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By Tribune Media Services - Ilyce Glink

Q: We have lived in our house for the past 48 years. Last year we prepaid our oil bill up to $4,300 on a Bank of America credit card, which now has a balance of $8,000.

We pay $300 per month on our credit card debt. Our mortgage payment is $647 per month. We also have a car payment of $269 per month, which will be paid off by May 2009. Our income is around $38,000 a year. My husband does not have a very good credit rating, but mine is excellent.

We are both worried about how to keep our home and continue to pay these heating costs. I hope we do not have to move out, as we have an older son living with us. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A: I'm afraid there are no easy answers for you. You already know you're living beyond your means. The fact that you have lived in your house for 48 years does not mean that you'll be able to stay there now, whether your older son is living with you or not.

These major expenses are running about $1,200 per month (car, mortgage and credit card debt). Another $500 per month for heating oil comes to $1,700, or more than half of your gross income. I can tell that times are tight.

Your choice is to either bring in more income or sell the house and move. Heating oil isn't going to be much, if any, less expensive next year. You can't keep putting $4,300 per year on a credit card - you can't afford the minimum payments.

It's time to look at your longer-term options. I don't know how much of a balance you have left on your mortgage, or what it is worth (hopefully it has appreciated substantially in 48 years), but you have a couple of choices.

First, if you have enough equity in your home, you can think about getting a reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage taps your equity and will use that to both pay off your loan and perhaps give you an additional stream of income. It is available to people who are 62 and older and on the house that is their primary residence.

The downside to a reverse mortgage is that it's expensive and it uses up your equity. If you're married to the idea that you want to leave your children an inheritance, you have to know that a reverse mortgage is going to eat up a lot of your equity. But it allows you to stay in your home.

Your other option is to sell your home (hopefully you're in a neighborhood that has retained its value) and move to a rental apartment. Of course, if you're living in an area where a 2-bedroom, 2-bath rental unit would cost more than the $650 per month you're paying for your mortgage, taxes and insurance, this wouldn't be a great idea unless the extra equity you're unlocking allows you to get rid of your debts and frees up your cash flow.

I suppose you could also rent out a room in your house, get another job, or have your son contribute to your income (unless he is disabled or perhaps is already contributing). But, really, I think it will come down to selling and renting, or getting a reverse mortgage.

Q: We have five acres of bare land in North Georgia. It is paid for and we would like to sell it and pay off our mortgage on our house. With the economy such as it is, would you recommending waiting to try to sell it? If so, what should we look for as an indicator that it would be the right time to put it on the market?

A: Even in bad markets, there are properties that sell. The right time to sell is when there is sufficient activity in the area, or if you're willing to meet the price of the few buyers who are out there.

Start by talking to a local real estate agent about what is selling and at what price. Then, you can make a decision to either move forward, or wait until local market conditions improve.

Don't get scammed by crooked moving company

If you had to list your biggest fears when moving to a new home, what would they be?

You might be worried about something valuable or sentimental breaking. Or you might worry that a box would get lost along the way. Or that the movers won't show up on time - or perhaps at all.

But the one thing you probably aren't worrying about may be the biggest concern of all: that the moving company you hired is a scam company, and they're holding your stuff hostage until you fork over a wad of cash.

"There are bad guys out there for a number of reasons, just like in any other industry," admits Linda Bauer Darr, president and CEO of the American Moving and Storage Association.

Bauer Darr says there are two primary scams consumers should watch out for when hiring movers: the hostage goods scam and the advance deposit scheme.

"In a hostage goods situation, somebody has already moved your stuff and quoted you one price. But by the time you get to the destination, they're holding onto the goods and they ask you to pay an inflated price," she explains, adding "We all know that when someone's charging twice the amount they originally quoted, something's gone afoul."

In a deposit scam, movers ask for a lot of money upfront, and then they never show.

Bill Borgman, senior vice president of Graebel Relocation, describes a common hostage goods situation: "Most of the scam artists have a few tractor trailers and some warehouses, but relatively few. They will give a low-ball estimate over the phone. The price will be too good to be true. They'll want the consumer to give a deposit upfront of 25 percent of the total. They'll make the arrangements, pick up your boxes and leave. Once they knock on your new front door, they'll ask for a credit card or certified check for twice the amount. When the consumer doesn't have it, they'll drive away with all the goods. The consumer then gets an invoice for a grossly inflated amount, a bill for four or five times what they were originally going to pay."

How can you protect yourself from a moving scam? According to Steve Bernas, president and CEO of the Chicago region of the Better Business Bureau (www.bbbonline.org), there are a few big red flags you should watch out for, including:

-The moving company has no interest in an on-site inspection of your goods, which is key to giving you an accurate estimate of your total moving cost.

-The movers will only accept cash or a large deposit before they move.

-The company's Web site has no local address or information about licensing.

-The estimate is much lower than any other estimate you receive (which is why it's always good to get three separate moving estimates).

-They refuse to put everything, or anything, in writing.

Doing your research before you commit to a mover will help you avoid getting scammed, Bernas says.

"Check with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbbonline.org) to see whether the company is a BBB accredited business and if there has been governmental action against them. We let consumers know the number of complaints, the types of complaints, and the patterns of complaints against a company. We'll tell you whether or not the company resolved the complaints," Bernas explained.

When a company applies for BBB accreditation, Bernas said the non-profit does a background check and research the complaints against the company.

Another good resource is the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration, where you can check out your mover online at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.

"The FMCSA has a world of information on their Web site to help consumers," Borgman says, adding that consumers who suspect they have a problem, or who have had their belongings hijacked should call the FMCSA's toll-free hotline (888-368-7238) to file a complaint. The hotline is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Other helpful Web sites include www.protectyourmove.gov; the American Moving and Storage Association's Web site, www.moving.org; and www.movingscam.com, a user-generated site that maintains a "blacklist" of scam moving companies.

As the cliche goes, the best defense is a good offense. If you thoroughly check out your mover before you hire him, you're much less likely to be scammed.