I'd question the rationale of purchasing the 1.7 million dollar mcmansion in the suburbs.  Their housing costs run about $5k/month while they are out working their multiple jobs to keep the lights on.  Also unexplained is how they have almost a million dollars of home equity while having very little in the way of liquid investments.  I imagine that one or both sets of inlaws did them a "favor" by providing the down payment on the money pit of a house.