By Marcie Geffner
Paying off your mortgage might sound like an ambitious plan, especially if you have recently refinanced into a 30-year term. But it’s still smart for homeowners to give some serious thought as to how they’ll pay off their home loan; if not in 2012, then sometime.
An early mortgage payoff can net substantial interest savings compared to making scheduled payments for 15 or 30 years.
Paying more quickly reduces your housing cost, freeing up that money, said Ronit Rogoszinski, a wealth adviser at Arch Financial Group in Garden City, N.Y. You’ll still be responsible for property taxes, homeowners insurance, and home maintenance and repairs.
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Question: We have owned our home for about 23 years. About five years ago, with two young kids, we needed to expand our living space. We couldn’t add on to our home, so four years we decided to buy our neighbor’s home. It was a very small home on a half acre.
The new property’s larger land area provides for a playground for the children, a lawn to entertain, room for our vegetable garden and a home for our chickens and beehive. The new property’s building provides for an office room for my wife’s business, play space for the children, a kitchen for entertaining, as well as storage. While they are two separate parcels, they both make up our “primary residence.”
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If you’re mesmerized by the Denver Broncos’ playoff games, you might start believing in divine intervention. But the miracle at Mile High isn’t really in Tim Tebow’s arm; it’s at his feet, growing quietly at a time when most grass lies dormant. In NFL stadiums across the USA, turf managers are working their magic to keep the fields football-ready.
“Any northern field at this time of year is going to look beat up,” says Dr. Tony Koski, Colorado State University Extension Turf Specialist. “The problem with football season is that it’s all under short days. We have sunshine but fewer hours really slow the grass down, bringing it to a near halt.” Recovering after the big guys get done playing is challenge, especially if your team makes the playoffs in January.
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