Old way: You move to a big city where housing is expensive and in high demand. You find an apartment above your price range and then post listings to Craigslist to find roommates who can help you cover the rent. New way: You rent from a co-living startup that offers community living. You don’t have to sign a lease that’s more than you can afford or manage roommate vetting on your own. In California, startup
Home building and remodeling costs could rise this year, driven by the dual impact of tariffs and labor shortages. A report from Porch, a company that connects consumers to home improvement professionals, suggests that tariffs on Canadian lumber, Chinese goods, and internationally sourced metals could drive up the price of new construction by 3.2 percent. The median sale price of $315,000 for new houses means that a 3.2 percent increase would add about $10,000 to
The number of renters over age 60 grew by 43 percent in the last decade, according to a report from RENTCafé, a national apartment listing service. Overall, nearly 37 percent of Americans rent, a near 50-year high, according to the Pew Research Center. Housing analysts say the trend is partially a result of the Great Recession, as some people who lost their homes never bought again. Many others are baby boomers who were never homeowners
Your home may be smart, but is it secure? A variety of internet-connected devices, from doorbells to lights and thermostats, may make your life more convenient, but they also put your home at risk of being hacked. Every device that’s connected to the internet can be a doorway for bad actors. In one instance, when a family’s thermostat and camera systems were hacked, outsiders turned up the heat in a child’s bedroom and cursed at the
If you own homes in multiple states, establishing residency in the lower tax state can help your tax bill. Turning your second home into your “main home” and establishing legal residency takes more than just careful record keeping, however. Many states have been cracking down on snowbirds who want to claim residency in “no income tax” states like Florida or Texas while still maintaining their original home. But retirees aren’t the only ones under scrutiny. States
A New York landlord must pay a $15,000 settlement after refusing to let a mentally ill tenant keep her emotional support dog in her apartment, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced. This is an important issue for all landlords and homeowners across the country to keep on their radar. HUD regularly takes enforcement actions in situations involving discrimination against tenants. For example, earlier last year, the agency filed charges of housing discrimination
The most recent data on home prices in 20 U.S. cities showed the slowest rise in four years, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of property values. The data for the 20 cities covers eight months in row as of November 2018. The index increased 4.7 percent year over year. In the prior month, the rise in prices over the prior 12-month period was 5 percent. Despite the slowdown in the rise, all 20 cities
Your neighbors are using their home as a vacation rental. That means you “enjoy” a steady stream of rotating people moving in and out next door. These short-term guests like to stay up late, party in the backyard, and play loud music. What can you do? Talk it over As with any dispute, begin by having a conversation with the property owner. They may not be aware their guests are regularly being disruptive. Offer to help monitor guest
It’s no secret that the housing market is competitive, especially in big metropolitan areas. Winning a bidding war for the home you want can mean making a bid above the asking price, too. Where do young, millennial homeowners find the money for a down payment? According to a recent Bank of the West survey of more than 600 adults ages 21-34, one-third of homeowners either withdrew from or took a loan against their retirement savings. The
It would seem that online mortgage lending would reduce discrimination against minorities, but a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, found otherwise. The study showed that both in-person and online lenders charge black and Latino buyers higher interest rates. People of color and other minorities end up with up to half a billion dollars more in interest than white homebuyers, the study found.
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