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Running a business often means ideas come faster than your keyboard can keep up. From mapping out project requirements to firing off client emails, leaders spend an overwhelming amount of time typing instead of executing. That’s exactly what VoiceType AI does.
It’s an AI-powered dictation tool that transcribes at up to 360 words per minute with 99.7% accuracy, making it 9x faster than the average typing speed.
With lifetime access now available for just $39 (MSRP: $154), VoiceType helps business leaders capture thoughts, notes, and strategies instantly—no matter which app you’re in. It works across the platforms you already use, including Slack, Google Docs, Notion, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Trello, and more, so you don’t need to change your workflow.
Short-term rentals (STRs) have obvious upside: cash flow, appreciation, and the added perk of owning a property in a place you enjoy visiting. However, as every experienced host knows, the postcard view doesn’t always translate to profits.
Regulations, seasonality, property taxes, and nightly rate caps can significantly impact your deal. That’s why we analyzed 31 of the most beautiful towns in America, a list straight out of Condé Nast Traveler, and ran the numbers like an investor would.
We examined median home prices from Zillow, estimated annual STR revenue with predicted averages using Mashvisor, Rabbu, Airbtics, and PriceLabs, and calculated a simple yield (gross revenue divided by price). Then we added the crucial layer most “best towns” lists leave out: local STR rules.
The results show a mix of possible winners with double-digit yields and more friendly policies, big-budget prestige towns where returns are slim, and do-not-invest destinations where moratoriums or outright bans make STRs all but impossible.
The Numbers First
Here’s the data on prices, yields, classifications, and regulatory notes for all 31 towns we examined:
Tough but possible
Bar Harbor, ME:$677K homes, $97K revenue, 14% yield. VR-2 rentals are capped at 9% and require a four-night minimum.
Ketchikan, AK:$399K homes, $44K revenue, 11% yield. Zoning permit and parking space required.
Lake Geneva, WI:$399K homes, $68K revenue, 17% yield. License needed, 180-day cap, two-night min.
Lake Placid, NY: $358K homes, $53K revenue, 15% yield. New unhosted STRs are banned; hosted STRs are capped in neighborhoods.
Potential
Beaufort, SC: $410K homes, $44K revenue, 11% yield. 6% cap per neighborhood.
Portsmouth, NH: $776K homes, $50K revenue, 6.5% yield. STRs are illegal in residential areas.
Woodstock, VT: $712K homes, $53K annual STR revenue, 7.6% yield, Town ordinance with caps.
Breaking It Down Further
Now that we have the numbers in hand, let’s analyze these markets further.
Tough but possible
These are the markets that make investors’ palms sweaty. On paper, the yields are incredible. We’re talking 14% to 17% in places like Lake Geneva, WI, and Bar Harbor, ME.
But here’s the catch: You’re not just buying a property; you’re buying into a set of rules that force you to operate differently.
Take Lake Geneva. Yes, a 17% yield looks like mailbox money, but the city caps you at 180 days and enforces spacing rules between stays. That means you don’t really own a year-round STR; you own a seasonal machine. Still, if you’re priced out of the mountains or beach markets, Lake Geneva is one of the few Midwest towns where the cash flow rivals the big names.
Bar Harbor is another one where the rules seem painful, but scarcity is your friend. Nonowner STRs are capped at 9% of parcels and require four-night minimums. Most investors see that as a deal-breaker. I see it as a moat. Once you’re in, there’s less chance of a race to the bottom on nightly rates.
Lake Placid, NY, also fits this mold. The 15% yield is real, but “unhosted” STRs are banned in most neighborhoods. That’s not a spreadsheet problem; that’s a strategy problem. You either play the hosted game, find a commercial area, or wait for a grandfathered permit to become available.
Bottom line: If you’re willing to work around restrictions, these markets pay off. The rules weed out casual hosts, which can leave more room for pros.
Potential
This is the most enormous bucket—markets where the numbers work, but the local rules are more like guardrails than roadblocks.
