Understanding cash-out refinancing - 2004-02-22
Do you recall the Mother Goose rhyme about the old woman who lived in a shoe? That is so 18th century. Today she would live in a piggy bank, and so would her neighbors.

Homeowners today treat their houses like piggy banks, readily transforming their equity into cash and credit. You have home equity loans (still sometimes called second mortgages), home equity lines of credit and reverse mortgages. Then there's cash-out refinancing.
Read the full story at Bankrate.com

On Personal Finance | Enjoy economic paradox: Recovery, low loan rates - 2004-02-22
The federal budget deficit is climbing and the economy is gaining strength - so aren't interest rates on mortgages and other loans supposed to go up?

Typically, yes. But they're not. In fact, the standard 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage last week fell to its lowest level in seven months - 5.58 percent, according to Freddie Mac.
Read the full story at Philadelphia Inquirer