You probably have a smoke alarm in your home. After all, new homes come with them already installed and many communities have laws that require them to be installed. What about a carbon monoxide detector? Do you have any installed in your home? Do you need one? The importance of having a carbon monoxide detector is often underestimated or simply forgotten by many parents. Unfortunately, carbon monoxide sources, such as furnaces, generators, and gas heaters, are common in homes and can put your family at risk for carbon monoxide poisoning. In fact, the CDC reports that over 15,000 people each year are treated in emergency rooms for non-fire related carbon monoxide exposures. And an average of

Apartment rentals have been luring residents away from other kinds of housing since the housing crash—and that is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. “Apartments should continue to play a role in the total housing market that goes beyond the historical norm,” says Greg Willett, chief economist for Real Page Inc., a property management software and services provider based in Richardson, Texas. In the years after the Great Recession, millions of people lost homes to foreclosure and had to move, often into apartments. The extra demand for units was not expected to last more than a few years. However, today—more than a decade after the collapse of Lehman Brothers—the percentage of Am

The transition of Elmwood Shopping Center into an development anchored with new residences, retail and dining choices took a key step forward Wednesday (Oct. 10) when the Jefferson Parish Councilapproved the creation of a special economic development district. Doing so will allow the Lauricella Land Co., which owns the sprawling property, to begin the process of seeking tax breaks for their plans. Managing member Louis Lauricella told council members the company is already seeking new commercial tenants for the re-imagined form of the 43-year-old shopping center. Its 10-year phased construction schedule calls for 500 apartment units and "upgrades" to its shopping and restaurant tenants, he s

Most homeowners whose properties were in the path of Hurricane Florence’s torrential rains would have been better off if their home had been hit by a wildfire or volcanic eruption — at least from an insurance perspective. That’s because damage caused by flooding isn’t covered by standard home insurance policies. Only homeowners who bought separate flood insurance for their homes were covered if water from Florence damaged their house. And there weren’t many people in that boat. Before Florence made landfall, property data firm CoreLogic estimated that 250,000 homes in North Carolina alone would be affected by the storm. Yet fewer than 10% of those households were likely to have flood insuran