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Article: The Philadelphia Inquirer Personal Finance Column.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- September 26, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Jeff Brown, The Philadelphia Inquirer Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Sep. 26--It's awfully tempting -- all that money tied up in your house.
Why let it just sit there? Why not get it out -- spend it on a vacation or pay off your credit-card bills?
Hordes of American homeowners have pondered these questions and decided that they do indeed have better ways to use that money.
Soaring home values and low interest rates have spurred so-called cash-out refinancings, in which homeowners take out new mortgages for more than they need to pay off their old ones.
Suppose you owed $200,000 on a 30-year mortgage charging 8 ...