Want to refinance? Make sure you understand the new tax laws.
By Kathleen Pender San Francisco Chronicle, March 7, 2020 Updated: With mortgage rates hitting record lows, some homeowners may be looking to refinance their mortgage for the first time since new federal tax rules took effect after Congress passed the Tax Cuts and...
Insurance companies and lenders are responding to climate change — by shifting risk to taxpayers.
Grist / Feverpitched / ucpage / Getty Images COVER STORY Holding the Bill Insurance companies and lenders are responding to climate change — by shifting risk to taxpayers. By Naveena Sadasivam on Mar 4, 2020 In a pair of little-noticed letters sent...
What landlords and tenants need to know about California’s new rent-control law
by Kathleen Pender , San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 4, 2020 Associations representing tenants and landlords are getting flooded with questions about the statewide rent- and eviction-control law that took effect in California Jan. 1. The most common one is: “Does this...
Californians’ home mortgage deduction would be capped under new bill
By Alexei Koseff Jan. 9, 2020 SACRAMENTO — California homeowners with big home loans and vacation properties would owe higher taxes under new legislation to raise money for programs to get the state’s homelessness crisis under control. The bill by Assemblyman David...
Bay Area home to 55 of the nation’s 125 most expensive ZIP codes
by Kathleen Pender San Francisco Chronicle . . Of the nation’s 125 most expensive ZIP codes for home-sale prices this year, 13 are in San Francisco (the most of any city), 55 are in the Bay Area and 91 are in California, according to a Chronicle analysis of an annual...
Why Wine Country isn’t attracting Millennials
By David Ferry Oct. 16, 2019 Updated: Oct. 16, 2019 9:32 a.m. The tasting room at Ashes & Diamonds, a 2-year-old winery just off Highway 29, does not feel very Napa. For one, there is the decor, all midcentury modern, with brightly colored womb chairs and hip wood...
Real estate is still the best investment you can make today, millionaires say—here’s why
Real estate is still the best investment you can make today, millionaires say—here’s why Published Tue, Oct 1 201910:11 AM EDTUpdated Wed, Oct 2 201912:47 PM EDT The Oracles, [email protected] Illustration: The Oracles Billionaire Andrew Carnegie famously said...
To keep insurance, some homeowners now have to do costly wildfire mitigation
Kathleen Pender Aug. 10, 2019 Updated: Aug. 10, 2019 4 a.m. In response to the rising cost and risk of California wildfires, some insurance companies are requiring property owners in high-hazard areas to perform extensive, often expensive, mitigation work to keep...
Dumping the Bay Area for Phoenix? A few things to know before you go
By PATRICK MAY | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group My colleague Louis Hansen wrote this week about efforts by some folks in Phoenix to lure, seduce and maybe even hoodwink unsuspecting and vulnerable Bay Area residents into dumping the region’s...
6 Near-Genius Ways to Fool Burglars Into Thinking You’re Home
Like telling your lights to turn on and off when you’re miles away Your home: You love it, but sometimes you have to leave it. Whether it’s the eight hours a day or eight days on a dreamy beach, allowing your biggest investment to fend for itself can be...