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As you spring clean your home, it may be tempting to just toss anything you no longer use or need. Doing so, however, can leave thousands of dollars on the table. “Every April and May, we get a flood of ‘I almost threw this out’ submissions. It’s heartbreaking when you hear what people thought was junk,” says Joseph Gutwirth, founder of InstAppraisal.com based out of Culver City, CA. By knowing what’s valuable (and what’s not), you can turn an annual chore into a profitable opportunity. High-resale items to keep While these items may seem like trash, their high resale value can actually put some extra cash in your pocket. Pyrex Pyrex is a line of glassware from the 1950s and '60s. It still exists today, but the glass used has changed, making vintage items much more coveted. Some of the most desirable patterns include Gooseberry, Butterprint, and Pink Daisy; and according to Gutwirth, Pyrex pieces could bring in $50 to a few hundred each. “People drop entire sets at Goodwill because the colors are dated and they don't know their true value. They're not dated to collectors. They’re the whole point,” Gutwirth explains. Midcentury furniture is made extremely well and is highly coveted by designers. (Getty Images) Midcentury furniture Well made furniture is always a hot commodity, but specifically, Lane Acclaim, Broyhill Brasilia, and Heywood-Wakefield are midcentury furniture brands worth holding on to. These pieces can be resold in the $400 to $2,000 range—and sometimes even more. “When going through furniture, people often forget to check for labels. Finding a label from a well-known maker is often the difference between $50 and $1,500,” says Gutwirth. Stereo gear Popular stereo brands like Marantz, McIntosh, Pioneer, and Sansui that were made before 1985 are hot right now. “There's a real audiophile market in full force these days, and you may earn between $500 to $3,000 for working units,” Gutwirth explains. You can check eBay to get an idea of how much these old receivers might sell for. Cast iron Older cast iron skillets are also surprisingly profitable. According to Gutwirth, pre-1960 Griswold and Wagner skillets are worth $100 to $500, even if they’re rusty; but most nonexperts will see them as junk. Costume jewelry Costume jewelry from brands like Trifari, Weiss, Eisenberg, and Miriam Haskell typically go for $50 to $500, which often shocks people. “I have heard quite a few times that the whole box gets tossed in the trash thinking it was just a box of old junk,” Gutwirth says. Brass hardware is easy to bring back to life, but very hard (and expensive) to come by these days, (Getty Images) Original brass hardware from old houses Original brass hardware is typically worth $20 to $200 per piece on the restoration market. “People often think doorknobs are worthless, but check eBay prices or valuations on other sites, and you may be surprised. It's often a mistake to throw out doorknobs,” Gutwirth explains. How to identify what’s valuable It’s pretty easy to spot the good stuff, as long as you know what to look for. Here are several pointers to keep in mind as you go through spring cleaning: Magnet test Brass, copper, silver, gold won't stick to a magnet. Plated and steel, on the other hand will. “It takes two seconds, and it's free to check,” says Gutwirth. If something doesn’t stick, you may have something valuable. Weight Valuable wood furniture is heavy, whereas particleboard is light. A heavier piece usually indicates durability and, in turn, higher resale value. Look underneath everything “Marks and labels are almost never on the visible side and are often where you don't expect them to be,” says Gutwirth. Taking the time to find the manufacturer can uncover thousands of dollars in value. Skip the polishing and cleaning Patina—the natural surface change that happens to materials over time—is valuable, so leaving it be is key. “I can't stress this enough. People destroy half or more of the value trying to make something look "nice" before selling, not realizing they are cleaning off the actual value,” Gutwirth explains. Don’t make assumptions Many people just assume stuff is worthless. “My mother-in-law was about to drop off a whole box of jewelry at Goodwill last year, and one of the pieces was a signed Eisenberg brooch that ended up selling for almost $400. She had no idea. And that's the thing, people don't know what they don't know, and they're confident about it,” says Gutwirth.

