Is it a bad idea pay off credit card debt with my 401k?

[William Mitchell]

Hello All,

This is only my second post so I hope this is the correct  forum. 

We have over $20k in high interest credit card debt and the payments are keeping us cash strapped every month. We are just starting to look at real estate investing and feel that it will critical to pay that off as soon as possible. I have $30k in my 401k and was curious if there was a way to withdraw that to pay down the debt penalty free or with as little fees as possible.  I do not plan on investing any more into the 401k as we are going to be focusing on real estate investing.

We also have $250k in equity in our home but thought we would it might be better to use that for our first investment property.

Obviously we are just starting out in this and not even sure what questions to be asking yet. I appreciate any and all feedback.