Hey Fishtman,

Congradulations on your equity riche$.



They're a few things to factor in before you make any big moves.

I don't know the estimated value of your home, but if you had to sell your home (unless it's a F.S.B.O.) you can expect to pay up to 6% of it's value in Real Estate broker fees--That would be $18,000 on a typical $300,000 home (something most people don't think of until they go to sell their first home).

Whatever you buy with the money you borrow against the value of your home you'll get the added benefit of a write off of interest paid come tax time (something you wouldn't get if you took out individual consumer loans on all those toys).

If you have any consumer debt (credit cards, higher interest rate car loans etc..) I would suggest you pay that off before you buy any big ticket toys. The monies used to pay them off becomes tax deductable--and the high intertest monthly payment (CC and Car) savings can be applied back directly towards the principal of your loan balance ( which will in return will save you un-godly amounts of interest money in the future).

What's the interest rate on your first mortgage? It might make more sense to roll all debt (toys included) into one loan with the lowest interest rate available. Regardless of what you ultimately do, it's a good idea to have a Home Equity Line Of Credit open (like a checking account to use at any time with a certain dolar amount available) on your home for those emergencies (other than toys) that alway seem to pop up when it's least expected.


As for justifing whether or not you should treat yourself to a few toys --I'm with Dave on this one--your only young and unincummbered once. You seem to have all your ducks lined up--Go for it.

BTW--I do mortgage consulting in real life as well as in fishing forum chat rooms. If you have any other questions- shoot me a PM--I'm always happy to help a fellow fisherman.



Happy Toying!!