Americans Recover $7 Trillion In Home Wealth as Prices Firm
In March 2014, Steven and Bernadette Doherty paid $183,000 for a two-bedroom home in Charlotte, N.C., $6,000 more than its appraised value. Today, similar houses in the neighborhood are being priced at $300,000 or more. “We bought at the right time,” said Bernadette, a retired Wells Fargo & Co. information technology worker. “In retrospect, we were lucky as prices have gone up so much more.” Home-price appreciation is a welcome...
The Hot Spots for Home Improvement: Who’s Rebuilding?
After doing just enough to maintain their homes in the wake of the Great Recession, Americans are starting to ramp up spending on backyard decks, spa-like bathrooms and other vanity improvements. The amount people spend on home remodeling and repair is anticipated to hit $325 billion this year, a level that hasn’t been reached since 2007, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Hanley Wood, a marketing services...
National Solar Company Opening in Burlington
Burlington — The nation’s largest residential solar company is opening a Vermont branch. SolarCity uses a business model it hopes will attract customers who might not have considered going solar. The company will occupy a 12,000-square-foot warehouse space in South Burlington, where it was busy setting up shop last week. Regional Vice President Lee Keshishian said the move is part of the California company’s East Coast growth spurt....
Emotions and Our Money
The people who have money problems are captives of self-delusion. Let’s face it, many people have money problems, and not simply by failing to have enough greenbacks in the bank. Some are misers, some are tightwads, Some are willfully naive. Thus comes the rise of a new type of adviser, the financial therapist — a specialist who treats emotion-driven misconceptions. New York Times columnist Paul Sullivan writes about this small, yet...
