Hey, remember way, way back - when you could fund your daughters college education, remodel your kitchen and buy an RV just by picking up the phone and calling your mortgage broker? Maybe there was a little more to it than that, but at the acme of the real estate boom in the early to mid 2000's home equity was treated like an ATM machine - after all, prices had nowhere to go but up... right?

Of course we know how that story ends. It seems though now, as real estate values rebound and folks are ogling their equity just like in the good ol' days - cash out refinancing is doing the two-step back onto the scene. According to an article by the LA times, 25% of refinancings so far this year have resulted in cash being extruded from the home's equity and piled back on top of the principle - leaving owners with copious quantities of coin in their pockets.

But what are borrowers doing with all that extra moola? In contrast to the pre-recession years, it seems people are getting a little smarter with their money. Instead of buying boats, many people are paying off high interest credit cards; instead of jaunting off to Italy or Paris to sip wine and act fancy, people are shuffling the funds into other investments. Maybe cash-out refinancing doesn't deserve to be vilified, but it would pay to be careful and think through your options before emptying your rich uncle "2-story's" wallet - should history decide to repeat itself.