What to do with the extra $$

[TBH]

Thanks for the update! I love it when people do this. Great job putting 20% down on your new home without selling the old one. It does seem like boosting your emergency fund is the next priority, and after that hitting the student loans hard.

I'll be curious to see whether you decide to sell your rental or not. I'm a new landlord also. So far it's going well but I can see getting tired of it in the future.

[skittles]

Thanks for the update! I love it when people do this. Great job putting 20% down on your new home without selling the old one. It does seem like boosting your emergency fund is the next priority, and after that hitting the student loans hard.

I'll be curious to see whether you decide to sell your rental or not. I'm a new landlord also. So far it's going well but I can see getting tired of it in the future.

Thanks! Yes, I enjoy reading these types of updates too, so I figured I might as well. We did dip into our emergency cash for the downpayment (as well as had some help from family), so that explains the low balance there.

I would probably lean towards paying off her loans, which are around 6.8% over aggressively upping the emergency fund, as I still believe that we could, at a pinch, tap into our ROTHs, although I know many people disagree with that idea.

Honestly, the rental seems to be a tricky one. I have very good tenants but they are unlikely to stay beyond 1 yr. To my surprise, I was able to rent it within 1 week of advertising it, and got a number of solid, qualified applicants. So I'm pretty sure that I can raise the rent next year. It's a question of do we want someone paying off our mortgage and deal with the hassle of being a landlord (overall it's been pretty good so far), or sell and avoid paying capital gains (if we sell before April 2016). To rely only on the rental income paying it off, its a long way away, we could shorten that by making additional principal payments.

[skittles]

After going through your current state, it highly recommended to clear all your debt without further delay. Else the mounting interest rates can play a spoil sports in both of you career, it is better to think of clearing the liability first, rather furthering your property.

Could you elaborate? What do you mean by mounting interest rates? And how can it play a spoil sport in our careers?