Home & Property Editor
Ariana covers the house itself: security systems, solar, home warranties, pest control, movers, and the home-adjacent borrowing people do to pay for all of it.
Her reporting starts where the problem actually starts, which is usually a Tuesday and a noise in the basement. She is most interested in the service agreement you signed on a clipboard without reading, because that is where the money in this category lives.
Retail heating oil was running near $4.76 a gallon in Pennsylvania in late August, against an EIA forecast of $3.50 a gallon just last winter. Crude oil is up sharply on a Middle East conflict that has cut Strait of Hormuz tanker traffic, and the roughly 5 million households that heat with oil and the millions more on propane are the ones who feel it first.
September 8, 2026 · 10 min read
The stuff in your house that is technically switched off is quietly drawing power all night, every night. Idle electronics run close to a quarter of a typical home's electricity and cost the average household around $165 a year, most of it while you sleep.
August 26, 2026 · 8 min read
A lot of policies renewed this year with a roof settled at actual cash value instead of replacement cost. On a fifteen-year-old roof that can turn a $22,000 claim into an $8,000 check, and the change was one line on page nine of the renewal.
August 20, 2026 · 8 min read
Average cost: $600 a year. Average approved payout: $200 to $350. Denial rates on major claims run 30 to 50 percent. The math favors the house, not the homeowner. Here's when they're still worth it.
August 18, 2026 · 9 min read
The free inspection is not the product. The annual agreement is, and the clause that makes it worth paying for is not the quarterly visit everyone thinks they are buying.
August 7, 2026 · 9 min read
The federal default is 60 cents per pound. Your 45-pound TV that cost $1,500 is worth $27 to the moving company, and you agreed to that when you signed the paperwork you didn't read.
August 5, 2026 · 10 min read
American homeowners are sitting on $35 trillion in equity, and most have never tapped it. A home equity loan gives you a lump sum at a fixed rate; a HELOC works more like a credit card secured by your house. Same collateral, very different risk profiles and use cases.
August 3, 2026 · 9 min read
The research says couples who combine accounts are happier. The fine print says either of you owns all of it, your partner's creditors can reach it, and it will override your will. Both things are true.
August 1, 2026 · 9 min read
The federal tax credit is still 30 percent. Panel prices are lower than ever. But payback still depends on three variables most solar salespeople gloss over. Here is the honest math.
July 30, 2026 · 10 min read
Home security has changed dramatically. Professional monitoring, DIY sensors, smart home integration, and video surveillance all compete for your attention and your budget. Here is what matters when choosing a system.
June 23, 2026 · 8 min read
It arrives in a windowed envelope and it is not a cancellation, which sounds like good news and isn't. Non-renewal rates have tripled in Florida since 2019, and the map now includes New England, the Carolinas, and the Northern Rockies.
May 20, 2026 · 9 min read
