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Using Your Home Equity for Other Goals
Your home equity is the current value of your home less what you still owe on it. For example, if your home is valued at $250,000 and your outstanding mortgage is $120,000, your equity is $130,000. The equity you have built in your home can be a valuable source of financing. You can borrow against it to pay for your child’s tuition, purchase an investment portfolio, pay for large-scale home renovations, or buy an income property. In some instances, the interest may even …
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Doing Renovations the Right Way
Today’s low interest rates are a double-edged sword for homeowners who want to move up. On the one hand, mortgages are available at bargain rates. On the other hand, real estate prices have skyrocketed in key centres across the country. Many homeowners have turned to renovation as a cost-effective alternative to a new home. In addition to sprucing up your home and making it more attractive to inhabit, the right renovations can increase its resale value. According to …
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Working Safely With Lead-Based Paint
Until recently, contractors, homeowners, and the general public in the U.S. had little knowledge of the dangers around them as they worked on older buildings. Many historic restorationists who focused on buildings from the 19th and early 20th century knew that the lead commonly used as a binder and colorant in old paint could poison them. In 1971, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency (HUD) enacted laws to reduce lead in house dust in federally-assisted housing. It wasn’t until 1978 that the US outlawed the manufacture and application of lead-based paint. Most European countries had done so decades before.
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Hand-held power tools have become an indispensable part of the modern handyman’s and contractors’ toolbox. Power drills are the most commonly purchased hand-held power tool. You can spend from $30 – $400 for a tool that meets your needs. With that dollar range in mind, you may want to ask yourself a few simple questions before you go shopping. These same questions will also apply to most power tool purchases.

