There's No Place Like Home

Well, we finally made the move and survived the whole experience, despite the fact that we're still sitting on two houses now ... one we're living in and one that we will shortly be listing, hopefully in order to sell it before the first mortgage payment kicks in on the new one. I hate the idea of juggling all this financially, but the idea of missing out on the house of our dreams (at an interest rate that was pretty darn good) and timing things with the start of school (making it easier on the kids) ... well, it kind of forced my hand.

What's really amazing is how much different I feel when I come home now ... despite the boxes and laundry pile and mess in the living room. Our new home is so much lighter, more open, yet more cozy and comfortable ... and I didn't have to lift a hammer even once to do a home improvement project. This is our third house, and the past two have both been "fixer-uppers" ... fine when you have no children or just one or two, but when you have a family like ours (6 kids, 2 dogs), the idea of yet more home improvement projects becomes incredibly daunting. The relief of that pressure alone is worth the trouble of the move. :-)

So, here's the question to the masses: How many of you have juggled a house purchase like this, buying one before selling the other? (And I'm not talking on a contingency...) What kind of problems did you run into? Regrets? Advice?

I'm banking on the strong sales market in my area right now and the good interest rates to make this whole thing happen smoothly ... on top of the fact that the home we're selling is something of a rarity in the area it's in (large square footage, recently updated, larger yard, yet under a critical dollar ceiling for the new construction just up the hill).

With the move now over, I'll try to post more often in between unboxing the things of daily living ... and post on our Vonage phone service and Verizon FIOS high speed fiber internet service, both of which have proven to be quite amazing.