In the midst of the Seattle-area housing shortage, hundreds of thousands of vacant rooms in big houses sit untapped as many homeowners are either reluctant to have a housemate or unsure about how to go about it.

Larry Crites is a longtime rental property owner living in Seattle.

He used to rent out the upstairs section of his first house. But ...Read more

Brenda Beeson loves her house. It’s where she woke up next to her husband each morning and rushed her daughter out to school. She never thought the house in South King County, Washington, once so full of life, could feel as empty as it does now.

Ever since her husband unexpectedly died in 2018 and her daughter moved out, four of the home’s ...Read more

The Federal Trade Commission is suing Zillow and Redfin for allegedly conspiring to eliminate competition for rental housing listings.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the FTC claims the real estate giants violated federal antitrust laws by entering into an illegal agreement to...Read more

Vanguard Group Inc. is weighing whether to allow trading of cryptocurrency-focused exchange-traded funds on its platform, a move that would mark a major easing of its restrictive stance toward the popular but volatile asset class.

Should the switch go through, it would open the door for Vanguard’s more than 50 million investors — with some ...Read more

Hundreds of homes built by the Miami-based Lennar Corporation on tribal land over the last five years are in such shoddy condition that no one can safely live in them, according to a lawsuit against the construction company filed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

The lawsuit was filed in March, but efforts to resolve the dispute between the ...Read more

Congress has shaken up retirement plans once again, and the changes benefit a wide swath of Americans saving for their golden years through IRAs or employer plans such as 401(k)s.

The SECURE Act 2.0 became law in the last days of 2022, and the new rules provide assistance for retirement savers, small businesses and many others. In fact, the ...Read more

An annuity is a financial product that provides a stream of income over a set period. Annuities are often used in retirement planning as a way to generate income from a lump sum investment.

However, there are different ways these payments can be structured, including ordinary annuities and annuities due. While the concept may seem ...Read more

You don’t need a finance degree to figure out how long it’ll take to double your money as an investor. The Rule of 72 offers a quick shortcut to estimate growth based on interest rates or, on the flip side, the erosion of buying power from inflation. It’s not perfect, but it’s useful for spotting how time and compounding work in your ...Read more

The family at the center of TLC reality show “Meet the Putmans” was torn apart Saturday after a deadly car crash killed three relatives and left five others hospitalized.

The Putmans announced on Saturday that patriarch Bill “Papa” Putman, his wife Barb, better known as “Neenee,” and Aunt Megan had all died “in a tragic car ...Read more

Legislation that allows victims of the Jan. 7 fire storms to receive up to a year of mortgage relief was signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom as an urgency measure that takes effect immediately.

Assembly Bill 238 enables borrowers to put a stop to their mortgage payments for up to 12 months with no late fees or penalties, by attesting without...Read more

Of the thousands of residents needing to rebuild after this year’s California wildfires, Andy Weyman would seem especially well positioned. The TV and stage director had remodeled his Malibu home just five years earlier and had city-approved blueprints in hand, with the same architect set to oversee reconstruction.

Yet eight months after the...Read more

If you’re in the market for an office building in Philadelphia, now’s the time to buy.

Several Center City office buildings have sold in recent months for well under half their previous prices and assessed values, attracting residential developers and out-of-market investors.

The 29-story, 665,000-square-foot tower at 2000 Market St. last ...Read more

The night before the Trump administration began enforcing a 25% tariff on Canadian imports, Chicago-based GI Stone had 13 trucks at the U.S. border, each loaded down with specialized granite set for installation in the Obama Presidential Center under construction in Jackson Park.

Only eight trucks made it through before the tariffs took effect ...Read more

When it comes to her kids’ Halloween costumes, Devon Weaver has learned to take a laid-back approach.

“Costumes don’t have to be stressful,” said Weaver, a 45-year-old content creator who runs several blogs, including Mamacheaps.com, from her Hilltown, Bucks County, home. “You can always repurpose things: Sports uniforms, dance ...Read more

Higher interest rates played out on stocks, cryptocurrency and commodities such as oil over the past few years. But now that the Federal Reserve has been lowering short-term rates, what can investors expect from here, and how long will the shifting rate environment impact markets?

After lowering interest rates by 25 basis points at its December...Read more

Joint bank accounts allow couples to manage budgets together, monitor spending and save for shared goals. But they aren’t right for every couple. And you don’t have to go with an all-or-nothing approach, either. You can have a joint account without merging all your finances.

Here’s what you should consider before deciding whether a joint...Read more

A leading consumer group is proposing a policyholder rights initiative that would require insurers to offer coverage to California homeowners who fireproof their homes — or lose the right to sell home or auto insurance in the state for five years.

The Insurance Policyholder Bill of Rights was filed with state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — When Eric Itakura listed his Mountain View condo last year, he hoped to save some money on commissions.

The rules over how agents’ fees are set had recently been rewritten as part of a landmark settlement reached between the National Association of Realtors and a group of home sellers. For decades, sellers typically paid ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — For decades, home sellers typically covered both their own agent’s commission and the fee for the buyer’s broker, a structure that left little room for negotiation. But a recent legal settlement has shaken up that system, opening the door for buyers and sellers to haggle over who pays what — and how much.

In the Bay ...Read more