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Commentary: MAGA's praise of 'real Americans' has a dark history
We’ve heard a great deal about so-called “real Americans” in this presidential campaign.
It was a theme of this summer’s Republican National Convention, where speakers like Hulk Hogan and UFC CEO Dana White used the phrase to praise Donald Trump and his supporters. And more recently, the former president and his running mate, JD Vance, ...Read more
Philadelphia's office buildings have lost over $1 billion in assessed value
The assessed value of Center City office buildings fell by over $1 billion in recent years, the Office of Property Assessments (OPA) reported to City Council this week. That spells trouble for the City of Philadelphia’s tax revenue.
The assessed value fell from $9.82 billion in tax year 2023 to $8.78 billion in tax year 2025, OPA stated, amid...Read more
Looking to buy or sell a condo unit? Get to know your building's structural inspection reports
Becoming familiar with two structural inspection reports that condo associations are required to submit this year can save buyers money or help them avoid making an expensive mistake.
Sellers will need to know what’s in their associations’ Milestone Inspection report and Structural Integrity Reserve Study before closing on a used condo unit...Read more
Seattle churches wanting to build affordable housing face testing times
SEATTLE — The leaders of Saint Mark’s Cathedral on Capitol Hill have a vision: New neighbors living in the nearly century-old brick building the church owns just next to its cathedral. But landing one of Seattle’s overwhelmed affordable-housing developers proved challenging.
In Lake City, a Mennonite church housed in an old movie theater ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: How do we fix a defective deed?
Q: My wife recently inherited an apartment. My wife was added to the deed some years ago to get the property as part of her mother’s estate plan. We already have a home and do not want to deal with tenants, so we decided to sell it. The closing agent tells us that the original deed to my mother-in-law from a couple of decades ago is defective ...Read more
You grew your first outdoor pot plant. Here are 4 things you need to do next
LOS ANGELES -- Back in the spring, Emily Gogol and Penny Barthel barnstormed L.A.-area nurseries and gardening centers with a series of USDA-sponsored Grow It From Home workshops that spread a simple message: Cultivating cannabis in your backyard is not only as easy as growing tomatoes, but Southern California turns out to be one of the best ...Read more
How to save for retirement when you're in your 50s
Once you reach your 50s, it is crunch time for saving for retirement. If you set a retirement savings target but have been neglecting it, you need to dust it off for a careful review. (Working with a financial adviser can help get you back on track.)
Once you’ve reacquainted yourself with the financial destination you want to reach, take ...Read more
Southern California's hottest commercial real estate market is for tenants that aren't human
Where Wilshire Boulevard begins in downtown Los Angeles, thousands of miles of undersea fiber-optic cables disappear into an ordinary-looking office tower.
One Wilshire is the mother of all data centers in the West, a discreet terminus for major digital links between Asia and North America that help sustain the world's bottomless need for data ...Read more
Penn Staters don't have to bribe the bouncer to skip the line at their favorite bar this homecoming weekend. There's an app for that
It’s Friday night of a football weekend in Happy Valley.
Every bar in the college town is packed, with some lines snaking around the block. As they wait, jacketless bar-goers huddle together, shivering in the crisp autumn air, while Penn State alumni who have fallen out of practice with late-night revelry stifle yawns.
It’s an experience ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: Can condo board force sale to another owner instead of a family member?
Q: My cousin is getting married and agreed to sell me her apartment for a great price. We drew up a contract so that I could get a mortgage loan, and I interviewed with the condo board. Now, the condo tells us that my cousin must sell it to another owner who already lives in the building. She is only selling it at a discount because we are ...Read more
Pending sales of homes in US creep up as borrowing costs drop
U.S. pending home sales ticked up in August from a record low, as falling mortgage rates encouraged some buyers to dip a toe into the market.
A measure of contract signings for previously owned homes climbed 0.6% to 70.6 last month, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors Thursday. That came in below the median ...Read more
Drop the Trop: 555 drones, 2,100 pounds of explosives highlight implosion
Come 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 9, the pair of Tropicana hotel towers that have stood on the Strip for decades will come down in less than 30 seconds.
The two, 23-story towers, totaling 917,400 square feet will be reduced to rubble in 22 seconds, as crews from Controlled Demolition ignite a combined 2,190 pounds of explosives, Bally’s Corp. and the ...Read more
Vets are pushing for a 'Town Center' on LA's VA campus. But what is it? And will it have a hotel bar?
Building 13, at the center of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' West Los Angeles campus, is a century-old, two-story monolith composed of three wings adorned in intricate Art Deco detail.
It's been vacant for decades, but it has a new destiny — if the money to restore it can be found — to anchor a town center at the heart of a ...Read more
Survey: 43% of Americans have at least one unused gift card
If you’ve ever found a stray gift card in your car’s glove compartment or the recesses of your wallet, you’re in the company of more than 2 in 5 U.S. adults (43%) with an unused gift card, gift voucher or store credit.
Those unused gift cards add up — to $244 per person on average, according to a new survey by Bankrate. That card you ...Read more
Yes, Malibu has mobile home parks. And this one just quietly sold for about $200 million
A sprawling mobile home park in Malibu, California, that was owned by the seaside city's founding family has been sold to one of the nation's largest owners of manufactured housing communities.
Point Dume Club of Malibu, which has 297 residences, will continue to operate and not be redeveloped into the kind of tony estates commonly found in ...Read more
US mortgage rates fall further, stoking housing optimism
Mortgage rates continued their decline, hitting the lowest level since early February 2023.
The average for a 30-year, fixed loan was 6.09%, down from 6.2% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday.
Borrowing costs have fallen significantly in recent weeks in anticipation of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The central bank...Read more
Will interest rate decline shake up California housing market?
For many prospective homebuyers, the last two years have been brutal as high home prices and mortgage rates produced the most unaffordable housing market since the 2000s bubble.
Many experts don't expect drastic improvement soon, but a shift could finally be underway.
The cost of a 30-year fixed mortgage has fallen from above 7% in May to the ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: What are our rights after new landlord took over lease?
Q: Our landlord recently sold the house we have been renting. The sale happened in the middle of the month, and now the new owner wants us to pay him for the remainder of the month even though we have already paid the prior landlord for the whole month. And he wants us to pay the water bill, even though we never have in the past. What are our ...Read more
US mortgage rates drop to two-year low ahead of Fed rate cut
U.S. mortgage rates declined last week to the lowest level since September 2022 in anticipation of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, stoking an influx of applications for home purchases and refinancing.
The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped 14 basis points to 6.15% in the week ended Sept. 13, Mortgage Bankers Association data ...Read more
Barely getting by on one income in the Seattle area
Rabi Asghar, 37, didn’t realize just how expensive divorced life would be until after the paperwork was filed and the dust had settled.
Without a partner to split bills, the cost of daily life ballooned. For the first time in years, he found himself having to shoulder the full burden of utilities and groceries on his own. His ex had taken the...Read more
Popular Stories
- Commentary: MAGA's praise of 'real Americans' has a dark history
- Looking to buy or sell a condo unit? Get to know your building's structural inspection reports
- Philadelphia's office buildings have lost over $1 billion in assessed value
- Seattle churches wanting to build affordable housing face testing times
- Real estate Q&A: How do we fix a defective deed?