For renters these days, energy bills can add up quickly.

A new analysis from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates that Americans will spend an average of nearly $800 on electricity from June to September, up 10.5% from the same period last year.

This comes at a time when 1 in 6 U.S. households is behind on its utility bills and nearly 40% of households earning less than $50,000 report difficulty paying energy bills, according to the same report.

“For families already struggling to make ends meet, higher cooling costs can force difficult choices between paying utility bills and covering other necessities such as food, rent, or medicine,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the NEADA.

If you rent a home and are looking to slash your energy bill, plug-in power battery solutions may be the answer and the future for renters everywhere. 

A pilot program in New York City is deploying plug-in batteries that power window air conditioner units during peak demand, allowing residents to save money and reduce strain on the electric grid. 

“It’s basically a souped-up version of the power bank that you would use to charge your phone when you go out,” Andrew Wang, the chief executive officer of Every Electric, the company behind the pilot that has partnered with the city’s energy company Con Edison, told NBC New York.

Cole Ashman, founder and CEO at Pila Energy in San Francisco, explains that demand response programs, which pay or reward customers for using less electricity in high usage seasons, have existed for decades, but have been built around homeowners with central air, smart thermostats, or installed storage. 

However, urban areas like New York City or San Francisco belong disproportionately to renters who have been structurally excluded from every one of those programs. 

“Now, apartment dwellers can participate in grid services with hardware that requires zero installation. These batteries are helping democratize resilience and energy independence for those who have been locked out until now,” explains Ashman.

Why plug-and-play AC can be a real game changer for renters

NYC Every Electric’s program works specifically for people with window AC units, who are typically renters.

The devices, which are about the size of a microwave, plug into the AC unit, then into the wall outlet. By using a smartphone app that detects when demand is low, the battery charges during off-peak hours and then powers the AC during peak times.

Plug-and-play AC solutions are solving both an energy and a permission problem. 

“A renter today needs landlord approval to change even a light fixture in some buildings. Plug-in batteries remove this barrier because there is no invasive electrical work needed, no need to pull permits, and even if you do own your home, it doesn’t cost five figures,” says Ashman.

These systems are also modular, so if you move, you can take yours with you. 

“The portability point is often overlooked but super important, because the average renter moves every two to three years,” Ashman explains. 

How battery solutions can lower summer cooling costs

Electricity costs vary throughout the country, so what’s consistent for a place like Manhattan might not apply elsewhere. 

“That said, a window AC draws about 500 to 1,000 watts, roughly the same as a hair dryer. The difference is you run a hair dryer for five minutes, but an AC runs for hours, which is why it dominates summer power bills, and why millions of people switch on at once, straining the grid on the hottest days,” says Ashman.

It’s not that window AC units use a great deal of power, they simply run for a long time, causing electricity costs to rise.

According to Ashman, a battery like Pila stores 1.6 kilowatt-hours of energy—enough to run a window AC for about two hours, keep a refrigerator perfectly chilled for 36 hours, or run your Wi-Fi router for two days. 

The battery recharges overnight when electricity is cheaper and demand is low. Then, in the afternoon when AC is more expensive, it powers your window unit instead of pulling from the strained grid.

That means you can buy electricity when rates are lower and use that stored energy when they’re at their highest.

“The bigger payoff, which still varies by region, comes from utility demand response programs, which pay you for reducing peak usage,” explains Ashman.

Why home energy batteries are safer than you may think

A well-built home battery is safe to run around the clock.

“Think about it: the phone that charges on your nightstand, the laptop plugged in at your desk, and your toothbrush, earbuds, robot vacuum all run on batteries. The average home has dozens of lithium batteries running 24/7,” says Ashman.

Home energy batteries are similar but built to an even higher standard, with battery management systems that continuously monitor temperature, charge, and automatically shut down if anything drifts out of range.

They’re also safer than alternative options, like gas generators.

“The backup power option people have trusted for decades—the gas generator—produces carbon monoxide, requires fresh fuel, and because of this can’t be used indoors. A modern home battery has no fumes, fuel, moving parts, and no exhaust,” adds Ashman.

Despite all the positives of home batteries, it’s important to have realistic expectations.

“A single battery can power your AC through the worst of the peak—not forever. That’s why you’ll need additional batteries for more coverage,” Ashman explains.

Greg Field, owner at PGT Home Energy Solutions in Tempe, AZ, also notes that installation can be tricky as some plug-ins are more complex than others.