Sales of newly built homes saw a bump in February and March as prices fell to a five-year low, in a sign of resilience for the spring housing market. Contract signings for newly built homes hit a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 635,000 in March, up 7.4% from the prior month, the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Tuesday. That was up 7.4% from the newly reported pace of 682,000 in February, and a 3.3% gain from a year ago. February's sales pace of 682,000, also released Tuesday on a delayed basis, was 8.9% above January but down 1.1% from a year earlier. New home prices fell sharply—March's median sales price was $387,000, 5.3% below February's $409,000, and 6.2% below what it was in March 2025. March's median sales price was the lowest since July 2021. The uptick in sales follows January's nose-dive of new-home sales, which dropped 17.6% from December 2025 and 11.3% from a year earlier. That reading, the largest percentage decline since June 2013, surprised economists. In the meantime, the Census said last week that construction starts on single-family homes grew significantly in March, which showed some hope for increased demand. But in a telling sign that builders remain cautious, new housing permits declined. Builders competing aggressively on price The rebound in sales volume from January is encouraging, Realtor.com® economist Joel Berner says. Given the high mortgage rate environment, buyers tend to be skittish. That forces more competition on the sell side. Major homebuilders have indeed reported shrinking margins as they get more generous with incentives and price cuts. "Builders are aggressively cutting prices to move inventory, which we see in the uptick to the pace of sales and the decline in sales prices," Berner says. "Especially in March when mortgage rates rose and buyers started to feel a little more skittish, builders have been forced to offer sweeter and sweeter deals." The trends are regional. New home sales fell 17.6% in the Northeast, down 14% in the West and down 2.6% in the Northeast. The Midwest saw home sales up 8%. New home sales are counted when a sales contract is signed, which can be at any point in their construction. The inventory of homes for sale shrunk in March, to 481,000 homes, which is 0.4% below February 2026's 483,000 homes. And it's 4.6% below March 2025's 504,000 homes. Builders remain sensitive to rates Meanwhile, existing home sales dropped 3.6% in March, which was down about 1% from a year prior, according to separate data. The typical asking price in the first quarter of the year has softened, especially in the South and West. Asking prices for existing homes are still rising in the Northeast and Midwest. National Association of Home Builders Chairman Bill Owens said the numbers show that elevated construction costs and labor shortages limit how quickly the homebuilding industry can react to the market. The outlook for the year "remains sensitive to interest rate movements and affordability conditions," said Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, NAHB’s assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis. All of this to say, the housing market is under pressure from a variety of factors, including inflation and the conflict in Iran. So, home sales data in the coming months may reflect continued pressure, Berner said. "Builders are generally more tuned into buyer demand than existing home sellers, so the price softness we're seeing in this segment is important to take note of," Berner said. "We'll likely see it soon in the existing segment as well."

Home prices increased in 71% of the U.S. markets last quarter, down slightly compared to the end of 2025, as the West continued to lag behind. Median sales prices for existing single-family homes rose in 167 out of the 235 of the metros tracked by the National Association of Realtors®, which released its latest quarterly report on Tuesday. Prices fell in the remaining 68 markets. For comparison, in the fourth quarter of last year, 73% of the metros analyzed by NAR saw price gains. From January through March 2026, 7% of metros (16 out of 235) recorded double-digit price increases, up from 5% last quarter. "Home prices continued to increase in many markets, boosting housing wealth for most homeowners,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Gains were particularly solid across metro areas in the Northeast, where inventory shortages persist, and in the Midwest, where home prices remain relatively affordable. However, the expensive West region did not see an increase in sales." The national median single-family existing-home price edged up 0.5% year over year to $404,300, reflecting a pullback from the previous quarter's 1.2% annual growth rate. At the regional level, inventory-starved Northeast saw the biggest annual increase, with the median home price rising 4.9% to $506,500. The Midwest came in second place, with the price increasing 3.6% to $308,100, followed by the South, where the median settled at $362,300, representing a slight uptick of just 0.2%. Meanwhile, existing home prices in the West dropped 