President Donald Trump ran his 2016 presidential campaign on fighting for freer and fairer trade deals for workers in Ohio and across the country, and this promise helped propel him to victory. Americans from both sides of the aisle recognized the failure of outdated trade agreements like NAFTA ...

There are many advantages to owning a home rather than renting one or renting an apartment. We will discuss them here: 1. Tax breaks. The U.S. Tax Code lets you deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage, your property taxes as well as some of the costs involved in buying your home. The tax ...

There’s no question our community has taken more than its share of economic hits, most recently with the idling of the General Motors’ Lordstown Assembly Complex. You don’t need to have worked at GM-Lordstown to be reeling from its closure. Suppliers have seen orders drop, while big ...

Sellers in today’s market are looking to make their homes more appealing to buyers. Besides having your home professionally staged, having your home professionally inspected is a benefit to both you and the buyer. A homeowner who has had a pre-home inspection takes the risk out of losing a ...

There are times when we go through difficult experiences. This spring has been one of those times for us. I lost a brother and sister within three weeks of each other. As you can guess, it leaves a void in my life. While my brother lived in Arizona, I could still pick up the phone and talk to ...

As a senior citizen, I often wonder how time flies by so quickly. Sometimes, it astounds me to reflect on how many historic and society-changing trends and events I have witnessed in what seems like such a short time. I was born on Aug. 14, 1941, in a small hamlet called Bridgeburg in ...

Editor’s note: Editor Brenda J. Linert’s column will return next week. When I worked in Mahoning Valley economic development several years ago, I had a conversation with a local political leader regarding the auto industry. He wanted to propose a state bill to incentivize businesses to ...

As we discussed last week, land contracts have one huge difference from cash or bank financed sales — the seller has risk after the sale’s closing. If the buyer defaults (doesn’t pay the mortgage), the seller still has the house and is not getting money. For this risk, most sellers ...

Sometimes I have been called a saver. Other times I have been known as a pack rat. I do have a habit of saving things, of not being able to throw things away. I can’t throw that away because I might need it sometime, even if I haven’t used it for several years. Yes, I grew up in a ...

These questions will help you decide whether you’re ready for a home that’s larger or in a more desirable location. If you answer yes to most of the questions, it’s a sign you may be ready to move. 1. Have you built substantial equity in your current home? Look at your annual mortgage ...

As Community Home Week comes to a close for 2019 and we celebrate the 51st anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, it is important to recognize the value of home ownership. While a home is the place where you can do a lot of living, it also represents an investment that you can keep on ...

Joe Biden hugged my younger daughter when she was 13 years old. She won’t be having a press conference, telling the sordid details of her traumatic experience, but it’s an incident that cost me thousands of dollars. The cost wasn’t for therapy to learn to cope with the horror; it was ...

It’s a great time to buy a home, and buyers are starting their annual spring tour of homes. This weekend kicks off our Community Home Week Celebration. This weekend is a prime time for sellers to get their homes in tip-top shape. Curbside appeal is very often the determining factor that ...

Springtime is finally here, and this is the time of year homeowners begin to think about putting their house on the market to sell. Here are some helpful tips of things you can do that will help in the presentation of your home, contract negotiation and for getting the best price for your ...

Daylight saving time began at 2 a.m. today when it was once again time to “spring forward” by setting clocks ahead one hour. The time change, which costs you an hour of sleep, can impact your circadian rhythm, causing you to be sleepier on your Monday morning commute, and thus, affect road ...

What is a title search? What is title insurance? The custom in our market area, the Mahoning Valley, and the counties it encompasses, is that a seller will guarantee his/ her respective title to the real estate he / she will be conveying to a new buyer is free and clear of liens and ...

The majority of Trumbull County households are on septic systems, believe it or not. Septic systems must be kept in proper working order as they are a functioning system with components. Because they are outside and underground, the majority of the system, and as the old addage says “out of ...

Now that you have an accepted offer to purchase your dream home, what’s the next step? Ordering a general home inspection is the logical choice. A general home inspection will offer you some assurance and peace of mind that this major purchase is the one you actually “dreamed ...

I sat in Judge Andrew Logan’s courtroom as Claudia Hoerig received her sentence of 28 years to life. I was overwhelmed with emotion. That February day meant so much to us all. The outcome so many hoped for now is written in stone. Justice prevailed, but the only ‘life sentence’ I observed ...

One of the great things that Realtors assist in is advocacy. The National Association of Realtors, Ohio Realtors and our local Warren Area Board of Realtors constantly monitor matters and issues that may adversely affect homeownership and / or private property rights. It could be local ...