Q: My tenant wants to purchase the home he recently rented with the help of my real estate agent. I checked the listing agreement I signed with the agent and noticed that it states that if I sell the property to the tenant, I need to pay the agent an additional sales commission. I already paid the agent for the rental, and I do not understand ...Read more

SEATTLE -- One year ago, Microsoft made national headlines with its largest pledge ever, a promise to invest $500 million in affordable housing.

On Wednesday, the tech giant put a potential $250 million on top of that.

Like most of its previous tranche of funding, though, the new money isn't for free -- it's a line of credit for a state agency...Read more

You're thinking about moving, from your hometown or college town or wherever you've been lately. Perhaps you've just graduated and are pursuing jobs in several states. Or you need to relocate so your spouse can find a better job. Or maybe you and your partner come from different cities, and you're considering those so your kids can grow up near ...Read more

Warner Bros. on Tuesday officially broke ground on a pair of Frank Gehry-designed office towers, which when completed will mark a major expansion of the Burbank, Calif.-based movie and TV studio's headquarters.

The project, first announced last April, was commemorated in a ceremony with Warner Bros. Chief Executive Ann Sarnoff and Gehry, the ...Read more

Buying a dependable used car with above-average mileage is the budget-smart move -- remember, a car is a very expensive depreciating asset. And yet, more than 17 million new cars were purchased in each of the past five years.

Bought, as in financed. Experian reports that more than eight in 10 new cars are bought with loans, with the average ...Read more

The rules of the retirement game just saw a sizable overhaul in Congress, giving a nod to the reality that many Americans can't afford to quit working.

The changes aren't massive enough to put to rest concerns about an upcoming retirement crisis where some forecast a growing gap between the haves and have-nots. Even so, the adjustments are ...Read more

Q: We hired a local company to help us with a project on our property. After the work was done, we received a bill for more than what was agreed. The bill also included work that was not performed. Do we need to pay it? -- Karl

A: Whenever you hire someone to perform work on your home, you should have a written contract. The agreement should ...Read more

Vanguard reached $6 trillion in assets late last year. And it achieved that amid an ongoing fee war with Schwab-TD Ameritrade, which continued last week.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, Vanguard has led the movement to lower fees across Wall Street, first by attracting hundreds of billions of dollars in index fund assets, then by cutting fees ...Read more

Make saving more money a top priority this year. It's easier than you think.

I asked my community of super savers on Facebook to share their top tips. They came through with large and small ways to trim expenses. I've added a few of my favorite ways to pinch pennies, too. Feel free to share your tips at homeandleisure/consumer/home/s-2312762">Read more

Take the Audible Challenge 2020 to get a free $20 Amazon credit by listening to three book titles at least 3 hours long on the free Audible app on any mobile device. Choose from 180,000 titles.

This also would be a great way to put to work that new Echo, Kindle or Fire device that you got over the holidays.

The reward is for new or current ...Read more

In a survey of more than 1,600 workers, nearly 60% identified financial matters as their top stress. The next most-common stress was "my job" at a very distant 15%.

Every household has its own list of financial stress points, but there are some common anxiety-inducers:

--Building an emergency fund

--Getting a handle on credit card debt

--...Read more

Retirement should be filled with plenty of carefree days, peppered with a few bucket-list-worthy adventures. Headaches, such as student loans, ideally should be long gone.

But increasingly, some retirees are wondering how they're going to pay the utilities or the rent in retirement, thanks to monthly student loan bills that add up to hundreds ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Real estate developers pushing to get new projects approved at Los Angeles City Hall will be banned, under a new law, from giving campaign contributions to the council members vetting their projects.

But Los Angeles leaders have held off on another change that critics say is needed: Barring donors from giving through limited ...Read more