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Real estate Q&A: Who pays to replace hurricane windows removed during condo restoration?
Q: My condo apartment’s back lanai has been undergoing concrete restoration for a year, and my unit was the first completed. There is an ongoing debate between the association and engineers about what to do with the hurricane windows and shutters on the lanai edge. Meanwhile, the association and contractors removed my hurricane windows due to ...Read more

Home sales drop in Las Vegas, rise in Houston as market heads for worst year since 1995
Home sales closings dropped in August and remain well below pre-pandemic levels as high prices and interest rates weighed on the market, according to an analysis this week by the Calculated Risk blog.
Home sales are on track for the worst year in decades, matching the 4 million annual sales in 1995, according to a separate realtor.com report ...Read more

'Bidding wars are in the rear view': San Diego home prices fall in US rankings
SAN DIEGO — San Diego home prices were down annually for a second month as the region fell in a closely watched real estate index.
The San Diego metropolitan area’s home price decreased 0.66% annually in July, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Indices report released this week. Prices were down year-over-year by 0.61% the previous ...Read more

San Jose to buy downtown site once proposed for major tech campus as it eyes the creation of a sports and entertainment district
SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose has elected to purchase a prime downtown property once slated for a major tech campus, which could potentially aid the city’s vision of expanding its convention center and developing a sports and entertainment district.
The City Council has approved the $13.5 million acquisition of 447 S. Almaden Blvd – a 3.56-...Read more

Why Seattle-area homeowners keep vacant rooms instead of renting out
In the midst of the Seattle-area housing shortage, hundreds of thousands of vacant rooms in big houses sit untapped as many homeowners are either reluctant to have a housemate or unsure about how to go about it.
Larry Crites is a longtime rental property owner living in Seattle.
He used to rent out the upstairs section of his first house. But ...Read more

Seattle-area owners of big houses stay put as downsizing costs rise
Brenda Beeson loves her house. It’s where she woke up next to her husband each morning and rushed her daughter out to school. She never thought the house in South King County, Washington, once so full of life, could feel as empty as it does now.
Ever since her husband unexpectedly died in 2018 and her daughter moved out, four of the home’s ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: 7 Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals
Habit is defined as behavior repeated so often it becomes almost automatic. I am in awe of the power of habit. It's a force to change your life, and it is available to anyone no matter the situation or the circumstances.
For five years, author Tom Corley observed the daily habits of the rich and the poor and documented his findings in his book,...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: How to Unclog a Toilet -- Quick and Easy!
No one likes to talk about it, but truth be told, it happens. Toilets malfunction. They get clogged. Sure, it's inconvenient, but more than that, downright embarrassing if you're somewhere other than the privacy of your own home. Here's a cheat sheet so you'll know ahead of time how to unclog a toilet.
STOP IT FROM OVERFLOWING
The moment you ...Read more

FTC sues Zillow and Redfin over rental listing deal
The Federal Trade Commission is suing Zillow and Redfin for allegedly conspiring to eliminate competition for rental housing listings.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the FTC claims the real estate giants violated federal antitrust laws by entering into an illegal agreement to...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Opting for the Minimum Payment Changed My Life
At the time, it seemed like a good idea. But going for the minimum payment option "just this one time" turned out to be the worst mistake of my life. The day I opened that door and walked through it, I altered the course of my life.
I reasoned that I didn't have enough money to pay the credit card balances in full, so what was I supposed to do ...Read more

Vanguard weighs allowing trading of crypto ETFs
Vanguard Group Inc. is weighing whether to allow trading of cryptocurrency-focused exchange-traded funds on its platform, a move that would mark a major easing of its restrictive stance toward the popular but volatile asset class.
Should the switch go through, it would open the door for Vanguard’s more than 50 million investors — with some ...Read more

Seminole Tribe sues Lennar over 552 'defective' new houses across Florida
Hundreds of homes built by the Miami-based Lennar Corporation on tribal land over the last five years are in such shoddy condition that no one can safely live in them, according to a lawsuit against the construction company filed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
The lawsuit was filed in March, but efforts to resolve the dispute between the ...Read more

10 of the biggest changes to retirement accounts due to new 401(k) and IRA rules
Congress has shaken up retirement plans once again, and the changes benefit a wide swath of Americans saving for their golden years through IRAs or employer plans such as 401(k)s.
The SECURE Act 2.0 became law in the last days of 2022, and the new rules provide assistance for retirement savers, small businesses and many others. In fact, the ...Read more

Ordinary annuity vs. annuity due: The small difference that affects its value
An annuity is a financial product that provides a stream of income over a set period. Annuities are often used in retirement planning as a way to generate income from a lump sum investment.
However, there are different ways these payments can be structured, including ordinary annuities and annuities due. While the concept may seem ...Read more

Rule of 72: What it is and how to use it
You don’t need a finance degree to figure out how long it’ll take to double your money as an investor. The Rule of 72 offers a quick shortcut to estimate growth based on interest rates or, on the flip side, the erosion of buying power from inflation. It’s not perfect, but it’s useful for spotting how time and compounding work in your ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Patina, Paint and the Price of Sentiment
I call it a hall tree. It's an antique piece of furniture with hooks for coats, a lovely mirror, and two umbrella stands -- each with a tin plate to catch the drips. My husband surprised me with it one Christmas morning more than 30 years ago, and I've loved it every day since.
Yesterday, I casually mentioned that I'm thinking about painting it...Read more

Car crash kills 3 members of 'Meet the Putmans' reality family; 5 hospitalized
The family at the center of TLC reality show “Meet the Putmans” was torn apart Saturday after a deadly car crash killed three relatives and left five others hospitalized.
The Putmans announced on Saturday that patriarch Bill “Papa” Putman, his wife Barb, better known as “Neenee,” and Aunt Megan had all died “in a tragic car ...Read more

Fire victims get one year of mortgage relief under new California law
Legislation that allows victims of the Jan. 7 fire storms to receive up to a year of mortgage relief was signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom as an urgency measure that takes effect immediately.
Assembly Bill 238 enables borrowers to put a stop to their mortgage payments for up to 12 months with no late fees or penalties, by attesting without...Read more

The LA fires destroyed 11,000 homes. Less than 10% have permits to rebuild
Of the thousands of residents needing to rebuild after this year’s California wildfires, Andy Weyman would seem especially well positioned. The TV and stage director had remodeled his Malibu home just five years earlier and had city-approved blueprints in hand, with the same architect set to oversee reconstruction.
Yet eight months after the...Read more
Real estate Q&A: Who pays for condo repairs after second leak from association's AC unit?
Q: I live in a condo on the top floor. About a year ago, there was a leak caused by the condo association’s AC unit, which damaged my wall. The association claimed that they had repaired the unit and roof, but stated that repairs — to my interior were my responsibility. Recently, the same leak happened in the same spot, caused by the same AC...Read more
Inside Consumer
Popular Stories
- Why Seattle-area homeowners keep vacant rooms instead of renting out
- 'Bidding wars are in the rear view': San Diego home prices fall in US rankings
- Seattle-area owners of big houses stay put as downsizing costs rise
- San Jose to buy downtown site once proposed for major tech campus as it eyes the creation of a sports and entertainment district
- Home sales drop in Las Vegas, rise in Houston as market heads for worst year since 1995