Consolidating

Well, I came back...

I visited this site a few months ago and posted a few questions about consolidating my debt, then I had a financial gain for a short period of time in which I was able to eliminate some of the debt, but also gained other debt as well.

Here is my situation:
I am 34, married to a beautiful woman and we have 3 children - so we are a family of 5. I work a full time salaried position in a professional field and I have my own business where I design homes at night.

I am literally working myself to death and not seeing any capital gain out of the situation. I work 40 - 45 hours a week at my day job and then I come home, spend some time with the wife and family and at bed time, I go to my office and work until around 2:00 - 2:30 every night/morning. My day begins at 6:00am by the way. As you can expect, it has taken a toll on me mentally, physically and emotionally.

Why do I work like this? Because if I did not have the extra money coming from the house plans, we would not be able to make it. I still stress and struggle every month at bill time. I want a resolution and I want it now!!!

Our current debt looks like this:
House payment - $1800.00 (+/- a little)
2nd Mortgage payment - $168.92
Truck Payment - $565.72
Van Payment - $647.XX
Private Lender - $267.00/month
Too many store/credit cards to mention - $bookoos

The equity in our home is maxed out (more on this in a minute)and we could not trade out of our vehicles to a point of seeing any relief.

2 years ago, we were looking retty good. We had reduced a major portion of our debt by building our house and paying off bills with the extra money allocated for construction. I did most of the work myself, which saved us a ton of money and allowed the "extra" funding to pay off a major portion of the debt we owed. I was sitting pretty with a 700+ beacon score. The big mistake I made was that as opposed to paying off all the credit cards, I elected to roll the remainder of my, then, truck balance.

Due to problems with the truck 6 months later, I was faced with a new truck payment. A financial set back occured and I was left buying groceries and necessities on credit again. As I mentioned, we are a family of 5 - groceries add up quickly.

Now we scrape and scrounge and worry over Christmas presents for the kids. I could care less about receiving anything, but i want to make sure that my family has a good Christmas - as any father should.

Right before the financial setback occured, we bought into a timeshare opportunity at a location we frequent quote a bit. We decided that as opposed to making the payment every month, we would allow the payments to go against one of the credit cards - not use that card for anything else - and pay the card off every year with our tax return. We saw it as a win-win at the time.

Here is my plan, and would like suggestions:
My house will be placed on the market after the first of the year. When it sells, I will break even on what I owe and be free from debt on it.
I will then build again and roll all the credit cards and unsecured debt into the house as I build - and possibly a 2nd mortgage at the end - if the constrcution method doesn't allow enough funding. A risky move I know - but a desperate one as well.
When the new home is finished, I should still have sifficient equity in the home for any emergencies that may come along.
I will not roll any of the vehicle payments into the house this time. I will handle all unsecured first.

The timeshare will be placed on the market very soon. I have contacted a company that specializes in timeshare sales and will carry the property until it sells. I don't want to make a dime off of it - I just want out of it for what I have left to owe - if I get more, then I will pay off other things as well.

The truck and van will stay as they are. Once everything else is satisfied, I may look at refinancing for a shorter period of time so that I can pay them off quicker.

Everything else - consolidate.

I do not want a settlement. I "borrowed" the money, so I should have to pay the money back. I just don't want to be black-balled by the system - if you know what I mean.

I do not have any pay-day-loans. I don't even know what those are.

I am current with all my bills (at the moment) and have never reached a 30 day late period on any of my debts.

I am seeking a company to consolidate with. I want a reputable company that delivers results.

I consolidated once before with an internet company (Harbour Financial), but I was not completely satisfied that they were doing everything in my interest. They did lower some of the interest rates, but it still seemed as if the end was too far away to see any benefits from the consolidation. They were one of those "not for profit" companies that accepted monthly donations...and I donated.

I just think that by consolidating, I will stand a better chance of getting my financial life back on track.

The main thing that bothers me is that I will be looking to build another house after mine sells. I do not want anything to hurt my chances of obtaining a construction loan at that time. I was involved with Harbour Financial (as previously mentioned)when I started my last home. There was never any indication on my credit report about the consolidation - so I was good to go.

I had to reregister my account yesterday and was contacted by someone from the site. I explained that I did not have the necessary information in front of me and I would have to contact them later this week. What does this person that contacted me do? Who are they with? Are they just a counselor or are they the actual consolidation company?

I also looked through the ranking chart offered through www.debtconsolidationcare.com and came upon Atlantic Investigation Incorporated (Atlanta - where I am located) with a 2 star rating. There were 2 positive comments about this company from, what i would assume, members of this forum.

Does any one have any information about this company fom Atlanta?

I guess the real question I need to be asking is:
Where do I go from here? What do I do first? Do I call the gentleman that contacted me yesterday first and then go from there? Or do I go ahead and contact this place in Atlanta and take it up with them?

Sorry if I have rambled on for too long and caused any readers to loose interest in my dilemma...but i wanted to lay it all out and see what kind of help I can get.

Thanks for reading and replying.