| First, build a down payment
Dear Liz: I'd like to buy my first house soon, but real estate is expensive where I live and condominiums seem more affordable. What is your take on owning a condo versus a house? Because I will have to do 100% financing, I will have to pay $250 a month in private mortgage insurance, which will result in a payment of about $2,450 a month for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, which seems like a lot. I was advised that I could decrease my tax withholding, because the mortgage interest will be deductible, and that will make the payment seem less huge.
Answer: Wait a bit and build a down payment.
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Haggerty, MacKenzie star for McGill lacrosse
Unlike high school, when they played lacrosse during the spring season, Teagan Haggerty of Salem and Whitney MacKenzie of Hamilton have gotten used to playing their college lacrosse in the fall, due to the fact that spring comes so late in Canada.
Nevertheless, Haggerty and MacKenzie are coming off of outstanding seasons for McGill University in Montreal this past season.
Haggerty, a junior captain and goaltender, was selected as a Second Team All-Star for the Ontario University Athletic League. A third-year math major, she helped the Martlets finish the year 7-6-3, qualify for the playoffs and made 19 saves in a tough 7-5 loss to Western Ontario University in the playoff quarterfinals.
MacKenzie, who transferred into McGill from William Smith College in New York, contributed to the Martlets' offense as an attack wing.
October 2006
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Buck & New Dawg: Bring on the Giants for Round 3
Vinny was a Heisman Trophy winner/No. 1 pick overall who didnt win enough ... but didnt give up trying. I think history will treat him kindly. It should. Can anyone beat the New England Patriots? NEW DAWG: Yes, the Colts can beat them. BUCK: I just have a gut feeling about Jacksonville. The Jags could get first crack at the Patriots, too. I dont see anyone else winning at New England including the Colts. And I dont see Tom Brady losing in Glendale, Ariz., if he gets there. Is the Cowboys offense headed into the playoffs in any better frame of mind than last years team? NEW DAWG: Ill say yes. The Cowboys gave a weak effort against the Redskins because they didnt have much to play for. Last years team could not say that. BUCK: Losing two of the last three in December is about all thats the same.
Police split over conviction in Colorado slaying
When Masters was convicted and sentenced in 1999 to life in prison for Hettrick's murder, prosecutors thought they'd closed Fort Collins' then-only unsolved murder. As court hearings resume Monday, a judge is re-examining decisions made years ago. Masters' new lawyers say key evidence was withheld during the original trial, and a special prosecutor is backing them in at least four instances. The defense team's claims of police and prosecutorial misconduct are supported not only by the attorneys who represented Masters in 1999, but also by former police officers, investigators and forensic experts, some of whom say police ignored other viable suspects. The case has divided a police precinct, pitted cop against cop and shattered an oft-impenetrable fraternity.
Fort Lauderdale man faces uphill battle with a mountain of debt
Big student loans and a heap of credit-card debt, but a low-paying job. It's a mismatch so many people face when they're trying to live on starting salaries. For Jamell Vanterpool, the mismatch is hurting him and limiting his future prospects.
"I can't keep up with the bills," he wrote, seeking a South Florida Sun-Sentinel Money Makeover.
There are two big questions he faces: Can he live on his salary? The answer to that one is no. And what can he do about it? That answer depends on what Vanterpool does next.
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Mich. couple killed in accident leave $1.6 million to surprised ...
And it didn't matter to them if you had one dollar or 10, they'd be your friend." Judging by the amount of money they doled out, the couple had many friends, including fellow parishioners at Alto United Methodist Church, where many of the beneficiaries are members. "We, the whole church, are obviously grateful to them, and grateful to God that he gave them to us," said the Rev. Dean Bailey. Added Bailey's wife, Jan: "They left a lot to the people they'd loved, and I think everybody was surprised." That included the Baileys, who were notified that the Hatches had left the church about $50,000 toward a fund trying to raise $800,000 for a new building. Their gift, said the pastor, represents "about a year's worth of our fundraising capability." .
Sights and sounds of a decaying Forth Road Bridge
We need to be investing in improvements to shared transportation systems - trains, buses, trams, car-pooling - rather than finding ways to accommodate more and more individual metal boxes for commuters. And we need to end the practice of building commuter belts and housing estates so far away from employment centres that commuting is necessary in the first place. .
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