2.9% compared to a year ago, coming in at $607,600 last quarter. Among the tracked metros, Akron, OH, experienced the steepest existing home price increase, at 12%, followed by Anchorage, AK (10.4%), and Albany, NY (9.3%). "The condominium market, which weakened sharply last year, is showing signs of stabilization and, in some metro areas, even outperforming the single-family market in terms of price gains," Yun said. “Improved affordability is drawing buyers back to the condo market." Markets that saw the largest home price declines in Q1 included Decatur, IL (-13.8%), Farmington, NM (-10.9%), and St. Croix, Virgin Islands (-10.4%). Typical monthly payments for homeowners Nationally, the typical monthly mortgage payment for a home purchased in the third quarter would be $1,979, assuming a down payment of 20%, according to the NAR report. That median monthly payment is down $78 from the previous quarter, and down $140 from a year ago. "Even though mortgage rates are higher than earlier this year, rates remain comfortably below last year’s levels," said Yun. "Lower mortgage rates will allow more potential buyers to qualify for and obtain a mortgage." The typical family that purchased a home last quarter was spending 21.5% of their income on mortgage payments, down from 22.9% at the end of 2025 and down from 24.3% year over year. For first-time buyers, the typical mortgage payment on a starter home was $2,146, taking NAR's assumption of a home valued at $362,800 with a 10% down payment. First-time buyers were spending 32.5% of their income on a monthly mortgage payment of $1,943 for a typical starter home value at $343,700 with a 10% down payment, down from 34.6% a year ago.

Water quality, especially hard water, often gets overlooked by most homeowners—until it’s too late. When their shower door never really gets clean, most people just brush it off thinking it’s no big deal. The panic only starts when they run out of water too fast or there’s barely any water coming out of the shower head. “By the time they call us, their fixtures are clogged up with mineral buildup, or they're replacing a water heater right out of warranty. The damage has already been done,” says Nick Moore, owner of Regal Plumbing & Rooter in Ontario. Once you understand how hard water appears in your bathroom (and home) and why it can cost you an arm and a leg, you can address issues before they escalate, keeping repair and utility costs under control. The price of hard water in your bathroom When hard water minerals build up in plumbing systems, pipes begin to narrow and create additional pressure and stress on components like joints and fittings. Small leaks also begin to form and often lead to expensive mold remediation. “We see a lot of shower valves that don't fully close due to calcium buildup. This can lead to a slow drip and increase your water bill, especially as current drought conditions continue to push rates higher,” explains David Shestopal, owner of Western Renovations in Roseville, CA. The damage compounds quietly, and it's not always obvious. Water heaters typically take the worst of it. Sediment settles at the bottom of the tank and forces the unit to work harder, which cuts efficiency by 25% to 30% and drops the lifespan from 10 to 12 years down to 6 to 8. Faucets and shower valves are the next to go. They develop scale (or hard mineral deposits) that scratches the internal seals, turning what should be a $40 cartridge fix into a $400 fixture replacement. Toilet flappers also fail silently and leak hundreds of gallons a day. Additionally, glass shower doors etch permanently within a few years, and grout lines harbor mineral deposits that accelerate mildew growth and force premature regrouting. “Homeowners end up facing plumbing replacement throughout the bathroom rather than spending the money on the cosmetic upgrades they'd hoped for,” adds Shestopal. According to Angi data from 2026, hiring a plumber typically costs between $182 to $500. (Getty Images) Water softeners vs. long-term cost of plumbing repairs A water softener is exactly what it sounds like—a system that softens the water in your home by getting rid of hard minerals. Not only can it prevent scale buildup and protect your water heater, it can also reduce dryness and irritation on your skin and hair. According to Megan Doser, the owner of Doctor Fix It Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric in Denver, a water softener usually only pays off if you plan to stay in the home for years and your water is truly hard—roughly 120 to 180+ ppm or parts per million. The price for installing a whole-house water softening system starts at $1,100 to $1,500, but it can help your washer last 10 to 12 years instead of wearing out after 6 to 8 years, prevent appliance repairs, and even reduce energy bills,” says Doser. If your water hardness is around 60 to 110 ppm, it might be cheaper to skip the softener and just clean the scale more frequently. To determine your water’s ppm and the ideal route to take, buy water hardness test strips or reach out to a plumber who can test your water for you and recommend the best next steps.