Sell an asset to pay off student loan debt?

[Bruce Clark]

I currently have about $40,000 of student loan debt with interest at 8.5%. This interest rate kills me every time i see a statement. I have a SFH in which I have invested about $10,000 into. The house also has a mortgage of about $19,000. At this point I have just over $40,000 in equity in the house. The house cash flows about $400 per month. I am trying to decide whether to sell the SFH and pay off the student loan, or to keep the house and continue to make student loan payments.

Thoughts, ideas, or suggestions?

[Marcus Auerbach]

@Bruce Clark when you make those kind of decisions just compare interest rates with ROI. If your ROI on 40k is greater 8.5% then keep it and have your investment pay for the debt. If your ROI is lower than 8.5% then you are better off to elminate the debt. Third option: refi the 40k into a lower interest rate and/or pull equity out of the property with a HELOC (yes, select lenders will do that on an investemnt property) and pay the 8.5% debt off with money you borrow for 5%. Selling a csahflowing and appreciating asset should alwys be the very last resort.