Payoff Debt vs. Buying a Single Family Home

[Cristian Baez]

My wife and I currently own a two family home and live in the first floor apartment. The second apartment is rented. The basement is completely renovated brand new. Our goal is to move out and buy a single family home and rent out the apartment with access to the basement. However, I feel that our DTI is too high and we need to get rid of some debt first. However, how much debt do we get rid of? My initial plan is to get rid of one car loan ($6,500)(since the other one is a lease), and get rid of two credit card balances ($20,000 total). Our two family house has quite a bit of equity. My initial goal is to pay off the debt mentioned above, refinance the house and use the cash from the refinance to put down on the single family home. Not sure if this is a good idea or not. We are currently tackling debt aggressively and not focused on saving. Looking for advice. Thank you.