Gatlinburg, TN, is the headline act here. You get a 13% yield and a market that’s bulletproof thanks to the Smokies. The only catch is zoning. Buy in the wrong district (like R-1A or R-2A), and you’re sitting on a non-cash-flowing vacation home. Buy in the right district, and you’ve got a forever STR.
Then you’ve got markets like Taos, NM, and Beaufort, SC, where caps limit supply. Taos only issues 120 permits citywide, and Beaufort caps STRs at 6% per neighborhood. Both rules sound scary, but think about the moat they create. Fewer permits mean less competition, which means higher occupancy and pricing power if you already have one.
The Northeast is a mixed bag. Hudson Valley, NY, yields 12%, but only if you follow owner-occupancy rules and zoning. Camden, ME, limits licenses, and Rockport, MA, punts to statewide registration and taxes. In other words, you can make money in all three, but you’ve got to accept the paperwork as part of your underwriting.
Some places in this tier are more niche. Eureka Springs, AR, banned new STRs in residential zones, which caps growth but protects existing operators. Deadwood, SD, only really makes sense if you’re capitalizing on the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (which takes place in August) or outside city limits. Whitefish, MT, requires you to buy in the correct zone. If you can live with those quirks, the numbers hold.
Investors should view these towns in the same way they would a property with deferred maintenance. The bones are good, but you need to manage the risk to unlock the value.
Big budget
This category is where the numbers stop making sense from a pure cash flow perspective.
Jackson, WY, is the classic example. Homes average nearly $2M, and even with strong nightly rates, your yield barely breaks 4%. Add in the three-stay/60-night cap in residential zones, and you’re essentially buying bragging rights, not cash flow.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, tells a similar story. Beautiful town, insane demand, but STRs are banned in R-1 zones. Unless you’re sitting on a legal nonconforming unit, you’re looking at a $2.3M home that doesn’t cash flow.
Snowmass Village, CO, appears more lucrative in terms of revenue, with $130K annually, but again, with $2M home prices and heavy permitting, your yield is only 6%. Fine if you want a ski house that pays its bills. Not great if you’re trying to scale.
These aren’t cash flow plays. They’re trophy assets. You buy here for appreciation, for legacy, or because you can afford to. For most investors, these are “look but don’t touch” markets.
Don’t invest
And then there are the markets where the math might look OK, but the rules basically shut the door. Most will still allow STRs in specific commercial zones or outside city limits, but you never know when they will crack down even more.
Portsmouth, NH, is the clearest: STRs are illegal in residential zones, full stop.
Paia, HI, and Magnolia Springs, AL, both have moratoriums in place. That’s the government telling you they don’t want you in their market, for now.
Cannon Beach, OR, is a case study in how to strangle a market: Limiting stays to once every 14 days results in a collapse of occupancy. On paper, the yield is 8%. In reality, you’re running half-empty.
Friday Harbor, WA, has a 337-permit cap and a moratorium on new applications. That’s a closed shop unless someone else gives theirs up.
This is the category where you look at the numbers and think, “Too good to be true.” And in most cases, you’d be right.
Final Thoughts
What this list really shows is that you can’t invest off yield alone. The 31 prettiest towns in America aren’t necessarily the 31 best STR markets. Some will make you rich. Some will make you crazy. And some won’t let you in at all.
As an investor, you’ve got to underwrite not just the property, but the politics. Rules change. Caps get enforced. Moratoriums pop up.
If you’re already in one of these markets, you’ve probably got a moat. If you’re trying to get in, the best plays are in the “Tough but possible” and “Potential” tiers—places with demand, strong yields, and rules that create barriers to entry rather than brick walls.
The internet is undergoing its most fundamental transformation since the birth of the web browser. While millions of dollars continue to be poured into homepage redesigns, a seismic shift in behavior is rendering these efforts obsolete. The numbers don’t lie: we’ve entered the age of the question, not the click.
The great click recession
In 2024, nearly 60% of Google searches ended without a single click, compared to just 26% in 2022. This isn’t a gradual decline. It’s a behavioral revolution. Users are no longer browsing; they’re asking. And when AI provides the answer directly on the search results page, there’s simply no need to visit your carefully crafted homepage.
