Thanks for your ongoing help! I did "reopen" my Amex card. Easy. No ding to my FICO score. I can only "buyout" my portion of the house I'm living in if I use the cash in the CD. I have cash because I sold a house....and I had maxed out credit (and borrowed from friends, etc.) on everything because I renovated it too beautifully....AND had to evict the last tenant (so don't worry, I KNOW how bad these things can get!!) My current tenant is a friend who is paying LESS than market rate for my house and loving every minute. He will stay forever if I let him, but I rented to him precisely because I will have no problem getting it back if I need to. Yes, if there is a problem with the house, his rent won't cover it, but the mortgage and taxes are very cheap so I'm not worried. I'm only worried it is a bad investment, or rather, bad use of equity. I don't want to rent to a stranger because I don't want any of the problems I had in my last experience. So if I understand you, you would advise using my $350K to pay off that much of the house I'm living in. My BF and I intend to write our agreement as "tenants in common" (bad for lenders, but preferable for us)and I would have a 40% ownership of the home. We just haven't done the paperwork. I don't want more and can't comfortably afford more. (and he has 2 kids so it seems "fair") I also don't think it is such a hot investment (3% MAYBE) compared to my rental (growing at 14%+ per year) We are in a very stable relationship with the intention of spending our lives together. We have both been married, and both have kids (mine is living with us) but have no plan to marry. It doesn't seem necessary. I know how he treats his ex wife and ex girlfriends, so I have no concerns about the aftermath of a breakup (and I have had plenty of relationships where I did not feel this secure, so I know the difference). At the moment, he has $600K cash in this house. I have nothing, except about 3 mortgage payments of $4000 each. He also owns another property with a $625K loan and he is upside down on his mortgage. We are trying to sell it, but the condo market stinks here and we can't rent it for enough to cover the payments.....but this is a who other conversation. I'm still trying to figure out what is best for us, and best for my/our future.