“Extreme heat can impair home batteries, so be sure to follow the manufacturer’s installation requirements closely,” says Field.

Lastly, some products are still in pilot mode and demand response programs aren’t available everywhere. Depending on where you live, your options may be limited.

Get real estate news in your inbox

Sign up now

As we continue to speak out about the corporate decisions reshaping our industry — particularly around private listings and the quiet dismantling of our MLS system through a national MLS service being pushed forward by MRED and Compass — there’s something I want us all to keep in perspective — and I’m including myself in this.

It would be easy, as these conversations get louder, for things to drift into an “us versus them” mentality toward individual agents. I don’t want that to happen. Not from me, and not from anyone in this industry.

We see it all the time in politics. Someone belongs to a particular party, practices a certain faith, or comes from a different background — and suddenly they get lumped into a category. People stop seeing the individual. They only see the label. They direct their frustration and anger at an entire group based on the actions of a few. It’s one of the worst tendencies we have as human beings, and I refuse to let us fall into that same trap here.

Keeping the focus on people

So, let’s keep something important in mind: Compass agents are wonderful people, as are the other agents from different brokerages who might hold beliefs that are different from ours.

Most agents have the same goals and fears as the rest of us. They want to grow, to serve their clients well, to make a difference in the lives of buyers and sellers — and yes, to put food on the table for their families.

They chose to hang their license with a company because that company offered them something they valued. And honestly? A lot of what these organizations deliver in terms of tools, technology and marketing resources is genuinely impressive.

The push to upend the norms that have served our industry for decades is not coming from these colleagues. It’s coming from way higher up the corporate ladder.

The brokers and executives encouraging private listings are passionate, talented, fiercely competitive people. That competitive drive is exactly what got them to where they are.

But that same drive — that hunger for dominance and market control — is showing real consequences. Not just for you, the working agent, but for the buyers and sellers we are all ethically bound to serve.

The Clear Cooperation Policy exists for a reason: to protect consumers by ensuring broad market exposure and transparent competition. When listings are withheld from the MLS, buyers lose access to inventory, sellers may net less, and the playing field tilts toward whoever controls the most private inventory.

That’s not innovation. That’s consolidation dressed up as disruption.

But here’s my point — and it’s the heart of this piece.

For those of us working to push back and protect the open, cooperative marketplace that benefits everyone, we must never let our frustration with corporate decisions turn into hostility toward individual agents.

The person sitting across from you at the closing table who happens to carry a Compass business card is just another professional trying to do right by their clients. They didn’t design the policy. They’re navigating it, just like we are.

We can hold corporate leadership accountable for decisions that harm our industry and still treat every agent we encounter with the professionalism and respect they’ve earned. That’s not a contradiction. That’s character.

This industry was built on cooperation. Our entire value system — the MLS, the National Association of Realtors’ Code of Ethics, the cooperative commission model — was designed around the idea that agents work together in service of their clients, even across competing brokerages. The moment we turn on each other is the moment we hand the critics exactly the narrative they want.

So, as things continue to unfold, let’s stay clear on who we’re actually disagreeing with. Let’s direct our energy where it belongs — toward policy, toward leadership, toward systemic change — and keep the door open to every individual agent we meet along the way.

Lofty has rolled out a new AI product designed to help agents mine their existing databases for potential sellers, the company announced Wednesday.

The product, called Homeowner Agent, is the latest addition to Lofty’s agentic AI operating system, or Lofty AOS. 

According to the company, the tool monitors contacts already in an agent’s CRM, identifies signals associated with potential selling intent, and automatically nurtures those homeowners with personalized property and market updates until they’re ready to engage.

The pitch reflects a growing focus across real estate tech on using AI not just to surface leads, but to take action on them. In Lofty’s case, the company is positioning Homeowner Agent as a way to unlock listing opportunities that might otherwise sit dormant inside an agent’s database, without requiring separate lead-mining platforms or home valuation products.

Not new leads, but better signals

Lofty said the tool is designed for agents and teams looking to generate more seller business from contacts they already have, rather than relying solely on new lead spend. 

The system enriches CRM records with homeowner data and delivers personalized reports based on factors such as estimated home value, equity position, potential net proceeds and local market activity.

The company also said the product classifies contacts into segments such as likely sellers, absentee owners, pre-foreclosure leads and long-term nurture opportunities. It can also escalate lead status based on behavioral signals, including activity such as viewing sold listings or adjusting loan scenarios. 

When a homeowner takes a more direct step, such as requesting a CMA, asking for a home valuation, seeking a cash offer or booking an appointment, the system can shift that person into a handoff stage and pause automated outreach.

