"Joe Mama" <gwagnr[at]earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<RA4dc.1100$zj3.876[at]newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net> ...
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why not? if paying off credit cards is not an option, maybe financial
picture is worse than posted?

Don't let rising interest rates 2 years from now derail the problem of
the credit card debt- get the debt taken care of and you will have
more choices.

In my opinion rates will not go up during elections, so there is 6
months where rates will not change. Use the 6 months to get out of
debt and then rethink this problem.

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gwagnr[at]earthlink.net (George M. Wagner) wrote in message news:<a9cea38d.0404062233.769982d4[at]posting.google.com> ...
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Get your finances in order first. Changing houses will cost you 7% of
the value of your house.

If you have credit card debt, you need to live more frugally. Do you
have more motor vehicles than you need?

--
Ron

gwagnr[at]earthlink.net (George M. Wagner) wrote in message news:<a9cea38d.0404062233.769982d4[at]posting.google.com> ...
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how much credit card debt at what interest rate?

what is the credit score?

how bad are the schools where you live now?- what city/state etc...

I would believe the opinion would be to pay off credit cards, then
move. It will improve your credit score and help ratios- a win-win
situation.

In article <a9cea38d.0404062233.769982d4[at]posting.google.com> , George M.
Wagner <gwagnr[at]earthlink.net> wrote:

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My suggestion is to visit a home mortgage lender, and go through
the process of getting pre-qualified. This will tell you if you
currently qualify for a new home, and if not, what you have to do
to get ready for next year.

As far as taking out another home equtiy loan to pay debt, that
might be a good idea in your case, as long as you (1) have your
spending under control so you don't rack up a bunch of new
charges on the credit cards, and (2) you leave enough equity to
pay the real estate selling costs and be able to make a 20%
downpayment on your new home.

In reality, I think that you are more like 5 to 7 years away
from being ready for a new home, not 1 year. Get your current
house under control before you think about biting off a new
home. Just because a crazy lender might let you have a loan
does not mean that it is a good idea to do so.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

I am considering the purchase of a house in the next year, but the
finances may be a problem. I have a high debt/income ratio due
largely to high interest credit cards, and other than the high debt
have a recovered credit report from my youth. I am trying to decide
whether to get the finances in order now or look for a house/mortgage
first.

My current home has ~50,000 - 60,000 equity and I am just about done
an older "small" equity loan that financed my wedding. Since I am
thinking about moving, I'm afraid to take out a new equity loan, but
am getting killed in interest that cannot be written off. If I do get
the loan, I'm afraid I won't get a mortgage (though with my current
score I may not anyway).

Due to my child starting school, I am trying hard to move within one
year to a good school district. The options I see are the following:

1. Get the loan, try to get an additional $10,000 to have on hand as a
down payment (if I can stay in the 80% range to avoid MIP), look for
home immediately while rates are low...

2. Get the loan, only pay off high interest, wait 6 months - 1 yr to
look for a home, risk high prices and high rates...

3. Streamline my FHA mortgage hopefully to a fixed rate (currently
5.75% APR), refinance with additional $$ if possible, look immediately

4. Try to get a house with existing debt load, handle financing all at
once with new home.

I'm sure there are other creative ideas as well. Any input would be
greatly appreciated. Thanks!