Creative Way to Access Home Equity ..

I'm generally opposed to people recklessly taking equity out of their home to spend on consumption, but for those who insist or have another reason to exchange equity for cash, here is another option. They basically give you cash in exchange for partial ownership of your home. It's a way to get your hands on cash but just as with a traditional home equity loan, it's not free since it will end up costing you when you sell your home.

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Update to previous posting: Glenn Beck says "don't feel too bad for Ed McMahon" ..

This is something I mentioned a few days back and apparently Glenn Beck from CNN picked up on as well. Given his general feeling that the "real problem is overspending and not taking responsibility when it happens" this is not at all surprising. He's definitely not afraid to tell it like it is and tell people they need to wake up and join the rest of us in the real world either. Even if you don't agree with Glenn's politics and views, it's worth reading for the Henry Ford quote at the end alone.

People need to learn to live within their means before it is too late.

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US homeowner equity lowest on record ..

showing that Americans have more housing related debt than wealth. I'm still stunned that I read on a Deep Creek real estate blog that if you buy a vacation home now you could use the equity to pay for your kids' college in 5 years. In my opinion that is pure speculation and should not be the reason you buy a home right now or ever for that matter. The thing about taking equity out of a home to pay for things is that you are trading wealth for debt and one way or another you still have pay that money (debt) back eventually. They call it a home equity loan for a reason. Equity is not free money!

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Another tragic example of a home equity loan contributing to someone getting in over their head ..

you can't help but feel bad for Ed McMahon given the circumstances but hopefully this can be a lesson to everyone. And even if I do have some sympathy for him I still don't believe that I, as a taxpayer, should in anyway be helping him stay in his 7,000 square foot house that it seems he can't afford in addition to whatever he spent all that equity on.

Also see my most recent posting on the subject of home equity loans.

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While some would have you believe you should be buying a vacation home now so that you can use home equity to pay for your kids' college in 5 years ..

others have a far different view of the merits of wrecklessly using home equity.

How about doing it the old-fashioned way where you save a little money every month to pay for future needs? I suppose that has become a foreign concept to everyone who wants everything right now and will worry about the consequences later. Or maybe that is just what everyone in the "industry" and media is telling them to do.

Don't forget to check back to Dan's Deep Creek Blog for future updates.