Consumer

/

Home & Leisure

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Searching for an affordable house in SoCal, she fell for a scam sweeping social media

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Pam Yeager thought she had found her perfect next rental in a cute bungalow near downtown Fullerton, California.

It seemed like a no-brainer: It was priced slightly below the region's average for a two-bedroom home, would allow her to live closer to her son and was available right as her current lease was expiring.

But it turned out to be one ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Judge tosses lawsuit alleging Zillow deceived home shoppers

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

A federal judge has thrown out the central claims in a lawsuit alleging that Zillow illegally deceived home shoppers into working with certain real estate agents.

The case, filed in September, said that prominent buttons on Zillow’s website inviting browsers to “Contact agent” or “Request a tour” make home shoppers assume they’re ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Can I take over seller's mortgage loan with low interest rate?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: The house I want to buy has a mortgage at a 3 percent interest rate, and my agent says the loan might be “assumable.” Rates today are more than double that. Can I really just take over the seller’s loan and keep that low rate instead of getting a new one? What is the catch? — Marcus

A: I understand the appeal. A rate like that feels ...Read more

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mortgage rates in US rise to 6.66%, highest level in a year

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

U.S. mortgage rates rose to a 12-month high as Treasury yields climbed in recent weeks and continued fighting in Iran fueled concern about higher inflation.

The average for a 30-year, fixed loan increased to 6.66% from 6.58% a week earlier, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. The rate was the highest since July 31, 2025, when it was 6.72%...Read more

Bizuayehu Tesfaye @bizutesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Fewer Californians are moving to Nevada, DMV data shows

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Fewer out-of-state residents, especially Californians, moved to Nevada last year, according to Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles driver’s license surrender data obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The DMV collected approximately 82,072 surrendered out-of-state or country driver’s licenses or IDs in 2025, a 14 percent drop from 2024 ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Victorian parlor meets Candyland: Inside the maximalist apartment of a Los Angeles stylist

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

"More is more and less is a bore." ― Iris Apfel

LOS ANGELES -- After spending decades collecting clean-lined Midcentury Modern furniture and accessories, stylist Wendi Weger felt it was time to give her Silver Lake apartment a playful update.

"Everything was brown," Weger says as she sits on a plush sofa covered in pink and chartreuse ...Read more

Lola Gomez/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

A property manager used rent price-setting algorithms that were banned in Philly last year, lawsuit says

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

A West Philadelphia renter has filed a class-action lawsuit against his property manager and a national company that sells property management software, alleging that his landlord used price-setting algorithms that Philadelphia has banned.

Since early 2025, Philadelphia has prohibited rental home providers from coordinating to set prices and ...Read more

Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Nvidia's $750 billion deals revive fear of AI circular financing

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Nvidia Corp. is working on a fresh round of AI deals worth more than $750 billion, accelerating investments that skeptics have warned are artificially inflating demand and valuations across the industry.

A partnership with South Korean conglomerate SK Group unveiled late Friday means the companies will be doing more than $500 billion in ...Read more

L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Could Las Vegas become the Wall Street of the West?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Ken Winans has a bold idea: turn Las Vegas into the Wall Street of the West.

The president and chief investment officer for Winans Investments, a local investment management firm, said the valley could actually be the perfect place given its environment, geography and current rules and regulations. Wall Street is a colloquial term for the ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Here's what $1,500 in rent can get you in Philly, Miami, Boston, and other cities across the country

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Apartment renters with $1,500 a month to spend can get the equivalent of one or two bedrooms in Pittsburgh, a studio in Philadelphia, or a dorm room in Manhattan.

That’s according to an analysis by RentCafe, a national apartment search website, based on average price per square foot for apartments in properties with 50 or more units.

A ...Read more

Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Half Moon Bay voters to decide fate of farmworker housing as state pressure mounts

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Voters in Half Moon Bay, California, will decide in November whether to allow a 40-unit affordable housing development for older farmworkers to move forward, extending a years-long fight that has drawn threats from Gov. Gavin Newsom and could exacerbate an ongoing confrontation between city and state officials over housing mandates.

The City ...Read more

Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Nvidia's $750 billion deals revive fear of AI circular financing

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Nvidia Corp. is working on a fresh round of AI infrastructure deals potentially worth more than $750 billion, accelerating a streak of investments that skeptics warn is artificially inflating demand and valuations across the industry.

An artificial intelligence initiative with the parent of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. unveiled late ...Read more

Alex Kormann/Star Tribune/TNS

Meet the Minnesota man winning your prediction market wagers

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Caleb Davies holds a rare title in the prediction market world: Millionaire winner.

The middle-aged suburban dad relies on a skilled background in finance and tech, plus computer forecasting tools he personally developed, to put real stakes on some of his biggest interests. These days he primarily plays in so-called culture markets, which let ...Read more

Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS

They got their LA rentals ready for the World Cup. Did it pay off? For some, absolutely

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

LOS ANGELES — The 2026 FIFA World Cup has wrapped, but some Angelenos who rented their homes to fans are still tallying up profits from a month of soccer frenzy in the city.

Driven by projections of massive tourism and a $750 first-time host incentive from Airbnb, many local property owners expected a sizable payout. While some savvy owners ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Should I buy renters' insurance?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: My landlord is asking me to buy renters’ insurance before I move into my apartment. I do not own the place, so I do not understand why I would need it. Is this really something I should pay for, or is my landlord just covering himself? — Alison

A: Get the renters’ insurance. This is one of the best deals in insurance, and people find ...Read more

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

He bought a desert bunker -- and wants to make it an EV lounge

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

BAKER, California — The walls are covered in graffiti, some glass is shattered, and most of the copper is gone.

But some 20 to 30 feet below ground in this Cold War-era bunker in the middle of the California desert, Jonathan Shinn envisions a modern twist for the hidden relic: a lounge for EV drivers.

Shinn, founder of PowerStation Charging,...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Mobile homes, an overlooked refuge of affordability, are disappearing in LA Residents fight to stay

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The small patch of dirt encircling Carmen Silverio Guardado's home bears fruit — lots of it. There are pomegranates, guavas, dragon fruit and nectarines. She also grows oregano and lemongrass, which she brews into a tea to soothe stomach issues.

All of this Silverio Guardado and her husband cultivate beside the two-bedroom mobile home they ...Read more

Arwen Clemans/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Forget Halloween: Giant skeletons are staying up year-round across LA

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

LOS ANGELES — The undead are invading L.A.

They wear Santa hats and sunglasses, American flags and pool floaties. Some stand erect, towering over houses and neighborhoods. Others rot in the California sun, disintegrating into bony fragments. A pelvis atop two legs in a driveway. A skull peering over a rooftop.

They are, of course, giant 12-...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Graffiti towers set to be cleared for cleanup and sale

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The sale of notorious Oceanwide Plaza in downtown Los Angeles is expected to be approved by a bankruptcy court judge, clearing the path for removal of graffiti that has loomed over the city skyline for years and completion of the long-stalled real estate development.

Work cleaning the skyscrapers — known informally as Graffiti Towers — ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Jonathan Lansner: California foreclosures at 7-year high. Time to worry?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The last time California foreclosures were this high was pre-pandemic, in 2019.

However, if you see this as a signal that hordes of California homeowners are going to lose their homes to foreclosure, just like the last real estate crash, you may be waiting a while.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed a report from the real estate tracker Attom on ...Read more