Paying off credit card debate

[Arielle22]

It's hard to talk about house prices on a board like this. Where I live, you could have a mini-mansion for that price. The "everything I want" house I plan to build for my retirement won't cost that much.QUOTE]

I live about 30 miles from the Cape where the OP lives. While housing prices have come down in the past couple of years, having a 225k mortgage in MA is pretty common and on the low side. In my town that wouldn't even get you a condo.