SAM2 wrote:OP, I agree with you that it makes sense to sell the TH in order to get a better/bigger primary home. I understand what your DH is saying about not wanting to sell the TH at the bottom of the housing market, but you're just pouring that equity back into a house at the bottom of the market, so there should be no net loss. Indeed, I'd argue that a TH likely lost less absolute value in the housing market crash because it's a more fungible property, and the house you want to buy likely has more upside when the housing market does improve, so perhaps putting your equity into the high-upside property is a better bet.

I think the HELOC suggested by some PPs is also a good idea, but it would increase your exposure because you'd effectively be carrying two housing loans.

I don't think you should be mad at your husband. He's likely just trying to be conservative about what you can afford, and perhaps holding the TH is a useful method for him to keep you both from getting overextended on a house. In this rough economy, I think it's a wise idea to buy less than your maximum.

Why don't you propose to your DH that you sell the TH, but instead of increasing your maximum house budget by $175k (the full amount of TH equity), you increase your house-buying budget by only $100k? This might give him the comfort that you're not stretched too thin on the house, but also expend your house-buying budget by a nice amount.