Does it make sense to sell our house to get out of debt?

Would selling the house really solve the problem?  I know my problem was that I couldn't quit spending!  Regardless of which path you take you need to fix the cause before you can deal with the effect.

Now, on to my advice...  Sell the car (or two if you can manage with just one) that you owe the most on.  Stop all 529 contributions (be sure to let your kids know what is going on though.  Your situation right now will be more valuable of an experience than a year of college anyway.  Stay out of debt!!!).  Put your house on the market.  If you get an offer before you are feeling comfortable with your debt load, use your get out of debt card (know as your house deed).   Hopefully, you live where the house market hasn't been at twenty year lows. 

You seem to be well motivated and well blessed in the paycheck department.  Good luck! 

Let us know how it all works out!

I just don't get it. I read so many posts at several financial forums like this one. How do people get themselves into these cricumstances in the first place? What do people think is going to happen when you live WAY beyond your means?!?

What do you spend your money on? $20,000 of MC CC debt?!? If you only have two eligible drivers in your house, why in the heck do you have three cars?!?

I agree w/most of the responses here; don't sell the house!

You need to take a close, hard look at your finances and where you are hemorraging  money. Sell at least two of your cars, eat a lot of rice & beans, put your 15 yr. old kid to work as soon as he turns 16, etc. You need to phase out all the unnecessary expenses like cars, toys, cell phones, cable, vacations, etc. You or your spouse should find a second part time job.

You need to change your lifestyle(s) drastically or you will be in debt forever, your kids will not go to college and you will retire in a big house w/no money.  

Sorry to be kind of harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts.

 

I hope the OP can digest all of this information and sort it out as it pertains to his/her/their situation. Sometimes it is best to walk away and start again. But, this may not be best for this poster.

At least you have some good options to consider. Keep asking questions and I bet your solution will become clear.

Unfortunately, so many people want to hear the easy, less-hurtful answers to big questions like this. They don't want to be told to curb their spending habits. They don't want to be told to take responsibility for providing your family with a secure, stable home.

They want to sell up and blame the economy or the government or the recession - anything and everything except take a close look at their own bad spending habits.

Sad but true

:(

Raven I would definately not sell your house right now. Here's why. 

 1. you will probably be waiting for a very long time for a sale of the home

2. The value is sinking on a daily basis right now. But it can't last like that forever.

3. if your making 140k a year your mortgage and equity line accounts for about 20% of your income. So there are many other ways to work your debt to income ratio.

 

Sell the house...pay off your debts.  Go with your intuition.

Normal 0 If your debt is really too huge, you might consider selling or mortage your house to clear your debt. You could moved to your parents place or friends house for the time being.

Most importantly, get yourself a stable job and save as much as possible during this time.