The behavioral evidence is everywhere. ChatGPT reached 700 million weekly users in August, processing 2.5 billion prompts daily. Additionally, the presence of Google AI Overviews has led to a noticeable drop in CTR for many websites. Today, Google’s AI Overviews appear in about 18% of search results, and this number grows faster each day.
The conversation revolution: why traditional websites are failing
The pivot from clicking around to simply asking is about more than convenience. Cognitive load drops dramatically in a chat environment. That is part of why ChatGPT’s adoption speed toppled even Instagram’s early numbers. Users don’t want to decode menu structures or hunt through static pages on your website. They ask questions they want answers to, such as “How do you compare to your competitors on data security?” and expect a direct answer.
Traditional web design rests on the idea that people enjoy exploring complex information architecture. This assumption is outdated. Users who arrive through AI entry points are bouncing more easily, spending less time navigating, and using fewer classic menu features. Today’s visitor shows up with intent. Curiosity for its own sake has taken a back seat.
This new behavior is here to stay. Fifty-seven percent of US adults say they interact with AI at least several times a week. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicts that we are nearing the end of human-human customer service. The writing is on the wall, and it’s spelled out in billions of daily interactions.
Our own journey reflects this shift. We’ve been building conversational AI agents for nearly a decade for almost 800 customers across the sports, entertainment, tourism, and education industries. We know first-hand that chat is becoming the central way users engage with brands.
Case in point: our intent data across all clients shows that over 42% of all customer questions are about tickets, and 62% of those conversations are specifically related to buying tickets. The fact that sports and entertainment websites optimize call-to-actions for ticket purchases and promote ticketing, yet still receive many ticket-related questions in chat, suggests that they are not adequately addressing customer questions. This also indicates that customers prefer direct answers over searching for information.
The business case for conversation-first design
The implications for businesses are enormous. Every customer question becomes actionable intelligence. Companies are finally seeing what people demand, rather than just what marketing wants to highlight. That’s why the chatbot technology market now has a valuation of over $15 billion and is on track to triple by 2029.
Organizations everywhere are investing in conversational infrastructure, knowing where the world is heading. It’s time to take the next step. Instead of investing in homepages as digital billboards, they should be building chatsites capable of smartly responding to whatever users need to know, at whatever depth of detail. Organizational success with AI chatbots is now driving our client discussions about using conversational AI as the anchor to their online presence.
Instead of a menu tucked in the margins, organizations should restructure their smart chats from support bubbles to the center stage of the website. Navigation no longer means scanning for drop-downs or page hierarchies.
This conversational experience now revolves around a prominent chat interface that spans most of the screen, always present and energetically guiding users to ask, discover, and engage. Visual elements still play a role, but they support, rather than compete with, conversation.
A chatsite design deliberately pulls chat from the periphery and transforms it into the organizing principle of the entire digital experience. The result is a site where visitors don’t hunt for answers. They’re invited to start a dialogue right from the first moment.
The leading digital experiences of 2026 will be conversation systems with seamless visual supports, not websites in the traditional sense. The organizations best positioned for the future are designing around the question as the key interface, and measuring success by utility and conversations.
The homepage of the last 30 years is ending. In the future, it’s the conversation that leads.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
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Sure, you can have the wedding of the century and end up spending your life savings for one day (or let’s say for a couple of hours). Or you can have a wedding on a budget and still feel like you have a million dollar wedding budget.
Nowadays, pick up a wedding magazine and you’ll see gorgeous pictures of wedding dresses, table centerpieces, appetizers, main course meals, and others. You aspire to have these beautiful pieces that make up a fairy tale wedding.
Then, it hit you. You need to spend over $50,000 to get this dream wedding or wedding party. Yikes.
Think about it. You can spend $50,000 on a one-day wedding or you can spend that in the following:
For many people, spending too much on a wedding can be impractical. Do you know you can have a $50,000-like elegant wedding on a budget of $3,000?
That’s possible.
