Would that be like a cash out refinance?

In the long run though, wouldn’t that extend my credit card and car debt longer than it would be worth? For example, I figure we could pay off the credit cards and car in about 5-10 years with the payments we’re making now. But if I roll them all in with the mortgage, then that would extend the term to 30 years, right? Wouldn’t I end up paying a lot more in the long run than neccessary?

Is that still risky though? With having it tied to the house?

Just curious.. I’m definitely open to ideas.

I’m pretty confident that if I were to do the home equity loan I could get it all paid off in 5-10 years.

The bathroom is the first thing I’d want to finish down there. We actually already even have a tub. The basement was already framed when we bought the house and the owners even left paint, doors, vents, outlets, and a few other supplies. I’d imagine if we finished the whole basement, we would recover most costs. As our house is now, we have 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, a living room, den and kitchen. Finishing the basement would give us 2 more bedrooms, 1 more full bath, a family room, a rec room and a storage room. (1500 sq feet). My uncle doesn’t mind living in the basement as is, and he doesn’t pay rent at the moment. It would just be “nice”. It would be nice for us to enjoy it as well.

So what if since this is through my credit union, I have them set up an automatic payment plan and allot it for the $345? Or I believe I can allot that amount to go to the loan through my husband’s pay.

yes it would. it should reduce your payments down quite a bit, but you need to run all the figures. that might be a good idea as well.

Just some things to consider. . .

If you are not actually selling the house, it is spending money though.

Which is fine, you can’t take it with you, but obviously we all want to be careful not get ourselves into trouble (again for some of us.!) and use money the best way possible.

Are you in debt other than your house? If so, should you consider paying those off or down first, before getting into further debt?

Also keep in mind, while things like the bathroom structure itself will always be valuable, the decor may not be. Even very nice decor could go out of date, so consider that also in how you remodel if you do.

Also, don’t know what is going with the relative, but should he be paying some sort of rent? Maybe he shouldn’t but if he really should, don’t be afraid to say you need to arrange something.

Yes that is very true.

Yes, we have other debt. We have 2 car payments and 4 credit cards to pay off.

At the moment the relative is not working. He works off and on temporarily and he helps pay the bills. When he is working again full-time there will be a rent arrangement.