Yahoo Finance 
Angie's List Is Now Free (Kind Of)
Good news, home improvers: Angie's List is now offering free membership. The home reviews site, which has grown to more than 10 million subscribers, announced its Green tier earlier this month, which will allow members to access reviews free-of-charge.
The company also revealed two new premium membership tiers, Silver and Gold, which offer guarantees of services beyond the reviews. Here's how each tier works, according to the announcement.
Green: Free, nationwide access to companies in more than 700 service categories, plus more than 10 million verified customer ratings and reviews
Silver: All Green-level features, plus Angie's Fair Price Guarantee and Angie's Service Quality Guarantee. Chat and email customer support are also provided, along with discounts for $24.99 a year.
Gold: All Green and Silver features, plus complaint resolution and customer support via phone for $99.99 a year.
Among the new features the company is adding each quarter are "project pricing, scheduling and financing (through partnerships), handyman chat line, a home emergency service line" and instant hiring.
Hiring a Contractor
Improving your home can add tremendous value to its resale price, which can be helpful when and if you decide to sell. However, it's important to do your research before hiring a contractor, as the last thing you want is for him to walk off your lot without finishing the job — or to damage your property.
Home improvements and/or repairs cost serious money, so you also want to be sure that you can handle the strain on your wallet. After all, you don't want to go into debt if it's possible to put the project off for a few months and save the money to pay for it. (If you're already in debt, perhaps you want to set the project aside altogether and concentrate on getting control of your finances instead.)
If you're considering taking out a personal loan to finance your home improvement or repair project, it's a good idea to make sure your credit is in tip-top shape before you apply, as this will help determine what kind of terms and conditions you may qualify for. You can view a summary of your credit report, updated monthly, for free by visiting Credit.com.
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