My husband and I did it a couple of years. With the right imagination and a couple of bargaining skills, you can still have your fairy tale, elegant wedding on a budget.
Wedding On A Budget: Pre-planning stage
Your big day is coming. Are you ready for the big price tag? Or are you into a wedding on a budget of $5,000? Let’s make $3,000 or less. Let’s hop in and start working on how to cut wedding costs and how to have a cheap wedding (but an elegant one).
1. Find out what kind of wedding you want
The cost of your wedding depends on what kind of wedding you want. Do you know the average wedding cost is $33,000?
If you’re here in this post, chances are you are looking for a wedding budget that works.
For now, figure out what the overall concept or theme of your wedding. Don’t get into the details just yet.
2. Get a budget in place
Budget.
It all comes down to having a wedding budget. You simply can’t have a $5,000 wedding budget when you don’t have a budget.
Whether you’re looking for cheap wedding venues or something else, you need a budget.
Believe it or not:
Between the ever-growing number of guests, ever-increasing wish lists, etc., it’s easy to go over the $5K budget.
Seriously, it is to do that.
Set up a budget, save money for wedding costs, and work on the details (e.g. where the money is coming from, what you can afford, and where the money is going). Remember the devil is in the details. The more detailed your budget is, the better.
3. Get your priorities straight
You both need to understand what your priorities are with this wedding or what the most important things are for this wedding.
When your wedding budget is tight, knowing your priorities or needs and wants will help you determine which ones to keep and which ones to scrap.
4. Get a side hustle or two
If you are still short in funds to make your budgeted wedding or if you want to just earn extra money so you won’t have to get it from your savings, there’s one thing you can do.
There are those legit side hustle that can generate you extra money without you having to break your back or even stepping outside your home.
Here are some ideas:
Sharing your opinions: Some people make over $600/mo using Survey Junkie. My husband and I made $200/$300 per month on just survey sites. That’s without us leaving our house.
Getting paid to do everything you do. Literally, you can get paid for doing things you normally do. Browsing for wedding venues? Looking at dresses online? Or something else? Swagbuckswill pay you cash and gift cards for doing even the silliest things you do online. Best yet! It gives you $5 sign bonus for just signing up and an additional $10 for something secret you’ll only know once you join.
Blogging your journey: This little blog of mine makes over $10,000/mo, and I work on this for 5 hours per month.
Wedding Ideas: If you want a wedding for $2,000 or less ….
Not everyone has $5,000 to budget for a wedding. So, before we go into the details of a $5,000 wedding-budget that feels like a $ 30 K wedding, let’s go into a $ 2,000 wedding budget.
Believe it or not:
A lot of people want to learn how to plan a wedding on a budget of $1,000.
You may think that such budget can’t work for a wedding.
The truth is it could and would work. Here are less than $1,000 and $2,000 wedding budget breakdown:
The City Hall Elopement/Super Small Wedding
Venue/Officiant: $100 slot at City Hall for you and a select few guests, officiant included
Attire: $300 dress; $0 suit (just use whatever you have in your closet)
Flowers: $50 for one bouquet and one boutonnière
Photographer: $0 (using honeymoonwishes)
Delicious restaurant lunch and drinks for eight: $250
TOTAL WEDDING BUDGET: $700
Backyard Weddings on A Budget
Venue: $0
Invites: $0 evites (75 people attended)
Officiant (family): $30 to be ordained (He got his two weeks before the wedding)
Flowers and decor: $150 DIY (mostly plastic, but they looked real)
Rentals: $250 for a few chairs, tables, and linens
Food: $400, plus donated by family and friends (catered by a BBQ place)
Photographer: $300
Champagne and drinks: $400 (booze was needed, of course)
Flowers: $50 for one bouquet and one boutonnière
Attire: $150 dress; $0 suit (just use whatever you have in your closet)
Music: $200
TOTAL WEDDING BUDGET: $1,930
The Las Vegas Wedding
Las Vegas is the “wedding capital of the world.” There a lot of people who get married in Las Vegas. Yes, these weddings are legal and binding.