Lofty leans into ‘agentic AI’

In a statement, Andrew Wild, Lofty’s vice president of growth, said the release is part of the company’s push to move beyond AI tools that merely assist agents.

“With the introduction of Homeowner Agent, Lofty continues to lead the industry into a new era of agentic AI, where intelligent systems don’t just assist agents, but actively drive outcomes,” Wild said. “With Homeowner Agent, we’re extending the power of our Agentic AI Operating System and providing agents with a fully autonomous pipeline builder that works their database all day, every day and keeps them top of mind to win seller listings.”

The rise of ‘always-on’ prospecting

Lofty described Homeowner Agent as an “always on” pipeline builder that runs largely on autopilot after an initial setup. 

The company said the product operates inside its existing platform, meaning users do not need added integrations, tools or logins to use it.

The launch comes as more proptech firms race to build AI systems that promise automation across lead generation, client communication and transaction workflows. 

Rather than focusing solely on buyer engagement, Lofty is betting that seller prospecting within an existing database may be a major opportunity for agents in a competitive listings environment.

Lofty, formerly known as Chime Technologies, is headquartered in Phoenix and has increasingly centered its branding around AI-driven productivity tools for brokerages and agents.

Email Nick Pipitone

Homebuyers in the existing-home market might have a slight edge over those looking for new homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The association released its latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) on Tuesday, which revealed that homebuilders are retreating from price cuts and other sales incentives that boosted new-home affordability last year. The share of builders who used incentives in the past month was flat, staying at 65 percent. Of those who used incentives, only 36 percent said those included price cuts — down from 40 percent in the three previous months.

The index is based on a survey of homebuilders and is meant to “track the pulse of the single-family housing market,” according to NAHB.

Homebuilders were quite pessimistic about the immediate future, with the index for six-month sales dropping from 50 to 46 points. The index for new-home buyer traffic fell, too, dropping from 24 to 22 points. The culprit? Lingering uncertainty about the economy, negative media reports, and buyer expectations that prices and rates are poised for a decline.

The industry’s growing skittishness was reflected in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Wednesday release of its Monthly New Residential Construction report, which covered trends for November and December.

November showed some promise, with new housing starts edging up 2.1 percent year over year. However, the following month brought notable losses, with new housing starts declining 7.3 percent year over year. Permits didn’t fare much better, dropping 8.0 percent year over year in November and 2.2 percent in December.

Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant said an uptick in existing inventory has cut into the new construction market, with homebuyers more apt to find what they want in the resale market. As a result, she said builders will be more “cautious” during the first quarter, waiting for spring to up the ante.

“Despite lower mortgage [rates], homebuyers were holding back during the fourth quarter,” she said in a statement. “Affordability and economic uncertainty remain constraints on homebuyers’ willingness to get into the market. More existing inventory has also made new construction less of a draw in some markets.”

“As buyers show signs of returning to the market, it is likely we will see new construction increase this spring,” she added. “Even as demand improves, builders face challenges on the supply side. A lack of construction labor, elevated land costs and often wide-ranging local regulations will continue to make it challenging to build new housing, particularly housing at lower price points.”

NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz provided a bird’s-eye view of the new-home market at the International Builders Show, saying that homebuyers will likely experience better affordability in the existing-home market this year.

“We expect in most markets this year, resale prices to go down in order to improve affordability conditions, because existing homeowners now have to do the price discovery that builders have been doing since 2022, and they haven’t done it yet,” Dietz said Wednesday in a statement. “So we think that’s happening in 2026 and of course, it’s needed, because when we look at the home price to income ratio.”

Dietz said the typical home price is 4.9 times the typical income, reflecting the ongoing challenge of closing the gap between wage and home price growth.

Although the coming months include headwinds, the NAHB chief economist said homebuilders are resilient — offering smaller floor plans at more affordable price points. The typical floor plan is 5 percent smaller than it was in 2022, he said, helping to drive median new-home prices down by 15 percent during the same time period.

However, he said there’s still much more to do to help younger homebuyers enter the market.

“Historically, home prices to incomes, the 3 to 1 ratio, that was a well-understood rule of thumb that had been around for a while,” Dietz added. “When the price-to-income ratio is 5 to 1, it’s harder for those younger households to save up, whether it’s the 3.5 percent for an [Federal Housing Administration] mortgage or a 10 percent down payment on a conventional mortgage.”

Email Marian McPherson