If your home has several small rooms sch as bedrooms and bathrooms, it can be a challenge to create the illusion of spaciousness. Mary Carol Garrity, writing for Scripps Howard News Service, has developed this sure-fire list of tricks that you can use to help your little rooms live large: 1. Use fewer pieces of [...]

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As compared to its top-loading counterpart, a front-loader can handle larger clothing loads, is gentler on garments, and uses about 1/3 of the water. However, because its design prevents water from fully draining, a front-loading washer can be a haven for mold and bacteria if not cared for properly.

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Christmas is more than a religous holiday – its a season that reminds us of family, and childhood, and giving – and this cartoon from 1953 is a simple and pleasant childhood experience rom a quieter and simpler era. So if you’re spending some time on the computer today, take a minute to relive a [...]

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From my childhood – a Holiday message by R.O. Blechman for CBS in 1966 – at a time when we bemoaned the commercial nature of the holiday without knowing how much more commercial it was going to get – Have a wonderful Holiday – enjoy your time with your family whether you’re spending it at [...]

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Image via Wikipedia The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release, the FOMC noted that the U.S. economy “has continued to pick up”, that the jobs markets is getting better, and that housing market has shown “some signs of improvement” [...]

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Except for the first three years of my life and the time I spent in college, my life has been in Philly and I don’t understand anyone that doesn’t appreciate this city. Although my residence is in a suburb of Philly, Elkins Park, I spend a lot of time in the city and enjoying all [...]

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APR is an acronym for Annual Percentage Rate.  It’s a government-mandated calculation meant to simplify the comparison of mortgage options. A loan’s APR can always be found in the top-left corner of the Federal Truth-In-Lending Disclosure. Because APR is expressed as a percentage, many people confuse it for the loan’s interest rate.  It’s not.  APR represents the total [...]

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For today’s home buyers and homeowners that can manage the higher monthly payments, 15-year fixed rate mortgage rates look attractive as compared to comparable 30-year products. The 15-year/30-year interest rate spread is near its 5-year high. As a result, the savings afforded by the 15 year mortgage is at its 5 year high also. Despite [...]

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Image via Wikipedia It seems clear if you have never owned a house that you are eligible for the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit. But many consumers have different situations and have been asking me questions about the tax credit and if their situation  would allow them to be eligible. The new tax [...]

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Image by reeltor99 via Flickr As Congress discusses a 6 month Extension of the First Time Home buyer Tax Credit with an additional credit for repeat home buyers, the results of the initial credit seem to be obvious when we look at the Pending Sales Market statistics from September for Philadelphia and surrounding counties. Pending [...]

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