The AHF says if your mortgage is more than a few years old there's a pretty good chance you can get a lower mortgage interest rate, lower your monthly mortgage payments and, over the long haul, reduce your interest costs. Because most of your mortgage payments in the early years consist of interest, you may also end up with a larger tax deduction.

A recent Harris Poll found that the majority of home owners don't put their equity to work. An equity loan, by nature, is an equity depleting loan, but if you use the cash for necessary capital improvements or investments that provide a decent return (education, business start-up, home improvements, etc.), you can earn back the equity spent, with interest. Professional financing planning can help you visualize the possibilities.

Get a tax professional to help you set your tax withholding levels to the zero refund/taxes-due level and use your money during the year to pay off high interest rate credit cards, pay some principal on your interest-only or option-payment loan, to pull deferred maintenance on your home or otherwise invest the cash, say, in a retirement fund with employer-matched contributions.