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Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Parking minimums eliminated in much of Chicago, change aimed at adding housing density

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

In what proponents say is a pivotal change to how housing gets built in much of Chicago, developers will now have the easy option to dedicate less space to cars after the City Council eliminated parking minimums near public transit.

Builders putting residences within a half mile of a Chicago Transit Authority train or within a quarter mile of a...Read more

Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times/TNS

These retirees found ways to save money living abroad

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

When tech layoffs hit Kelly Bowen-McCombs last August, then her husband, Leith McCombs, in May, the Woodinville, Washington, couple didn’t immediately think to move abroad.

But it soon dawned on them that they were facing a bleak job market. Rather than stick it out, the pair decided to take a leap of faith and relocate to France. There, they...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Want to retire abroad? Here's what to consider first

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The draw of retiring overseas can be tempting, especially in the face of stubbornly high costs of living in the Seattle area.

But before you go, experts recommend thorough research and planning. Retiring abroad comes with complications, including lifestyle changes, immigration hurdles and disruptions to health care coverage.

Here are a few ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

What is the kiddie tax, how does it work and who has to pay it?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

If a child collects a sizable amount of money from investments or other sources of unearned income in a given year, their parent or guardian will likely need to pay taxes on it. While a portion of the child’s income isn’t taxed, after reaching a certain level of income, a specific tax rule — nicknamed the kiddie tax — applies.

Here’s ...Read more

Lionsgate/Entertainment Pictures ZUMA PRESS/TNS

'The Home' review: Pete Davidson retirement home thriller is horror-ble

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

It's a case of geriatric panic in "The Home," a hapless horror movie starring Pete Davidson as a troubled man sent to work in a retirement home to avoid jail time.

While there he uncovers a bunch of grisly secrets, none of them remotely believable, in co-writer and director James DeMonaco's dour thriller that doesn't work on any conceivable ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

This LA company builds venues for the world's biggest pop stars, sports teams and sumo wrestlers

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Sports and music fans, flocking to a once-questionable corner of downtown, were the springboard for an L.A.-born multibillion-dollar empire of venues and events for screaming enthusiasts around the globe.

AEG, the company behind Crypto.com Arena and the L.A. Live district, has turned its know-how about hosting and promoting big shows into a ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

New Illinois law aims to make it easier to evict squatters

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

A new Illinois law is intended to allow law enforcement to remove squatters from privately owned property without the necessity of a lengthy eviction process.

The measure, signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday, clarifies what has long been a point of contention over how authorities should handle squatters — people who are living in a ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: How do I convince 'unreasonable' neighbor to fix plants that are wrecking my fence?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: I have a chain-link fence separating my property from my neighbor’s. They have a bird of paradise and a coconut palm (that hatched from a coconut) that are destroying my fence. We’ve spoken to him, and he did a half-hearted job of fixing the problem. In fact, there was no real improvement at all. He refuses to discuss the issue. Very ...Read more

Kilmermedia/Dreamstime/TNS

Jonathan Lansner: 19% of California houses are owned by investors

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Relatively speaking, California is not a hot spot for housing investors.

That’s a conclusion from my trusty spreadsheet’s review of data on investor activity across the nation from BatchData, a small data tracker that digs deeper into property records than many traditional real estate analysts.

BatchData reviewed California ownership ...Read more

Carl Juste/The Miami Herald/TNS

Too many Americans live paycheck to paycheck. This researcher has some ideas to help

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

For all the change constantly happening in and around the Magic City, many Miamians feel stuck.

More than half of Miami-Dade’s population lives paycheck to paycheck. They’re spinning their wheels, moving from one day to the next, hoping they avoid the health emergency, job loss, car accident or hurricane that would push them over the ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Investors snapped up Tampa Bay homes damaged by hurricanes Helene and Milton

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Ann Haendel lived happily in her St. Pete Beach, Florida, home for more than 30 years before Helene sent 3 feet of water into the two-bedroom cottage.

When she returned after evacuating, the place looked “like a tornado had ripped through,” she said. Furniture was upturned and books lay sopping on the floor.

The city determined that the ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Should broker get part of deposit from failed sale?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: I hired a broker to sell my house in Florida. The first buyer backed out, so we agreed that I’d keep part of their deposit. I kept working with the same broker, and eventually, someone else bought the place. The broker got their full commission from that sale. Now the broker is asking for half of the deposit from the first buyer who bailed....Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Chicago 'granny flats,' coach houses one step closer to citywide legalization with vote

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

CHICAGO — Aldermen advanced a measure that could legalize “granny flats” citywide with limited restrictions, a move advocates say will create more affordable housing.

The City Council’s Zoning Committee voted 13-7 to advance the additional dwelling unit ordinance. The result tees up a Wednesday vote by the full City Council, when ...Read more

Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

US home prices are losing steam with most big markets below peak

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The U.S. housing market is close to stalling out, with prices in more than half the country’s top 100 housing markets now below their peak, according to the latest data from Intercontinental Exchange.

The annual nationwide price increase slowed to 1.3% in June, the slowest pace in two years and down from 1.6% the previous month, ICE’s ...Read more

Nikuwka/Dreamstime/TNS

How the $1,000 'Trump accounts' for American babies compare to 529s and custodial Roth IRAs

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

President Donald Trump signed his new tax law on July 4, which included a provision that creates and funds investment accounts for babies born in the next few years. The accounts will be allowed to compound and grow tax-deferred, similar to the way some retirement accounts work.

“In addition to the substantial financial benefits of investing ...Read more

Samuel Corum/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's temporary tax breaks: 5 'big beautiful bill' provisions that may not stick around for long

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Millions of Americans will see significant shifts in their tax bills under President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” The sweeping legislation delivers several key tax breaks, including no federal income tax on some tips and overtime pay, a car loan interest deduction, a higher state and local tax (SALT) deduction and a new “bonus”...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

HUD Chicago office taking on more public housing authority oversight as staff dwindles regionally, nationally

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Chicago office will now oversee 65 public housing authorities in Wisconsin because of staffing shortages in the agency’s Milwaukee office.

This represents a roughly 62% increase in the number of public housing authorities the Chicago office is responsible for holding accountable to ...Read more

Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Bay Area developer building 'micro-studios,' and yes, people are renting them

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The size of a typical studio apartment is 500 to 600 square feet. The studios that Riaz Capital is building around the Bay Area measure on average 300 square feet — which is on the small side, even for a standard hotel room.

But the Oakland-based developer sees micro-studios as a way to provide “affordability by design” in a state where ...Read more

Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Big Oakland hotel is seized by lender as Bay Area lodging market fades

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

OAKLAND, California — A lender has taken ownership of Oakland’s biggest hotel through a foreclosure that underscores the ailments and price nosedives that plague the Bay Area’s sickly lodging market.

The Oakland Marriott City Center hotel was taken back by its lender, which bought the property for just under $70.2 million through the ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Can country club board decide who is on new owner's deed?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: A lady I know recently purchased a country club property together with her stepfather. The club’s board decided they couldn’t be members because the stepfather was married to her mother, which would automatically make the mother the second member. They were told the mother had to be included, even though she wasn’t on the property deed,...Read more