Darryl Bandoro

Many homeowners are utilizing the equity they’ve accumulated in their homes to tap into Home Equity Loans or Home Equity Lines of Credit, sometimes referred to as a HELOC. They’ve made the decision to use this equity for important expenses, like some of these scenarios below:

• With the Home Renovation Tax Credit and the Eco-Energy Rebates, now would be a good time to make those renovations you’ve been thinking about! You may even receive enough rebates and credits to pay off the LOC very quickly! You would also be adding to your homes’ value, an all around win-win situation

• If you’ve been feeling the pinch financially and are not feeling completely secure, now would be a good time to come up with a debt consolidation plan. The lower interest rates from the LOC makes so much sense!

• If you feel your business could use a little boost now that the economy is starting to recover, and you want to be ready, consider the benefits of the LOC; with it’s flexible terms, you can pay it off quickly when your business is back on sound footing.

• Perhaps you feel now is the time to start making some investments-perhaps you will need the extra cash down the road to pay for your children’s education. There are tax breaks that can be realized here too; talk to your accountant and see!

• If you’re generally good with money, a HELOC can provide a place to go for emergency funds from time to time, especially if you know you’re going to be diligent in paying it back.

Home equity is the difference between the current appraised value of your home and the amount you have paid on the first mortgage. For example, if you have already paid down $100,000 on a mortgage of $250,000, leaving you with a mortgage balance of $150,000, you can borrow another $50,000 on your HELOC. In most cases, the maximum any lender can use for a HELOC is 80% of the value of your property.

In these days of low interest rates, it doesn’t make sense to be paying credit card or unsecured line of credit charges. Speak to one of the mortgage agents at OttawaMortgageSolutions.com to see how you can start taking advantage of the equity you’ve built to save money.

Xceed Mortgage Company is looking to expand its horizons in the Mortgage and Loan Business according to MortgageBrokerNews.ca. Currently while most of their mortgages are uninsured, they are looking to change this, and focus more on conventional loans. This is a large step due to the fact that this means they will be changing their target market.

On September 10th, shareholders will vote on whether they should become a federally regulated Schedule One Bank. If the plan is approved, the focus will be on self-employed mortgage applicants with reasonably good credit. Those with poor credit will be considered, if they have a large down payment.

Becoming a Bank is a strategic business move since in doing so, Xceed will have more available sources for funding. This puts the company in a better position within the market. These additional resources can then be put toward mortgage origination activities.

Although a good decision, in these trying economic times this is tough decision to make. However, ultimately this should result in a more stable company and that is able to offer their services to a much wider market. After all, many mortgage companies are failing due to the recent mortgage crisis and the market is not expected to improve dramatically overnight.

OttawaMortgageSolutions.com was recently featured by real-estate marketing guru, Larry Easto, as an example of a content rich and visually appealing real-estate site. His article, "Content is King" is part of a series of articles he is writing on how to properly design and improve real-estate related websites.

He writes: "If you want to know how to present a huge amount of visitor-satisfying content, The Mortgage Group Ontario's website will serve as an excellent model of how to do this. This site offers six categories of information useful to anyone looking to purchase or refinance a home. One of these topics...Green Mortgages...offer eight subtopics, including Green Rebates, Green Mortgage Solutions and a list of environmental organizations. All of these topics offer clean and concise content, usually in 1 or 2 well-written paragraphs with links to other useful information."

Thanks Larry for taking the time to check out our site and for the great review!

Many of us in have heard about Habitat for Humanity, but did you know about the Habitat ReStore? In the Ottawa area, the National Capital Region Habitat for Humanity runs two nonprofit retail home renovation centres, where you can find tons of discounted 'previously owned' home hardware. The ReStore accepts donations of quality new and used building, home renovation and home decor materials and then resells them at a discount.

Types of items that can be found at the ReStores include: windows, kitchens, bathroom fixtures, lights, tiles, paint, hardware, lumber, tools and much more.

Funds generated from the sales go to support Habitat for Humanity''s operations and their Home Building Programs. It also reduces the amount of material ending up in growing landfills. Habitat for Humanity estimates they divert over 350 tonnes of reusable materials from local landfills every year.

The two Ottawa locations are: 170-2370 Walkley Rd at St. Laurent Blvd (613-744-7769) & 7 Enterprise Avenue (613-225-8400)

Call the store before bringing something to donate, or if you have a large item, the ReStore may be able to come to you and pickup your donations. The ReStore is also happy to accept corporate donations.

If you have the motivation to help out, Habitat is always looking for Volunteers - not only at the ReStore, but througout the organization. Call 613-744-7769 or visit www.habitatncr.com to find out more!

It's Environment Week again in the City of Ottawa. This year's theme is "Living Green". To encourage people to think green, the city is running a number of interesting programs:

• Plant a tree! Green your own corner of the city by registering for a free tree to plant on your property. One tree per household is available on a first-come, first-served basis, while quantities last. To register for your tree, send an e-mail to TREE@ottawa.ca or call 3-1-1.

• Household Hazardous Waste - The City of Ottawa is hosting a one-day household hazardous waste collection depot from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 7 at the Waste Services Inc. (WSI) facility, 3354 Navan Road, south of Innes Road. This depot provides a convenient way for you to help keep the environment free of hazardous household waste. Only household waste will be accepted (maximum 100 litres) at the depot. No commercial waste accepted. For a complete listing of acceptable household hazardous waste, visit ottawa.ca/hhw.

• Take it Back! - To safely dispose of products used in your home you can often Take it Back!, including non-rechargeable batteries that can now be returned at many City facilities. For product return information and a list of over 500 partner retailers visit ottawa.ca/takeitback. Did you know you could return paint products and batteries to various Ottawa hardware retailers? Visit dowhatyoucan.ca for a location near you.

• The 2009 Spring Give Away Weekend will take place at the end of Environment Week, Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7, 2009. One person's trash is another person's treasure. So don't put your unwanted items in the garbage, set them out at the curb on Give Away Weekend. Treasures could include:

• Old furniture and small appliances
• Construction materials - including drywall and hardware such as nails, bolts and screws
• Kitchen gadgets, dishes, cutlery, pots and pans
• Unwanted gifts.
• Books, CDs and DVDs

Good luck searching for those treasures! For more information visit ottawa.ca/giveawayweekend.