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'A Real Pain' review: Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg are cousins in a disarming 2024 film highlight

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Everyone’s entitled to their opinions unless of course they’re dumb ones. Speaking of which, I never understood the dismissiveness when it came to Jesse Eisenberg.

The actor he grew into, with his Oscar-nominated turn in “The Social Network,” has so little regard for artifice that it’s an affront to many viewers’ needs in the ...Read more

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'A Real Pain' review: Jesse Eisenberg's gently beautiful odd-couple comedy

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

David and Benji Kaplan, the 40-ish cousins who make up the central duo of “A Real Pain,” are the sort of odd-couple opposites in which movies specialize. David (Jesse Eisenberg), tense and fast-talking, is the settled one; he has a wife, a toddler, a nice Brooklyn apartment and a steady tech job, yet he struggles with anxiety. Benji (a ...Read more

Karen Ducey/The Seattle Times/TNS

Seattle-area homebuyers, trying to go agent-free, face hurdles

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Ballard, Washington, renters Anurag Kamasamudram and Mayuri Gupta started their home search casually this fall. They hoped to get a feel for the market, “window shopping” before they hired an agent and started searching more seriously in the spring.

But the couple quickly ran into problems. Agents representing home sellers seemed hesitant ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

'It's a tremendous opportunity.' Closure of Phillips 66 refinery in LA County has developers salivating

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The South Bay region of Los Angeles County is in for a large-scale transformation near the Port of Los Angeles as Phillips 66 shuts down its sprawling refineries and makes way for developers to reimagine the prime real estate.

Potential replacements for the century-old refinery complex covering 650 acres include housing and last-mile ...Read more

TOM GRALISH/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

One-third of Philadelphia-area rentals offered free rent or other perks in October

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Folks who are looking to rent a home now have more negotiating power, especially heading into the end of the year.

The rental market is typically slower in the fall, but it has slowed beyond what’s expected. An influx of new apartments in Philadelphia and across the country has controlled rent increases and forced landlords to work harder to ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Do I need my ex's signature to sell house I kept in divorce?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: When I divorced my first husband more than a decade ago, we agreed that I would keep the house. Now, I want to sell it, and I am being told that he must also sign the deed. The problem is that I have not spoken with him in years and have no idea how to get in touch. What can I do? — Janet

A: There is a distinction between agreeing to do ...Read more

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More people embracing leaves: 'What falls in my yard stays in my yard'

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

CHICAGO -- Fall leaves get a warm welcome from Christie Hunt.

The River Forest, Illinois, resident rakes them into her flower beds, where they decay, providing fertilizer and valuable winter habitat for bees, moths, butterflies and fireflies.

She also piles leaves around her fig tree, where they provide protection against the cold.

And when ...Read more

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Bitcoin nears $90,000 as crypto market exceeds pandemic-era peak

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Bitcoin’s record-breaking rally took the digital asset close to $90,000 for the first time and lifted the overall value of the crypto market above its pandemic-era peak as traders bet on a boom under President-elect Donald Trump.

The largest token has jumped about 32% since the U.S. election on Nov. 5, hitting an all-time high of $89,599 on ...Read more

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'A Real Pain' review: Eisenberg delivers thoughtful study of 2 hurting men

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Hearing the title “A Real Pain,” you can’t help but imagine a multi-camera sitcom or, perhaps, a disposable laugher starring Adam Sandler.

In reality, this second directorial feature from Jesse Eisenberg — who also wrote and co-stars in the film — is a thoughtful study of two characters dealing with sadness and depression in their own...Read more

Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/TNS

Lower taxes, higher tariffs: What Trump's tax plans mean for you

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Taxes may not be the first thing on your mind following the presidential election, but there’s no doubt that tax policy will play a key role in the year ahead, given that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is set to expire at the end of 2025.

The TCJA was the largest overhaul of the tax code in three decades, with massive changes for both ...Read more

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Bitcoin hits another record high in 'undeniable bull market'

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Bitcoin continued its relentless surge higher, climbing above $88,000 for the first time, boosted by President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of digital assets and the prospect of a Congress featuring pro-crypto lawmakers.

Trump’s decisive victory in the presidential election has prompted celebratory chest-thumping from the digital-asset ...Read more

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Tesla fans go all in driving $300 billion rally on Trump win

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Tesla Inc. fans have been reinvigorated by Donald Trump’s presidential triumph. The stock’s climb has been seemingly unstoppable as investors pile into the shares, confident that a second Trump term will bring windfalls to the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker.

All together, the stock has advanced over 39%, adding more than $300 billion ...Read more

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Inherited IRA rules: 7 things all beneficiaries must know

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

An inherited IRA may be the most complex issue to handle well when wrapping up an estate. If you’ve recently inherited an individual retirement account, you can find yourself at the tricky three-way intersection of estate planning, financial planning and tax planning. One wrong decision can lead to expensive consequences, and good luck trying ...Read more

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Trillion-dollar companies: 9 most valuable mega-cap stocks

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

The most valuable companies in the world have grown to impressive heights in recent years, with nine publicly traded companies reaching market capitalizations of roughly $1 trillion or more. All but one of the companies come from the tech sector, with many offering products and services that consumers use every day. Several of them also made it ...Read more

Real estate Q&A: Who's responsible for hedge damaged by landscaper?

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Q: The landscaper hired by our HOA for the community damaged a large hedge in our yard that now must be replaced. My HOA says the damage is not their responsibility and that I must resolve the problem myself. Do I have to deal directly with the landscape company? —Jo Ann

A: No, your community association will need to deal with this problem. ...Read more

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Las Vegas real estate market on 'wild ride' for past 5 years: Zillow

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Las Vegas’ residential real estate market has been on a “wild ride” for the past five years but could finally be getting off the roller coaster ride that started during the pandemic, according to new statistical analysis from Zillow.

The Las Vegas market recently entered more “balanced territory,” said Kara Ng, a senior economist with...Read more

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Other cities want less self-storage. Philadelphia can't get enough of it

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

PHILADELPHIA — On a windblown stretch of the Delaware riverfront in late September, an array of local leaders lined up to praise a new use for Pier 40.

After sitting derelict for years, the monumental Beaux-Arts remnant of Philadelphia’s industrial history was sold to PrimeSpace Capital, and the New York-based developer refurbished its ...Read more

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After a century, concrete plant that helped build LA makes way for a deluxe tower

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

If the new apartment tower had been planned for another plot of land, chances are good the concrete plant in the middle of the city would have helped build it.

But, as it happens, the century-old facility on La Brea Avenue that has provided concrete for buildings and roads across the Los Angeles region sat where the tower is to go up.

Now, the...Read more

Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Older home buyers, more cash, and (relatively) fewer first-timers: A national survey sheds light on the state of the housing market

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

Rising home prices are continuing both to benefit established homeowners and to challenge buyers trying to purchase their first home, according to the National Association of Realtors’ annual report surveying buyers and sellers.

“The U.S. housing market is split into two groups: first-time buyers struggling to enter the market and current ...Read more

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Economic opportunity or environmental burden? Massive proposed real estate project ignites debate in Chicago

Consumer / Home and Consumer News /

A massive commercial real estate project proposed for Chicago’s Southeast Side remains in limbo as its planners battle environmental activists over how best to rebuild the area’s economy.

A group backed by the Ozinga family wants to burrow several hundred feet beneath a contaminated former steel mill site and create a 6 million-square-foot ...Read more