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Real estate Q&A: Do I have to sell condo to another owner in building?
Q: When we decided to sell our apartment, one of our friends wanted to buy it, and we agreed to sell it to him at a discounted price. When he went for his interview with the condo board, he was told that he could not buy it because another owner in the building was going to. Do I need to sell it to my neighbor at the discounted price, or can I ...Read more
Nix the oven? A skinny fridge? Tips on designing a tiny kitchen in your ADU
LOS ANGELES -- Unlike European kitchens, which are designed for efficiency rather than luxury, American kitchens often emphasize open-concept designs simply because they are larger.
But now that people are adding accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, in their backyards to house family members and generate passive income, the European model is ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Don't Let Mistakes Set You Back
I love to watch home remodeling television shows. They give me confidence that I really could remodel a kitchen, build a shed or even install new windows all by myself. Usually, the feeling passes quickly, but I find myself feeling comfortable around power tools, and I do enjoy a good home improvement store.
Recently, the host of one of the ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: When You Should Opt Out of a Credit-Card Interest Rate Increase
Wouldn't it be great if low interest rates never changed? Sadly, the saying "All good things must come to an end" applies to credit cards too. Credit card companies are known for raising interest rates unexpectedly. They only need to give you a 45-day notice before increasing your rate, which can feel sudden.1
Have you heard from your credit ...Read more
Millions of New Yorkers facing rent hikes of up to 4% for 1-year lease
Around 2 million New Yorkers living in stabilized apartments will likely see their rents climb for the third year in a row, after the board tasked with setting rates okayed a range of possible hikes at a raucous preliminary vote on Tuesday — as tenants and their board representatives walked out in protest.
The rest of the Rent Guidelines ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Tough Love for Financially Irresponsible Parents of Adult Children
Dear Cheapskate: I read stories about parents with grown children who constantly need bailouts. What do you do when it's your 62-year-old mother who has the money problem? My mom has a job and makes enough money to support herself. In 2003, she bought a house for $95,000. She had little debt at the time. Since then, she's refinanced her home ...Read more
Hong Kong vies with US in Bitcoin ETF market after crypto's revival
A batch of exchange-traded funds investing directly in crypto will debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday, heralding potential competition for US Bitcoin products whose popularity stoked a record rally in the digital asset.
Harvest Global Investments Ltd., the local unit of China Asset Management, and a partnership between HashKey Capital Ltd. and ...Read more
May Fed meeting preview: Are rate cuts canceled or just delayed? Watch for these 3 key themes as inflation stays hot
At the start of the year, the nation’s top economists thought the Federal Reserve would be using its May rate announcement to tee up the first cut of its fiercest inflation-fighting regime in 40 years.
Now, as inflation stays more stubborn than expected, they’re wondering whether those cuts are delayed — or completely canceled.
It’s ...Read more
Friends split a mortgage, share a home to beat high housing costs
Sara Kemper and Betsy Ohrn have been besties since first grade, so they've shared a lot through the years: even the mortgage on a St. Paul house that's much larger and grander than anything they could have afforded individually.
"We needed something we could grow into," said Kemper, recalling the house-shopping wish list she, Ohrn and their ...Read more
Erin Lowry: Your retirement anxiety can't be cured online
The often-cited goal of having a $1 million retirement nest egg needs to be retired itself. Adjusted for inflation, it would take nearly $1.9 million to have the same purchasing power today as in 1999, when the oldest of millennials were just turning 18. Granted, $1 million still sounds like a lofty sum to many Americans, which could be why so ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: 7 Clever Ways to Build a Cash Stash
While a lot of us believe we're saving money when we buy things on sale, it's not true unless we actually save the difference between the regular price and the sale price. That could be stopping at the bank on the way home from the store and actually depositing the amount of money we didn't spend in a savings account -- or some other equally ...Read more
LA court strikes down controversial California law abolishing single-family zoning
A controversial housing law that abolished single-family zoning across California has been ruled unconstitutional by a Los Angeles County judge — but the narrow ruling is likely to be appealed by the state.
Passed in 2021, SB 9 allows single-family homeowners to split their lots in two and build two homes on each lot — allowing up to four ...Read more
Mortgage rates climb for a fourth week to reach 7.17%
Mortgage rates in the U.S. increased for a fourth straight week.
The average for a 30-year, fixed loan was 7.17%, up from 7.1% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday.
House hunters looking to land a deal during the typically busy spring season are having to dig deeper to afford a purchase. Borrowing costs have climbed fairly ...Read more
Childcare costs 'more than a mortgage' per kid, forcing Philly parents to make tough choices
The Salovin family pays $26,000 a year for childcare for their two daughters.
For them, it’s a worthwhile expense, knowing their 1- and 4-year-old girls are at a licensed facility and they can both stay in the workforce.
But even the Delaware County, Pennsylvania, couple — who work in health-care administration and pharmaceuticals — is ...Read more
Can Colorado cities prevent thousands of apartments from losing affordability protections?
Nine years ago, one of Silverthorne, Colorado’s few income-restricted housing properties was sold to a private firm. The sale — at a price that was double the property’s assessed value — raised worries in the high-cost mountain community that the new owner of the Blue River Apartments might lift rent caps that had kept its 78 units ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: Can I break lease in poorly maintained building?
Q: I lease an apartment in a poorly maintained building. Lately, it has gotten to the point where the smell is literally making me sick. I want to move, but I signed a one-year lease. Can I get out of my lease due to this? — Cara
A: When a property is leased, it creates a legal relationship with benefits and responsibilities for the landlord ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Mark Your Territory With Citrus
Do neighborhood cats insist that your property (porch, door, flower beds) is their territory? Well, my dear reader, break out the lemons and oranges, and shout hallelujah! You're about to discover a very pleasant, harmless way to direct them away, plus much more!
CAT SCRAM. I place lemon and orange slices and rinds around my front door and ...Read more
Amid homeowner insurance crisis, consumer advocates and industry clash at hearing
The fault lines running through California's spiraling homeowners insurance crisis were on display Tuesday at a state hearing, where consumer advocates clashed with industry firms over a plan to allow insurers to use complex computer models to set premiums — a move state officials say will attract insurers to the market.
State Insurance ...Read more
'Don't piss off the DOJ': Veteran Las Vegas agents react to renewed push against Realtors
Multiple veteran Las Vegas real estate agents say they are largely on board with the upheaval currently going on in their industry.
It’s time for change and more transparency in their governing bodies, they say.
A federal appeals court ruled earlier this month that the U.S. Justice Department could restart its investigation into the policies...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: You Need a Kitchen Assistant
Professional chefs have sous chefs to do all the hard work and to see that meals get to the table in a timely manner. While I wouldn't characterize myself as a chef, I do have a home kitchen assistant, and quite frankly I just don't know what I'd do without her.
Three or four mornings a week, I hastily give her my plans for dinner and head to ...Read more
Inside Consumer
Popular Stories
- Real estate Q&A: Do I have to sell condo to another owner in building?
- Friends split a mortgage, share a home to beat high housing costs
- Millions of New Yorkers facing rent hikes of up to 4% for 1-year lease
- May Fed meeting preview: Are rate cuts canceled or just delayed? Watch for these 3 key themes as inflation stays hot
- Hong Kong vies with US in Bitcoin ETF market after crypto's revival