If you want a no-hassle, just-show-up type of wedding with the feel of a high-end wedding, you’ll find that there are wedding chapels that offer top-notch wedding packages.
Here are some wedding packages from the Chapel of The Flowers:
Intimate – $299
Specialty – $495
Elegant – $995
Reception – $1,095
Legendary – $3,100
Even the most expensive one costs only $3,100. Can’t beat that.
Cheap Wedding Ideas: $3,000 or less wedding budget
Now it’s the fun stuff.
Let’s go straight to the ideas that can help you get that $40,000-feel wedding for so much less. You’ll find the cheap wedding ideas that people tend to overlook.
1. Location and Wedding decorations
Cost: $0
Now, it’s time for the affordable wedding venues and wedding decorations.
That’s one for the books. According to Value Penguin, the average cost for a wedding location is $13,500.
Just the location alone costs a lot of money. Not to add the fact that decorations can be so expensive, too.
Does your family have a big backyard that you can use for your wedding instead of renting a venue? Do you have a skill like singing opera, playing musical instruments like Mozart, graphic designing, or something else you can use to barter with a restaurant in exchange for the wedding location?
Before you book that location, look around, ask questions, and/or barter. You’ll save money now or later if you find something that costs way too less.
That goes for the decorations. Maybe you can find a location that doesn’t need any more decorations because the place is already exquisite.
You can look for decoration ideas and go to the discounted stores to find something that can work.
You’ll never know what you’ll find.
You might end up finding inexpensive wedding locations to choose from.
2. Wedding dress… and all other dresses
Cost: $550
A wedding dress is one of the most important things in a wedding.
Sure enough, it’s also one of the most expensive pieces of a wedding. But you don’t have to shell out thousands of dollars.
That’s just the wedding dress alone. If you factor in the bridesmaid and maid of honor dresses, then you can easily blow your expenses past $5k.
Instead of going for the custom-made dresses (not for the bride), buy something that’s ready to wear or ask a friend if she has a dress of the same motif you can rent or borrow.
As with the bride, you can always find an off-the-rack wedding dress that’s a fraction of the cost of a custom-made dress.
Better yet, if your mom still has her wedding dress, you may consider wearing it especially if it looks good. You’ll save tons of money doing that.
3. Food
Cost: $650
Food can be expensive or is expensive especially when it’s a sit down dinner.
Expect to pay around $4,200 for 140 guests, which is $30 per plate. Yikes.
Or don’t forget to add the wedding cake or sheet cakes or the cocktail hour.
Now, you can go to great restaurants like Mission BBQ or even food trucks that can cater for the number of guests you’ll have.
For a fraction of a cost, you can still serve high-quality food for your guests.
One tip when you’re going to restaurants is don’t tell them right away that you want them to cater your wedding food. When they here ‘wedding’ they automatically think $$$$.
Ask them for the price of food catering for XXX number of people.
In addition, always request for food quotes from at least three different restaurant caterers. It’s best to see what restaurants offer and what their prices are. Don’t stick with one and be done.
4. Wedding invitations
Cost: $100
It is easy to spend $750 on wedding invitations. That includes the following:
Save the date
Actual invitations
Response cards
Menu cards
Programs
Thank you cards
Place cards
If you want to save money on wedding invitations, do them yourself or better yet use VistaPrint. It’s so cheap compared to professional-created invitations.
Just because you created them doesn’t mean they won’t look good.
VistaPrint has professionally made type look of wedding invitations your guests would feel you spent thousands of dollars on the invitations.
5. Wedding guests
Cost: $0
The more, the merrier. That’s certainly true for most of the parties. But when you and your future spouse have to shell out money, then that’s a different case.
Limit the guests as much as possible.
While it may be your dream to invite hundreds of people, sometimes, an intimate wedding with just your close friends and family would be fine.
While you may hurt somebody’s feelings when you try to limit the guests and he/she isn’t included, explain why you are limiting the number of people.
You simply can’t have a $5K wedding budget when you’re inviting 300 people.
Between the food, venue, invitations, and others, you’ll likely run pass that budget mark easily when you invite a lot of people.
