What happens if my neighbor's tree falls and there is damage? Who pays for the damage caused when trees or tree branches fall? With the increase of wild weather this Spring, we're getting an influx of questions from readers whose trees fall and cause damage to their own property and to their neighbors. They're also [...]
Is there a bird nest in your dryer vent? How can you prevent a bird from nesting in your dryer vent? Q: I live in an adult condominium community. There are sparrows that have built a bird nest in the dryer vents. The vents have four louvers. It is very easy for the birds to [...]
A reader asks: What is my home value? How does my home's value compare with others? How much is my home worth? Have I lost money? All homeowners ponder their home value. They wonder, "How much is my home worth?" With home values and skyrocketing over the past 5 years and mortgage interest rates climbing, [...]
Electric Car Charging Stations: an Update As we enter 2022, there has been a surge of interest in electric cars. In 2018, there were a million electric cars on the roads in the U.S. Last year, Tesla sold more than one million cars. General Motors announced a big move into the electric car space. PolicyAdvice [...]
Mom owns the house but I pay the bills. What do I do now? Welcome to the inaugural Love & Money Column. In this column, a reader says her mom owns the house, but she pays all the expenses. She's ready to put the house into her name, but is worried about causing an issue [...]
Buying a house during the COVID-19 pandemic: what you should know. Some homebuyers regret rushing the process to benefit from low mortgage rates. Mortgage rates reached another all-time low in September (9th time this year!), with Freddie Mac showing the 30-year fixed rate falling to 2.86 percent. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best [...]
What do you do if you can’t afford a new septic system? These homeowners want to know their options if the town requires a replacement they can’t afford. Sign up for Ilyce Glink's free newsletter, Love, Money + Real Estate. Q: We found out a couple of months ago that the leach field of our [...]
What does homeowners insurance cover? What typical policies cover and how to adjust premiums and deductibles to get the right coverage for you. Homeowners insurance can shield families from devastating losses if they have the right amount of coverage but it turns out many are unclear what that looks like for their home. Nearly half [...]
COVID-19 pandemic update: home improvement projects impacted by coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted home improvement projects. New insights from Houzz reveal how coronavirus is changing home renovation. The COVID-19 pandemic put much of our daily lives at a standstill. Everything from buying, selling and home improvement projects has stalled. We stopped going out for [...]
Should I buy a house now or wait until 2020? New research from JCHS shows a strong housing market, but not without its challenges for homebuyers. Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) delivered an in-depth analysis of America’s housing market in its State of the Nation’s Housing 2019 report. And for those of [...]
