l have alot of school loan bills and credit card bills.. I am wanting to pay everthing off at once so is a home equity loan a good way to do it.l owe about 10,000 - 15,000 in combined debt,and l have owned my home for 9 years. Is this a good way to pay off my debt?

Not if the home equity interest rate is higher than the school loans' rates (which is usually is).

NO. $10,000 to $15,000 is not a lot of debt. l would start by paying as much as possible on the credit cards until they are paid and then do the same on the student loan. NEVER take out a loan on your house to pay other bills.

Look up ''Dave Ramsey''. He is pay off your debt Guru. If you follow his plan you will be debt free in no time.

Only if u r 100% sure that u will always be able to make the payments. It would really stink to lose ur home for such a small loan ( most do not realize that a large percentage of foreclosures r due to default on second/equity mortgages).

If u have good credit, a steady job & lots of equity, this may be a good idea. And if u have had ur mortgage since the 90s, u may be able to get a better rate for a complete refinance.

Go & speak to a few mortgage banks & see what ur true options are.

It depends on the interest rates & the length of the loans. It is hard to compare apples to oranges. Credit card interest would be much higher than the mortgage interest. A mortgage loan might have a much longer time to pay so it would help ur cash flow. You might get a lower rate on a home equity loan since u r giving security for the loan.
Also, u can normally pay home equity loans off early or make extra payments when it is convenient to reduce the over-all interest cost.

l am thinking of making a $30000 extra payment to reduce the principal on one of my mortgages.

NO. Never use your home to pay educational of consumer debt.

Getting a home equity loan is not paying off credit card bills. If moving who you owe sounds like it something you want go for it. BUT
KNOW THIS, moving debit around is NOT paying anything off.

Good Luck

This is a great question & the answer depends on three things:
1. the equity in ur home
2. the interest rate u get on ur loan
3. ur own financial discipline

#2 is the easiest, so let is start there. You should leave the school loans alone because they r probably a very low interest rate & to be really blunt, if u default on these loans for some reason, u wo not lose ur house.

#1 is an issue that depends on where u live & how badly the foreclosure crisis has hit ur neighborhood. You may not be able to get a home equity loan on ur home because u may not have enough equity in ur home yet. If ur mortgage company says no, try a few more banks or companies (you should do this anyway to shop the best interest rate). Speaking of interest rates, u will get a better rate on a home equity loan than a credit card that is for sure, but that brings us to #3!

#3 Frequently & banks count on this, people who bail out their credit cards with other loan products, simply run their credit cards back up again & get themselves into worse trouble. Because now, ur debt it tied into ur home.

Here r my suggestions:
1. Find out exactly how much money u have coming in & going out each month. Not many people know this.
2. Consider other loan products with lower interest to pay off ur cards that wo not put ur home at risk. Take a look at prosper.com for example.
3. Talk to a non-profit credit counseling service. They will help u with #1. l live in Las Vegas & Consumer Credit Counseling of Southern Nevada has helped many, many people.

Good luck!

NEVER NEVER NEVER use your house to absorb insignficant consumer debt. You are rolling this short term debt into a long term debt situation. $15k is not enough debt to consider putting into a HELOC.

Do not even consider this an option.