littering our ecosystems, home to the endangered ocelot, aplomado falcon, and numerous migratory birds," Brownsville resident Bekah Hinojosa told BI's Kate Duffy.

SpaceX and Blue Origin did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

• Greece implements a six-day workweek for select industries starting Monday.
• Workers will receive 40% more pay for extra hours and 115% more for holiday work.
• This contrasts global trends toward shorter workweeks, sparking backlash and protests.

As countries and companies worldwide trial a shorter workweek, one economy is moving to a six-day workweek.

Starting Monday, some workers in Greece could have 48-hour workweek. The change aims to tackle labor productivity issues stemming from unemployment and shrinking populations, which have left many employees to work beyond their hours without extra compensation.

The reform, which was passed in September, applies to workers in selected private industries, including retail, agriculture, and some service sectors. It also applies to businesses that provide round-the-clock services.

Workers will be paid 40% more for the extra hours worked.

Employees can be asked to split their work in various ways: working two additional hours a day or working a maximum of eight hours on a sixth day of the week. They will also be allowed to voluntarily have a second job with another employer of five hours a day, alongside their full–time job of eight hours.

Employers who follow the new structure are required to inform their workers of additional hours at least 24 hours before.

Change could 'kill' the traditional workweek

The new rules were met with backlash from trade unions and opposition groups.

One day before the bill was passed in the fall, thousands of public-sector workers, including teachers, doctors and transportation staff, marched to protest the reform.

While adopting the change is voluntary, opponents say the new bill will make six-day workweeks the norm because Greece has a poor history of conducting labor inspections.

The new law "will kill off the five-day work week for good," Aris Kazakos, a labor law professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told German media outlet DW last week. The employer has the authority to require staff to work a sixth day in the week and staff cannot refuse to work, he said.

Kazakos also said he worried about the bill increasing safety risks for staff in industrial sectors. In 2023, 179 workers were killed in accidents at work in Greece, up from 104 the year before, DW reported.

Greeks work more than any of their European counterparts, even before the new bill. Per the OECD, they work an average of 36 hours a week, while workers in France, Netherlands, and Germany work less than 30 hours. US employees work about 35 hours a week on average.

Greece's reform is a stark contrast to initiatives other countries are taking to reduce the number of working days.

In April, Singapore announced that employees in the country will soon be able to request shorter workweeks and flexible hours. Iceland, Ireland, UK, and Spain have all experimented with four-day workweeks. Out of 61 UK companies that took part in the six-month trial in 2022, 54 have continued with the shortened week, with 31 of them saying they would do so permanently.