digging out - first steps and lots of advice needed please! (sorry for long post)

[Anonymous]

If the house market is that expensive, apt rents will probably be up there too. Since you are only $400 short every month, could you rent an extra room for that amount? You could post on roommates.com that you are looking for a roommate.

[Anonymous]

Not necessarily. My apartment is $1500 a month, but it's probably on the high side. Condos start around $350K, townhomes are pushing $400K, and single family homes are over $400K.

[Tuscani]

Wow.. I thought paying $190k for my brand new townhome was a lot. LOL

[MidnightVoice]

I live in the midwest. 

[Anonymous]

One step at a time. Can you do a balance transfer onto a new (better) or old card to knock down theintrest you are paying Nordstrom?

[Anonymous]

Hi Janders,

$400/month is not that much considering how many debts you have.  The sum of all those payments is likely to be more than that.  A quick add seems like you have about $50k worth of debt, and $1million in worry...

Downsizing sucks because you'll take a bath in closing costs and realtor fees etc.  When the market does go up you'll be making a great deal of money on your property.  If it's $500k, every 5% is an increase of $25k to you.

If you do a 401K loan for $50k, will you be able to break even?  If so, then you're good to go.  If not, then biting the bullet and just paying off the debts might be advisable.

So how much is $50,000 mean to you?  Pay it, be free from the stress, and chalk it up to experience.

Hoping all good things for you...

[Anonymous]

Thank you again for all of the support!  I transferred my Nordstrom (15.15% variable) to my Citibank account (4.9 fixed - but a $75 fee) and I went ahead and transferred 7K of my Bank of America/MBNA/Working Assets (9.9 fixed) to Citibank with the same deal.  Now I will have two payments instead of three to worry about.  I am going to keep the Nordstrom card open so that I don't look maxed out.

I am still looking at condos.  I live in the suburbs of a 'hot real estate' city.  I still think that I will be better off selling here and buying something about 100K lower in the city (almost no appreciation expected in my suburb in the next 3yrs - about 8-10% in the city every year).

Today I interviewed for a new job at my current company.  I'm not expecting a raise - but if it works out it will be a very positive change.

Thank you again - I will keep plugging away!!

[Anonymous]

Can you sell the car?  What else do you have of value to sell?  Any 4 wheelers, boats, or other expensive toys to turn into cash?  

I know it might sound crazy, but any way you can boost your income waiting tables or something for a while to help clear off a couple ccredit card payments? You don't have to do it forever. 

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I thought Paying 1600.00 a month for a 3-4 br home was bad in our area and have to pay 243500.00 for a Modular on 1acre lot was bad, but man its looking even better now

[Anonymous]

You may want to double check your specific 401K plan, but ours allows for withdrawls without penalty for down payments on a home and extreme disability. YMMV