Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hiromichi]

What does "he has tapped the equity in his home through a $30,000 second mortgage" mean?


�I have come to realize that my free time is worth a lot to me,� he said. To make ends meet, he has tapped the equity in his home through a $30,000 second mortgage, and he is drawing down the family�s savings, at the rate of $7,500 a year. About $60,000 is left. His wife�s income helps them scrape by. �If things really get tight,� Mr. Beggerow said, �I might have to take a low-wage job, but I don�t want to do that.�
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Hiromichi

[manifold]

equity /'ekw{shwa}ti/ noun
1 [U] (finance) the value of a company�s shares; the value of a property after all charges and debts have been paid

tap here means:
tap in/into sth - to make use of a source of energy, knowledge, etc. that already exists

mortgage - (also informal ,home 'loan) a legal agreement by which a bank or similar organization lends you money to buy a house, etc., and you pay the money back over a particular number of years; the sum of money that you borrow

so altogether I think the sentence means:

He has made use of his property value by applying for a second mortgage with his property as security for the 30000 he has borrowed.

each time you come across such text passages consult a good monolingual or bilingual dictionary, for example:
http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/?cc=global
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If today was perfect, there would be no need for tomorrow.

[hiromichi]

manifold, Thank you very much.
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Hiromichi