6. Booz
Cost: $150
Let’s face it. A party won’t be a party without drinks (for most of the parties, that is).
Instead of buying all the alcoholic beverages, which would cost you hundreds of dollars, please ask your guests if they could bring a bottle or two especially if they have special preferences on drinks.
Some call it tacky or cheap, but if you really know your guests, then, you can certainly ask them. I don’t think they would mind bringing in some good bottles.
7. Photography and Music
Wedding on a budget cost: $500
You can literally blow out your budget when you include photography and music into the mix.
You can always go to a community college or university and ask the school if they know of students who study photography and/or music who can take photos and play music for your wedding.
You’ll be surprised how many students will be happy to do either or both of the photography and music for you especially when they can use your wedding as an addition to their experience.
8. Honeymoon
Cost: $0
Do you want to go to the Caribbean or Europe for your vacation? That sounds expensive, but it doesn’t always have to be.
My husband and I skipped the gifts and requested money instead. If you craft your words right, you wouldn’t look like your begging for money.
Or you can also use a website called honeymoonwishes to create your honeymoon registry.
All you need to do is register for a trip anywhere in the world and give your guest that special code. They’ll be able to login using that code and make a contribution.
The money will be deposited in your bank account in just a matter of days.
Final Thoughts on Having A Wedding On A Budget:
Celebrating a wedding doesn’t always have to be expensive. You can create a wedding of your dreams for a lot less with just a few tricks up your sleeve and being creative with what’s in your surroundings.
A simple wedding but an elegant and memorable can be achieved even under a tight wedding budget. Remember that!
Hi, I’m Ashley a freelance writer who’s passionate about personal finance. Ever since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by the power of money and how it can shape our lives. I’ve spent years learning everything I can about budgeting, saving, investing and retirement planning. So if you are looking for tips, advice, or just a little bit of inspiration to help you on your financial journey, you have come to the right place. I am always here to help, and I am excited to share my passion for personal finance with you.
About five years ago, Chase Bank got rid of its home equity line of credit (HELOC) due to market conditions.
Blame it on the pandemic, or perhaps a combination of that and the fact that first mortgage rates were so low.
There wasn’t really a need for the product because you could get a cash-out refinance instead at a dirt-cheap rate.
But that was then, and this is now. Today, most existing homeowners already have the ultra-low rate first mortgage.
So if and when they need cash, they won’t want to disrupt that loan, meaning the second mortgage comeback makes perfect sense.
Not All HELOCs Are the Same
Now let’s talk about how HELOCs work.
First off, not all HELOCs are created equal. They come with different rules and different rates, though they’re all typically tied to the prime rate.
The prime rate moves in lockstep with the federal funds rate, so whenever the Fed adjusts its own rate, the HELOC rate responds in kind.
Because the Fed hiked 11 times beginning in 2022, and has only begun to unwind that via some cuts, HELOC rates aren’t all that low.
But they often beat other options when you’re in need of cash, certainly sky-high credit card APRs and personal loans.
To come up with a HELOC rate, you add a fixed margin (set by the bank) and the prime rate, which is currently a lofty 7.50%.
In other words, you’re likely looking at a rate of 8% and higher, depending on how low the margin is.
The good news is the Fed is expected to cut about 100 basis points by early next year, so HEOC rates will also fall by 1% if that happens.
So you might eventually wind up with something in the 7% range depending on the margin, which isn’t terrible for a second mortgage.
Anyway, rates aside, a key consideration when choosing a HELOC is the rule regarding the draw.
Chase Requires You to Pull Out 85% or More of the HELOC at Closing
How much do you need to take out upon opening the account? Well, with Chase it’s apparently 85% of the total line.
In other words, if you’re approved for a $100,000 HELOC, you’d have to pull out at least $85,000 of that at closing.
This is fine if you need that money right away, but sometimes homeowners just want a line of credit for emergency use.
In that case, you wouldn’t want to pull out money unnecessarily, while also paying interest on it straight away.
