I want to help my son get off to a great start but I am also concerned what cosigning will do to my debt to ratio and I have been circling real estate investing for the last few years, ready to take a shot now.

Probably needs more info - is there existing debt on the current rental property?

I think there's definitely a better return not paying mortgages off, but it's also nice to be free of debt.

I would be about 160 dollars in debt again, the old house is 38k from getting paid off.

So unless your high volume trader in real estate and real estate debt the chances of this happening to you is as I said like the same chance of getting hit by lightning or being killed in a commercial plane crash. 

Debt-  we paid down all personal debt and some REI debt.  

Maybe in the 40+ staff range Im guessing.The interest rates on the debt deals I have done have been higher than most of their peers.

 - the debt will impact any other loan.  

This but taking it a step extra: If you own a business in an S corp, having a C corp as a management company to do solo 401k and hold cash for any retained earnings needs can be a perfect addition to those who have SBA debt and want to pay it off quickly.

Pay off my debt. $173K - $147K = $26K.