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California's former insurance commissioner wants oil and gas companies to pay for the home insurance crisis
As destructive wildfires have ravaged California over the past decade, the insurance industry has dropped hundreds of thousands of homeowners statewide, raised their premiums, and, in some cases, stopped writing new home policies anywhere in the state.
Few understand the crisis better than Dave Jones, the former California insurance ...Read more

10,000 acres of prime land sitting vacant in Las Vegas Valley: report
Approximately 10,000 acres of prime land that could be developed are sitting vacant in Southern Nevada, according to a new study.
A total of 31,650 tax lots, encompassing 78,285 undeveloped or underutilized acres, with 10,000 of those acres considered prime for residential and commercial development potential are available in the region, ...Read more

Las Vegas short-term rental group challenges enforcement of rules
A group of Clark County, Nevada, property owners has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the county and state challenging the government’s ability to enforce restrictions on providing short-term rentals to visitors to Southern Nevada.
The Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association and several of its individual members ...Read more

I just graduated college. Will I be able to buy a house like my parents did?
Since graduating college in May, I’ve been thinking about my future a lot. One question has stood out: Am I going to be able to buy a home like my parents did less than 30 years ago?
Pretty much everywhere, home prices have climbed in recent years. The median price for metro Atlanta, which spans multiple counties, grew from $190,634 in April ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: Does HOA's definition of commercial vehicle override state law?
Q: Our community does not allow “commercial vehicles” to remain overnight. However, the association documents define what a commercial vehicle is differently from our city, and the state has yet another definition. The Board is attempting to have the homeowner remove his “commercial vehicle,” as defined in our documents; however, ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: How to Have a Successful Garage Sale
Whether your goal is to purge your home of stuff you no longer need, or you want to raise some cash -- or both -- you have options.
You can sell your items on an auction website like eBay.com, list them in the classified in a local newspaper or on craigslist.org. You can unload unwanted clutter on social platforms like Nextdoor and Facebook ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: 3 Ways to Clean a Bathtub That Are Easy on the Back and Knees
Cleaning the bathtub is one of those housekeeping chores that's more pain than pleasure for those with health issues that make bending and kneeling difficult. So hard on the back and knees that it just doesn't get cleaned well. Here to the rescue are three very effective and efficient ways to keep any bathtub sparkling clean -- even a tub that ...Read more

Rocket Companies completes purchase of Redfin
Rocket Companies announced Tuesday that it has closed on its previously announced $1.75 billion deal for real estate brokerage Redfin, a deal that combines Redfin’s home search platform with Detroit-based Rocket’s mortgage lending.
“I’ve used Redfin every day for the last 20 years. It helped me find and fall in love with my first home, ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Values are More Often Caught Than Taught
Bents, characteristics, abilities and tendencies are the conduits through which you can pass your values to your kids. But how exactly do you make the pass? It's though your life, the way you live.
Kids learn most effectively through observation and imitation. It's the witness of our lives -- more than anything we say -- that is taken in slowly...Read more
Seattle dropped key NIMBY rules. Why aren't developers swarming?
Say farewell to single-family zoning as you've known it, Seattle.
As of Monday, developers can build up to four homes on city lots that today are dominated by individual houses, the result of a state law meant to add smaller and more affordable homes to the vast majority of land reserved for pricey single-family homes.
But despite the yes in ...Read more

As Gen Z and millennial women look to get money-smart, Dow Janes is trending upward
After Britt Baker graduated from Harvard Business School in 2016, her friends back in California begged for a souvenir: the best investment advice she'd learned.
Baker, 37, indulged them, starting out of her Fairfax, California, living room a finance club that eventually became her present-day financial education startup, Dow Janes — which ...Read more

As contentious Colorado housing laws take effect, some cities are playing nice -- while others resist or sue
Lafayette, Colorado’s mayor, JD Mangat, can’t afford a house in the city he leads.
On a salary as a middle school social studies teacher, home prices in the Boulder County city of 30,000 are out of reach for the 29-year-old Lafayette native.
“I live at home with my parents,” he said. “None of my friends growing up still live in ...Read more

Two new property insurers approved to sell in Florida. More coming, regulators say
Two more property insurers have been approved to serve Florida’s beleaguered homeowner market, the state Office of Insurance Regulation announced.
The office on Friday identified the two new companies in a news release as Incline National Insurance Company, headquartered in Texas, and Florida Insurance and Reinsurance Company, a Florida-...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Best Frugal Way to Tell Mosquitoes to Buzz Off -- Before They Even Hatch
Let's talk about mosquitoes. Not the gentle, Disney-style ones with big eyes and a cartoon voice. I mean the real deal -- those tiny vampires who think your backyard is an all-you-can-eat buffet and your ankles are the appetizer.
I've tried it all. Citronella candles, bug zappers, garlic spray and whatever essential oil blend my neighbor swears...Read more

Philadelphia is among areas where renting is trending with millionaires
More millionaires are choosing to rent in Philadelphia.
In 2023, 102 households making $1 million or more annually chose to rent in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, according to a new report from rental listing website RentCafe. That’s up from 22 in 2019.
Across the country, millionaire tenants are attracted to the ease offered by turnkey...Read more

'A retail apocalypse': Big box and chain retailers undergo wave of closures
BALTIMORE — Customers who ventured into Rite Aid at Gittings Marketplace in North Baltimore during its final week in mid-June found a shuttered pharmacy, empty refrigerator cases and an assortment of greeting cards and beauty products at 90% off, but little else.
Across from the drugstore on York Road, a Party City sign tops a building that ...Read more
Real estate Q&A: Can we stop a resident from smoking on the balcony?
Q: Can a resident smoke on his balcony if the smoke is disturbing the resident next door, who also likes to sit on his balcony? Also, a butt fell several floors below on the balcony and burned a hole in resident’s outdoor sofa? — Catherine
A: Smoking can be a heated topic in shared living spaces, especially when it impacts neighbors or ...Read more

With a surging residency rate, this neighborhood is transforming LA
Like many downtown Los Angeles residents, Ricardo Sebastián doesn’t own a car and prefers it that way.
“I do not want the responsibility of owning a vehicle. That’s not for me,” said Sebastián, who grew up in Chicago relying on public transit.
The 38-year-old consultant travels around L.A. by train and bus, but finds most of what ...Read more
Everyday Cheapskate: Worst and Best Ways to Clean Your Eyeglasses
You just paid a small fortune for new eyeglasses. On top of the cost for prescription lenses and fashionable frames, you opted for anti-reflective, anti-scratch and UV-protection coatings. After all, eyesight is a precious thing, and it's only wise to do all you can to protect it, right? Absolutely! But here's the deal: You may be destroying ...Read more

Seattle to ban controversial rent-setting software RealPage
Seattle will soon ban the controversial rent-setting platform RealPage and similar services, becoming the latest local government to take aim at a technology that critics say helps drive up housing costs.
The Seattle City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban a widely used class of software that gathers information from an array of ...Read more
Inside Consumer
Popular Stories
- I just graduated college. Will I be able to buy a house like my parents did?
- California's former insurance commissioner wants oil and gas companies to pay for the home insurance crisis
- As Google retreats from real estate, will it still build the 15,000 homes it promised?
- Las Vegas short-term rental group challenges enforcement of rules
- 10,000 acres of prime land sitting vacant in Las Vegas Valley: report