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An AI bubble? Not so, says this leading money manager

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The world’s largest asset manager dismissed worries of an AI bubble and instead said that the industry is providing unrivaled opportunities to investors, in remarks Tuesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, said that despite concerns that AI is being hyped, there is legitimate ...Read more

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Why going barefoot is better for your home

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Going barefoot at home has long been a quiet, almost instinctive habit for many households, but in recent years it has gained renewed attention as people reconsider how their living spaces function day to day. From cleanliness to comfort to long-term maintenance, the simple act of removing shoes at the door can shape the entire atmosphere of a ...Read more

Katy Kildee, The Detroit News/The Detroit News/TNS

Is college still worth it? Survey says yes, but …

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Teenagers aren’t turning their backs on college — but they are rethinking what “college” actually means.

And they’re doing it at a moment when the value of higher education itself is under fresh scrutiny.

Earlier this month, a committee at Yale University warned that colleges and universities share responsibility for a growing ...Read more

Karen Ducey/The Seattle Times/TNS

Living on $60K in Seattle comes with up to 7 roommates

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

When Adriana Gomez-Weston first got the offer for her current job in Seattle, she was ecstatic.

Working for the catering company Compass, she estimated that she'd make around $60,000 a year before taxes. That sounded high compared with the average income in North Carolina, where Gomez-Weston, 33, grew up.

I thought that would be a lot of money...Read more

AI-generated image/HomeServices of America/TNS

How Mae, an AI real estate agent, is putting a face on HomeServices of America

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

MINNEAPOLIS -- The country’s newest real estate specialist is Mae (short for Maestro), and she was just born this year.

The “synth human” is really part of a new AI-powered platform that will put a (digital) face on Minneapolis-based HomeServices of America, which owns mortgage, title, insurance and escrow companies, among others. The ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: New survey shows our driveway overlaps neighbor's property. Now what?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: We are preparing to refinance our home, and the lender ordered a new survey. It turns out that about 2 feet of our driveway is on our neighbor’s property. The driveway has been there since the house was built over 20 years ago, and no one has ever said a word about it. Now we are worried this could cause problems. What should we do? — ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA considers expanding Airbnb-style short-term vacation rentals

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Owners of second homes — and Airbnb — stand to reap a windfall under an initiative in Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' new city budget proposal.

Tucked away in the more than 500 pages of city budget expenditures, the mayor calls for creating a new revenue stream by allowing people who own a second home to rent it out on a short-term basis, ...Read more

Rob Nikolewski/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Rivian to place more than 100 new EV chargers around Caruso properties

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Real estate developer Caruso is partnering with the electric vehicle company Rivian to add more than 150 public EV chargers to Caruso's properties, including malls and apartment buildings.

Caruso owns several iconic Southern California destinations, such as the Grove and Palisades Village, which is scheduled to reopen this summer after last ...Read more

Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images North America/TNS

US housing starts surge to highest level since December 2024

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

New residential construction in the U.S. rose in March to the highest level in more than a year as homebuilders boosted production despite ongoing affordability concerns.

Housing starts increased 10.8% to an annual pace of 1.5 million homes in March, the highest since December 2024, according to figures released Wednesday by the Census Bureau. ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

San Diego is one of the few US markets where home prices are still rising

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

San Diego home prices haven’t risen much in the past year, but that growth is still more than most of the U.S.

The San Diego metropolitan area’s home price increased 0.53% annually in February, said the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Indices report released Tuesday.

That ranks San Diego No.7 in the index after being first or second for much of ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

His wild, theme park-style home in LA is full of joy. It even has a Disneyland room

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

LOS ANGELES — Brandon Shahniani is obsessed with the 1980s sitcom "The Golden Girls," so much so that he decorated his breezy bedroom in pastel tones that would make Blanche Devereaux, the show's famously flirtatious character, green with envy.

"I want to live in 1980s Miami Beach," says the 28-year-old who's the co-owner of the Fair Oaks ...Read more

Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Will Penn Station be Trump Station? Will Madison Square Garden move? What you need to know about the sweeping redesign

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Eight months after the federal government announced an aggressive timeline for the long-debated rebuilding of Penn Station, plans for the nation’s busiest train hub are expected to be submitted next week.

Former NYC Transit head Andy Byford — President Trump’s new Penn Station Czar — has promised New Yorkers a “top-to-bottom ...Read more

Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Senate committee kills bill mandating insurance coverage for wildfire safe homes

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

A bill that would have required insurers to offer coverage to homeowners who take steps to reduce wildfire risk on their property died in the Legislature.

The Senate Insurance Committee on Monday voted down the measure, SB 1076, one of the most ambitious bills spurred by the devastating January 2025 wildfires.

The vote came despite fire ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Do we have to tell potential buyers about nuisance neighbor?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: We are getting ready to sell our house, and one of the reasons is our next-door neighbor. He throws loud weekend parties that run late into the night, leaves trash in his yard for days and has gotten into shouting matches with several people on our street. We have called the police twice. Do we have to tell potential buyers about him? We are ...Read more

Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/TNS

Why it is so hard to find, afford renting a Seattle single-family home

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Tracy Cambron couldn't afford to buy a house in Seattle when she moved here a decade ago. Still, she wanted to give her two kids a childhood like hers — one where they could play in a yard, trick-or-treat at neighbors’ houses and pass a football in the street.

She rented single-family homes in Seattle neighborhoods to give them that ...Read more

Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Sky-high office vacancy levels haunt Bay Area's three major downtowns

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Sky-high office vacancy rates still haunt the downtowns of San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco, despite bursts of tech lease deals in Silicon Valley that have largely bypassed the urban cores of the Bay Area’s three largest cities.

The vacancy levels for office space remain stuck above 30% in San Jose’s, Oakland’s and San Francisco’s ...Read more