This is something to think about when choosing a HELOC. Some banks and credit unions don’t have a minimum draw at all, or a very small one.
That could save you on interest while allowing you to set up a line if and when needed.
Speaking of the draw, you get three years to make additional draws on the line, so if you want more money later, you can do so, though only for the remaining 15% with regard to Chase.
Their HELOC comes with a 10-year interest-only period, followed by a fully-amortized 20-year repayment period, making it a 30-year loan (probably like your first mortgage).
Chase is offering loan amounts from $25,000 all the way up to $400,000, with a maximum combined loan-to-value ratio (CLTV) of 80%.
That means if your property is appraised for $500,000, the most you can borrow is up to $400,000, including your first mortgage.
For example, if you have an existing $350,000 first mortgage, the most you’d be able to borrow would be $50,000 for the HELOC.
Chase HELOC Comes with an Origination Fee
On top of this, Chase says “the product requires you to pay an origination fee at closing which will not exceed 4.99% of your total credit limit.”
If we pretend the HELOC is $50,000 and the origination fee is say 2%, that’s $1,000. And it could be as high as 4.99%. Again, not all banks, credit unions, or lenders charge this fee.
So you need to shop around and compare not just the HELOC rate, but also any closing costs.
But it doesn’t appear to have an annual fee, which is a plus.
Note that Chase’s HELOC is not available in the state of Texas, nor can it be used to purchase the property being used as collateral.
All in all, I’m personally not a fan of the origination fee or the fact that you have to pull a minimum of 85% of the credit line right away.
There are other lenders out there, typically credit unions, with no minimum draw and no origination fee.
Put in the time to shop around to avoid these possible costs and secure a better deal.
Read on: How to compare HELOCs from one lender to the next.
Before creating this site, I worked as an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My hands-on experience in the early 2000s inspired me to begin writing about mortgages 19 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on X for hot takes.
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Campus Books allows you to buy, sell, or rent your college textbooks.
If you’re still buying books from your college or university’s campus bookstore, you’re paying more than you have to.
Campus Books helps you find the best-priced books from searching over 8 million new and used books from thousands of sellers and partnerships with bookstores. They’re doing the hard work for you and according to their site, you can save up to 90% on books, plus get discounted pricing on eBooks.
Campus Books, which used to be called Campus Book Rentals, has a page on their site that lets you compare prices from actual top bookstores around the country (broken down by state) to their online books.
They want you to see first-hand how you can save a tremendous amount of money by using their online service to buy, rent, and sell your textbooks. See how their renting, buying, and selling process works. We’ll discuss how they compare to other retailers and what makes them worth considering.
Quick Summary
Powerful way to compare prices to buy, sell, and rent textbooks
Free shipping both ways
Rent for 30 to 150 days with an option to buy
SHOP NOW
What Is Campus Books?
Campus Books is a free online service that scours the internet to give you the best prices for new and used books. The site looks outdated and each of their main pages—Buy, Rent, and Sell, look identical. But it’s easy to navigate and they make it simple to do a search to find the book you’re looking for.
They have a comparison tool on their homepage that lets you compare prices with Chegg, Barnes and Noble, and eCampus, to name a few.
They have a blog that gets updated about once a year and their iOS and Google Play links to download their mobile apps are broken.
How Does Campus Books Work?
Depending on what you’re looking for, you can start on any of their pages to buy, sell, or rent a book. If you’re searching for a book, you put in the title of the book in the search bar.
For example, when we typed in “The Art of War,” we received this result.
Once you put in the title, your search results will appear with options that ask you if you’re looking to buy, rent, or sell this particular book.
There is another option to “Add to Bookbag,” meaning, add it to your cart to purchase.
When you click on any of the titles from the search results, it automatically tells you how much it costs to buy or rent.
Selling Your Textbooks
The convenient part about Campus Books is that they tell you what’s better for your wallet—renting or buying the book outright. If you end up buying, you can always sell it back. Expect to get paid for your book via cash, check, PayPal, or store credits.
If you’re looking to sell, you basically repeat the process, but instead of clicking buy or rent, hit sell. For “The Art of War,” there were no offers on that particular book.
