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

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

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

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

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

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

Big Oakland hotel is seized by lender as Bay Area lodging market fades
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?
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
Seattle sued over its mandatory housing affordability program -- again
A small construction company and two homeowners in Seattle are suing the city over its mandatory affordable housing program that requires developers either build or help pay for below-market-rate homes.
The lawsuit, brought by the libertarian-minded Institute for Justice, alleges the program fails to establish a nexus between new residential ...Read more

Does it make sense to buy an annuity in your 40s?
Annuities are often associated with retirees looking for a steady income stream later in life. But does it make sense to lock in guaranteed income in your 40s, potentially decades before retirement?
On the surface, the idea of guaranteed income sounds appealing. But annuities are complicated financial products, and buying one too early can tie ...Read more
Haven't made a will yet? startup has new AI tool to help
In 2017, Cody Barbo told a room of investors that he was getting married in a month. His friend asked him this question: “Hey man, you’re getting married. Do you have a will?” Barbo froze, threw out a mild swear word and answered, “I should probably have one.”
Barbo is the CEO of Trust & Will, a San Diego company that simplifies the ...Read more

The 7 mistakes I made when refinancing my mortgage
When my husband and I refinanced our mortgage in 2009, we felt confident we were making the right move. Since both of us had exceptional credit, we knew we could reduce our mortgage rate by one percentage point or more, as is considered de rigueur when refinancing. A no-brainer, right?
In retrospect, I wonder. We should have considered other ...Read more

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

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
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
Popular Stories
- Chicago 'granny flats,' coach houses one step closer to citywide legalization with vote
- How the $1,000 'Trump accounts' for American babies compare to 529s and custodial Roth IRAs
- US home prices are losing steam with most big markets below peak
- HUD Chicago office taking on more public housing authority oversight as staff dwindles regionally, nationally
- Trump's temporary tax breaks: 5 'big beautiful bill' provisions that may not stick around for long