My parents spent decades living in California and paying CA taxes, and when they moved to Austin and sold their old house they got twice the house for half the price. 

What I'd like to know is if it'd be prudent to take out about half of my equity to pay off my current debts because doing so would free up over $500 extra every month to save for future investments.

When the first Spanish explorers first saw San Diego after sailing many thousands of nautical miles....they said, whoa wait a second...we are setting up a mission here guys.

The top half of the lower third of a market tends to give nice cash flow returns, so C+ to B- houses. 

Few years later was the economic crash and the condo's value dropped in half.

What I'd like to know is if it'd be prudent to take out about half of my equity to pay off my current debts?

'here' which is 100 miles plus distance to compare the three. 

Question is this:Lets say that a homeowner bought his house in 1990 for $200,000 and he kept paying on it until his principal was cut in half, right at $100,000 by January 2015.

My wife and I moved to Los Angeles about a year and a half ago and we're hoping to get back into REI.

Albany Park and Lincoln Park are 7 miles apart, yet they are totally different markets.