GARY BRAATEN grew up in Garden City, New York (Long Island) and lived in the house that my father constructed (on weekends and at night) while working for the New York Telephone Company. Fast forward 13 years and my father enlisted my brother and I to help build our summer cabin in Woodstock, CT. Through these experiences at an early age, I came to understand the value of home ownership and the importance of building equity both by making impro...