But for a textbook such as “Essentials of Economics,” it revealed we could get $41 for the second edition.
If you have books to sell now, consider the following selling tips:
Compare prices
Be honest about the condition of your book to avoid potential future disputes
Sell early because new edition of textbooks come out frequently
How Does Textbook Rental Work?
Start on the rent page and type in the book you are looking for. It’s always best to search using the book’s ISBN number, or the International Standard Book number. This is the surefire way to ensure your book isn’t confused with another one, as many books and author names are the same or similar. Some books have 10-digit ISBNs, others have 13 digits but Campus Books takes both numbers.
The site’s “Superbot” (which is their search engine) lets you know if it’s cheaper to buy or rent your particular book. If it’s cheaper to rent, you can then rent it for a period of 30 to 150 days.
Expect shipping to take two to three business days. Next to the book pricing, you will see an “availability” column on the right side. It will tell you the exact timeline of when the book will ship. Many of Campus Books’ partner bookstores offer express shipping.
Renting a textbook is convenient because Campus Books factors in the price of tax and shipping, which is free to receive and ship the book back. If you decide you want to buy the book while you’re renting it, you have the choice to purchase it.
After renting your textbook, keep these tips in mind so you don’t get charged any extra fees.
Double-check the ISBN to make sure it’s the right book.
Pick your rental term. You can decide on if you want to rent it for a semester or just a month.
Don’t highlight, mark, or take notes in your book. If you want to go this route Campus Books recommends you buy a used book instead.
How Does Campus Books Compare?
Campus Books isn’t the only online book retailer around. If you can get over the basic design of their website, you may find that you could save money and sell your books back by using Campus Books.
Campus Books is comparable with eCampus, Chegg, and Amazon.
Amazon is huge, so finding a large selection of books at a decent price may be worth a quick search. Look carefully at Amazon’s shipping time, as some books may take anywhere from five to eight days. However, Amazon Prime offers free shipping, which is on par with Campus Books.
Starting April 1, 2023, Amazon is no longer offering print textbook rentals, so this is another consideration if you’re thinking of using Amazon.
Chegg is another rental site for textbooks and also says you can save up to 90%. They have a huge selection of books to choose from—750,000, but doesn’t offer a buy-back feature, like Campus Books.
Header
Rating
Free Shipping
Free
$35 order minimum when promotions are being offered
$25 order minimum or
Amazon Student membership
Rental Period
30 to 150 Days
Quarter to Semester
30 days
Offers Texbook Buy-Back
Yes
No
Yes
Cell
SHOP NOW
SHOP NOW
READ THE REVIEW
How To Contact Campus Books
Campus Books doesn’t have a customer service phone number, so you’ll have to send an email via their Contact page. There is also a Help Center to answer general questions you may have.
Is Campus Books Worth It?
Yes. Starting your book-saving journey with Campus Books is a great way to save. The powerful comparison tool offers a competitive way to gauge which site offers the cheapest books.
When you’re ready to sell your books back, Campus Books can also help. Having one site that does it all means it’ll be easier for you to buy, rent, and sell.
If you want to see what else is out there, check out the best college textbook rental sites and the best places to buy textbooks online.
Campus Books Features
Services
Buy, sell, and rent textbooks
Book Types
Physical or digital
Shipping
Free
Average Shipping Times
It varies:
Ready to Ship: Same day
Ships 2-3 Days: 2 to 3 business days
Ships 3 Days or More: Won’t ship for at least 3 business days
eTextbook Rental Periods
30 to 150 days with the option to purchase
Payment Methods
Check
PayPal
Direct Deposit
Other Services
Buyback program
Marketplace selling opportunities
Customer Service Options
Help Center
Contact Us page
Mobile App Availability
Despite what it says on the website, links to iOS and Google Play are not currently working.
Promotions
None
Editor: Claire Tak
Reviewed by: Chris Muller
The post Campus Books Review: Buy, Rent, Or Sell Your Textbooks appeared first on The College Investor.
