I think you might be suprised in what you find in rentals. Go check them out first...and then use what you find to help you make the decision. How are houses selling in your area? You aren't considering taking a loss on the house, since you have a second mortgage, are you? DON'T do that. I know that renting doesn't give you anything as far as equity, but if your dh works himself to death or is missing important parts of your family life, I would think that is also "equity" of a much more important part of life!! There is nothing wrong with "just renting"...and who knows..you may find yourself in something you like just as well or could be happy with..and eventually could buy THAT at a cheaper rate.

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Hmmmm, I honestly don't know. My first instinct is to tell you to sell, BUT with the housing market cooling down (not sure how it is in Utah) you may not be able to sell right away and you may get less for it than what you want/planned on/need. My parents live in Oregon and they keep telling me about the many, many houses that are sitting there for sale, when a year ago they would have been snapped up in a matter of weeks. Here in GA it's the same thing. I wouldn't make a snap decision right now, maybe meet with a realtor and get the big picture of what's going on in your area.

I'm also not sure how I would feel about an interest only loan. I guess if you are disciplined enough it can work, however I've had 2 friends get in way over their head by buying a house they can't afford and are looking at almost triple the house payment when the principle payments start (theirs starts in 6 years).

Wish I could be more help. Good luck, I hope you find a solution that works for you.

everyone has stated good point but I just want to stress that you don't take a loss on your house and also if you are looking into getting into a cheaper house. Remember that intrest rates have gone up since 4 years ago. You may end up paying the same amout if moving into a cheaper older house with the way rates are. I know this is a stessful time of year.

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No we wouldn't do it if we were taking a loss. Houses are selling really good right now. The interest rate is where we will loose. We are at 5.5% right now. I am not sure where they are at right now.

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Austin
Mom to 3 beautiful girls

Well if you rented you would lose the tax refund of interest. If you bought an older house you would have to deal with fees, closing, selling costs and moving costs. So really I don't think it would be much different financially. But it would depend on how much you could make off your house and how much your older house would cost you.

I also would like to say I think you should wait on the baby until you are financially on your feet again b/c it would bring even more stress!

Good Luck!

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

We wouldn't be moving far. Less then 20 miles away from where we are now.
I know we need to wait a while on the baby thing. I am just looking toward the future on that one. My little one will be 2 in March and I really want to wait until she is potty trained.

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Austin
Mom to 3 beautiful girls