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Real estate Q&A: Should HOA pay for off-site parking during structural repairs?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: We live in a 20-story condominium where every unit has one assigned spot in the garage, and we all share a large upper parking deck. Last year, the upper parking deck was deemed unsafe, resulting in the installation of shoring poles in the garage below, which blocked some assigned parking spots. The people whose spots were blocked, along with...Read more

Courtesy City of Mountain View/TNS/TNS

As Google retreats from real estate, will it still build the 15,000 homes it promised?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

When Google made its $1 billion pledge to address the Bay Area’s housing shortage in 2019, the plan hinged on the company expanding its office presence in Silicon Valley.

The majority of the housing pledge wasn’t cash — though there was some of that — but land. Specifically, $750 million worth of suburban office parks the company ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

US pending home sales drop by most since 2022 on mortgage rates

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes last month fell by the most since September 2022, illustrating a disappointing spring selling season as prospective buyers balk at high asking prices and borrowing costs.

An index of contract signings dropped 6.3% in April to 71.3, according to National Association of Realtors data issued Thursday. ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Quick and Easy Outdoor Cleaning and Storage Tips

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Many outdoor cleaning and storage solutions can be rather expensive, especially when compared with Everyday Cheapskate do-it-yourself or homemade alternatives. Here are some of my favorite cleaning tips and storage solutions for the garage and patio that will give you the results you need without the costs you don't.

BARBECUE COVER

Protect ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

AI is changing shopping. Will consumers buy in?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Carolyn Bennett remembers flipping through a yellow telephone book in the 1980s to find carpet stores and workers who refinished wood to help renovate her home.

Today, the 67-year-old uses a chatbot to help her shop. Bennett has turned to ChatGPT, which she refers to as "Chat," to find vendors for a kitchen renovation project, compare heat ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: How to Liquify Crystallized Honey and the Best Way to Store It

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

It's discouraging when you reach for the honey, only to discover it is no longer a smooth liquid, but all grainy -- like sugar. You may have even tossed it into the trash assuming that it had gone bad and was no longer edible. Truth be told, it is still perfectly delicious and nutritious. It's easy to turn crystallized honey back into its liquid...Read more

Dreamstime/TNS/TNS

NYC's Rent Guidelines Board, in unusual move, lowers proposed increases as mayoral election heats up

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

New York City's Rent Guidelines Board lowered the range of potential rent increases for some 2 million New Yorkers in an unusual redo vote on Tuesday — a move that comes as the issue of freezing rents has taken center stage in the contentious mayoral race.

The board reduced the proposed range of increases for rent-stabilized tenants with two-...Read more

Richie Lomba/Dreamstime/TNS

IRS Direct File will be cancelled if Republican tax bill becomes law

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The $3.8 trillion Republican tax bill that just passed the House includes a provision to kill off the popular IRS Direct File program, which lets people file their federal income tax returns for free online.

The bill still needs to pass the Senate to become law, but if the bill is enacted as currently written, the Direct File program is slated...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: How to Save Money and Get Financially Confident

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

For a good deal of my life, I lived under a dark cloud of fear that I would end up financially destitute -- a bag lady. Studies reveal that I'm not the only one. Most of us have felt that way, not because we're broke but because we lack confidence. That makes us timid, worried and financially insecure.

Look, we don't have to accept financial ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: How to Break the Plastic Wrap Habit in Your Kitchen (and What to Use Instead)

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Let's talk about plastic wrap. That clingy, crinkly roll we all keep in the drawer -- the one that never tears straight and sticks to everything except the bowl you're trying to cover. It's convenient until you stop and ask: Is this really the best we can do?

Spoiler: It's not. And honestly, it's time to break the habit.

THE TROUBLE WITH ...Read more

Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Louis Vuitton bets big on Rodeo Drive with new Frank Gehry-designed store

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

LOS ANGELES — Louis Vuitton is gearing up to go over the top again in Beverly Hills.

With plans for an ultra-opulent hotel on Rodeo Drive stymied by voters two years ago, the Paris fashion house's owners are back with a proposal for a theatrical flagship store designed by architect Frank Gehry that would anchor the north end of the famous ...Read more

Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Tariffs, high building costs, stingy lending make for curious revival of split-levels

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

With six kids, a housekeeper named Alice and Tiger the dog, the fictitious “Brady Bunch” of the 1970s sitcom filmed in a real-life mid-century California house, a perfectly groovy set for all the shenanigans that made the show so popular.

More than 50 years later, that split-level trend is resurfacing, but it’s not because of a newfound ...Read more

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America/TNS

Meta promised $1 billion for affordable housing. Then it quietly walked away

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

In 2019, Meta unveiled an ambitious pledge to spend $1 billion to help ease California’s affordable housing crisis that critics say the company, with its thousands of highly paid employees, played a role in exacerbating.

Yet not even halfway through its 10-year commitment, Facebook’s parent company has largely abandoned its work on the ...Read more

Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

US existing-home sales decline, marking worst April since 2009

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

U.S. sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly dropped in April to the slowest pace in seven months, restrained by ongoing affordability constraints and highlighting a lackluster start to the key spring selling season.

Contract closings decreased 0.5% to an annualized rate of 4 million, according to National Association of Realtors data ...Read more

Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group/TNS

New report reveals at least a quarter of all office space still vacant in downtown San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

SAN JOSE, California — Sky-high downtown office vacancy rates continue to haunt San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco as at least one-fourth of those spaces remain empty in all three urban cores, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm Colliers.

The Colliers report provided to this news organization covers the latest ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Airbnb to crack down on 'unauthorized and disruptive' parties on summer bookings

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Parties at vacation rentals sometimes raise the ire of neighbors when holiday revelry gets out of hand.

Airbnb announced this week it is rolling out “anti-party technology” across the U.S. this summer. The system will be in effect for two upcoming holiday weekends: Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

The goal of the system, which is being...Read more

Real estate Q&A: How can we stop our neighbor's constantly barking dogs?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: Our next-door neighbor lets her three dogs live in the fenced-in backyard, and they bark constantly, even late into the night. They are good neighbors, other than that, so we have tried to be patient, but we need a good night’s sleep. What can we do about this? —Graciela

A: Pet owners bear legal responsibility for their pets’ behavior,...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: At-Home Adventures

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Are you feeling jittery about taking a family vacation this summer? You're not alone. Whether it's your family's safety abroad, the high cost of gasoline or a thin bank account that has you unsettled, this might be a great time to consider a dramatic alternative: a stay-at-home vacation!

You can become tourists in your own town by uncovering ...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Trump considers taking Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae public

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that he was “giving very serious consideration” to taking the mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae public after more than a decade of being under government oversight.

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of CASH, and the time would seem to be right,” ...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Trump floats a public offering for Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening that he was giving “very serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public” after more than a decade of being under government oversight.

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of CASH, and the time would seem to be right,” Trump ...Read more

 

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