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

Buying a condo just got harder for many, thanks to Fannie Mae policies

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Buying a condo in some parts of the U.S. has become harder due to recent changes in Fannie Mae’s condo policies, according to local real estate experts.

The government-sponsored mortgage enterprise recently increased the required due diligence for condo loans, and that could make some purchases harder to close in the months ahead, Las Vegas-...Read more

Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times/TNS

Seattle-area renters need to pay more than double housing costs to own a home

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Many Seattle area residents feel like the bar to owning a home just keeps getting higher, and they're not imagining things.

The cost of a monthly mortgage payment is now well beyond double the cost of median rent here — among the largest gaps in the country.

While the typical renter who recently moved is spending an already eye-watering $2,...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Should we walk away from buying home where inspection found issues?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: We just got our home inspection report back, and it is much worse than we expected. There are issues with the roof, the air conditioning and “possible electrical problems.” We love the house, but we are starting to feel like we are buying somebody else’s problem. Can we get them to fix things, or can we walk away without losing our ...Read more

Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Home buyers hammered as war-fueled bond rout drives rates higher

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Najimah Roberson, a lifelong renter, spent the past two years searching around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a home she could afford — getting outbid nearly 30 times along the way.

The ordeal had the 42-year-old daycare business owner “in tears for weeks” before she finally found a five-bedroom fixer-upper for $340,000. It has an ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: How to Get Yellow-Stained Bed Pillows White Again

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Our favorite bed pillows get a lot of use every night. We keep clean pillowcases on them and don't think much about the pillow inside until it's time to change the bed linens. Have you looked recently?

Yikes! The pristine white pillows have turned blotchy with disgusting yellowish-to-brownish stains. What on Earth? The most common response is ...Read more

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

SEC chief Atkins pumps the brakes on prediction-market funds

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The top U.S. securities regulator is delaying the launch of a wave of novel exchange-traded funds that would let investors wager on events such as elections and economic data as the agency weighs how far the $15 trillion ETF wrapper can stretch.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said Wednesday that he has instructed staff ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: A Stain Treatment Worth Its Salt and More Great Reader Tips

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

It was a lovely meal. The conversation was engaging, the entree delightful. A good time was had by all. The guests are long gone, and now you are stuck with an ugly red wine stain on your prized tablecloth. Is this linen destined for the ragbag? Not if you know this super simple solution.

RED WINE STAINS. If you get red wine on a washable ...Read more

Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

This law aims to prevent investors from flipping distressed homes. They're managing to anyway -- and going unpunished

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The home on Bottlebrush Court was built in the early 1980s. The Oceanside property features four bedrooms, two baths and almost 1,600 square feet of living space on a 6,100-square-foot lot just south of the San Luis Rey River.

When it was put up for public foreclosure auction under a trustee sale in late 2022, county property records show the ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: With Many Thanks to Clarence

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

I thought it would be just loads of fun to focus our attention today on frequently asked questions about frozen foods. But first, a little history.

Although the practice of preserving food by freezing can be traced back to 1626, it wasn't exactly practical. Frozen foods looked bad, tasted worse and were more apt than not to make people deathly ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

SEC to ready plan for trading crypto versions of stocks

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The Trump administration is poised to roll out a plan for trading digital versions of securities that could reshape the landscape of the American stock market as it continues to loosen the rules for free-wheeling crypto markets.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to release its so-called innovation exemption for tokenized ...Read more

Tom Gralish/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

With gold near $5,000 an ounce, Americans empty their attics, and buyers hire to keep up

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Gold doubled in price over the past two years, briefly topping $5,000 a troy ounce on Jan. 28. Since then, it’s stayed close to that price, a record high even after discounting inflation.

Around the same time, silver topped $100 an ounce for the first time, and the price has been bouncing since, from $70 to $90.

Precious metals buyers say ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: Simple Home Fixes That Prevent Big Expenses

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Summer has a way of exposing everything you meant to get to earlier. The first hot stretch arrives, and suddenly the house starts telling the truth. The air conditioner runs longer than it should. One room feels warmer than the others. The energy bill climbs. A small issue you barely noticed in spring becomes something you can't ignore. That's ...Read more

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Ford City Mall to shut down over safety concerns, ending 60-year run on Chicago's Southwest Side

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The main building at Chicago’s Ford City Mall will shut down permanently in about five weeks due to what city attorneys have described as unsafe conditions, ending its more than 60-year run as a top retail destination for the Southwest Side.

“The main mall will be shuttered June 22 at noon,” Assistant Corporation Counsel Greg Janes said ...Read more

Todd McInturf/The Detroit News/TNS

Rocket Mortgage sues rival UWM for $100M

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Detroit-based home lender Rocket Mortgage filed a lawsuit Thursday against local archrival United Wholesale Mortgage for alleged breach of contract.

The suit marks the latest escalation in a bitter personal and business feud between Rocket Companies Chairman Dan Gilbert and UWM CEO Mat Ishbia.

The filing from Rocket to the New York state ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Am I responsible for mortgage after signing quit-claim deed?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: My ex and I divorced last year, and she kept the house. I signed a quit-claim deed transferring my interest in the property to her. I thought I was done with it. Now I am trying to buy a small place of my own, and my lender says I still appear to be responsible for the mortgage on the old house. How can that be? I do not even own it anymore. ...Read more

DON MACKINNON/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Taylor Swift, lawsuits and quirky exemptions: How empty homes tax works in other cities

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

SAN DIEGO — If Measure A passes on June 2, San Diego would join a group of cities in the U.S., Canada and abroad that tax second homes or properties that are unoccupied for most of the year.

San Diego’s “non-primary home” tax, as it is being called, would impose an initial annual levy of $8,000 on more than 5,000 homes that are vacant ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Los Angeles' surging real estate prices have cooled, so why is nobody buying condos?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Even as the relentless rise in Los Angeles housing costs seems to have paused, condominium sales slowed to a trickle this year.

The number of condo units sold in the first two months slid to a more than 20-year low, according to figures from real estate data firm Attom. The median price of a condo fell nearly 5% in February compared with a year...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: The 80% Solution

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Provided that your basic life needs for shelter, food and clothing are being met, more money is not going to make you happier. I know, that's hard to believe, but it's a proven fact. What will make you happier is learning how to manage well the money you have already.

Today, I want to give you a simple formula you can use to manage your money. ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: The Frugal Frittata

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

It's been a hectic day. The family's hungry, the fridge offers little more than eggs and leftovers and you're fresh out of answers for the question everyone's asking: What's for dinner? The solution may be found in a single word: frittata.

A frittata is like an omelet but without the fancy pan work. It's similar to a quiche without the ...Read more

Everyday Cheapskate: A Big Belching House Guest

Consumer / Everyday Cheapskate /

Our house is not haunted, but just try to tell that to our guests. "Our water heater makes funny noises," I warn. First-timers respond with a smile and nod -- and forget.

"What was that noise?" is the predictable next-morning question. Some say it sounds like a big clumsy man on the roof. Children trend more toward a "monster in the wall" ...Read more

 

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