Consumer

/

Home & Leisure

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

A wildfire charred their LA yard -- but it let them create a lush native plant landscape

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

LOS ANGELES -- It was 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2019, and Phil Hinch was in his bed, "dead to the world," when he heard someone pounding on the door of his Porter Ranch home. His wife, Margaret, was on a business trip in New York; their two young children were in their rooms, fast asleep.

The porch was empty when he groggily opened his front door,...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Atlanta ranked as best US city for Black homebuyers

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

New research published Thursday found Atlanta is the best city for Black people who want to get on the housing ladder. But it also reinforced findings on the gulf between white and Black homeownership in the US.

The report published by Columbia, Miss.-based Mortgage Research Center suggests the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta area is the most ...Read more

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Does your deed say Black, Jewish, or Polish people can't live in your home? In Pa., there's a new way to address old discriminatory language

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

In 1927, 44 homeowners living on West Penn Street in Germantown, Pennsylvania, got together to write a rule for who could and couldn’t buy or rent their properties. They excluded everyone “other than those of the Caucasian race.”

And then they went even further.

If anyone of any other race occupied any of the properties, the covenant ...Read more

Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Real estate Q&A: What should we do if our house is damaged by a hurricane?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: We are new to Florida and dealing with our first major storm. Many people are telling us how to prepare, but not the realities of dealing with damage to our new home, should it occur. What do we do if something happens? — Justin

A: Natural disasters can occur no matter where someone lives. For some people, it could be a hurricane; for ...Read more

George Avalos/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Office vacancy levels soar to record highs in biggest Bay Area markets

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

SAN JOSE, California — The Bay Area’s three primary office markets, haunted by empty buildings, have reached forbidding new milestones of record-high vacancy levels, according to a grim new report.

Silicon Valley, which roughly equates to Santa Clara County; downtown Oakland; and San Francisco all hit record-high office vacancy rates in the...Read more

Miamians are the most rent-burdened people in America -- and they're stressed about it

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Their budgets strained, Miami metro residents are distressed about life in their increasingly unaffordable community.

More than three-quarters of South Floridians report difficulty paying for usual household expenses, according to the Census Bureau’s newest Household Pulse Survey released on Thursday.

That makes greater Miami — which ...Read more

Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Some California homesellers are letting buyers who can't get insured pull out of deals

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

To protect themselves from entering into a deal that could come back to bite them, homebuyers are advised to write contingencies into an offer, so they can pull out of a deal or renegotiate the price if an inspection or appraisal surfaces new issues.

But what if a buyer can’t find insurance?

This summer, the California Association of ...Read more

Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS

The 2024 election and your retirement: How to stay financially prepared regardless of who wins

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The 2024 elections are right around the corner, and it’s been one of the most contentious campaign seasons in recent memory. For retirees, the outcome of the election has some ramifications, especially with a looming Social Security shortfall, which could lead to drastic cuts in benefits. Whoever is elected this year could help shape how the ...Read more

Does an annuity make sense if you don't have a high net worth?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Annuities have long been touted as a reliable way to generate income in retirement. But the upfront cost of an annuity can deter some people who believe they need a substantial net worth to make purchasing one worthwhile.

While it’s true that some annuities, especially those offering guaranteed lifetime income, require significant capital, ...Read more

Ptlee/Dreamstime/TNS

Survey: Americans think money is more taboo to talk about than their political or religious views

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

American culture changes at a breakneck pace — just ask fans of Stanley cups and skinny jeans in 2024. But over the past decades, one mantra hasn’t changed much: Don’t talk about your personal finances. Today, money is such an awkward topic that only 38% of U.S. adults feel comfortable discussing their bank account balances with family and...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Commentary: MAGA's praise of 'real Americans' has a dark history

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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

Tom Gralish/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Philadelphia's office buildings have lost over $1 billion in assessed value

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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

Mike Stocker/Sun Sentinel/TNS

Looking to buy or sell a condo unit? Get to know your building's structural inspection reports

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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

Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/TNS

Seattle churches wanting to build affordable housing face testing times

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

You grew your first outdoor pot plant. Here are 4 things you need to do next

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

How to save for retirement when you're in your 50s

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Southern California's hottest commercial real estate market is for tenants that aren't human

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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

Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

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

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

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