The end is nigh, er, near

No, nothing to worry about. In fact, this is good news.
For the first time in this crazy roller coaster of a ride that has been house shopping, I THINK we are getting closer to the finish line in getting into our new home. We've crossed almost all of the hurdles now. Offer, negotiations, counter offier, contract, inspection, appraisal, addendums, and now we're just waiting for final insurance approval and then those three little words that we so long to hear: "Clear to Close." Oh, and we still need to write another big-@$$ check.
When I look at the calendar, I realize I only have three weekends to pack the house, because I'm occupied for one of them.
So that means that I'm gearing up for a weekend full of purging, packing and general organizing. We can't wait for our new start in our new home in a city that we have really come to love. There's so much to do and still so much we have to explore.
And now we have space for folks to come visit!

That location, location, location thing is no joke

When we moved to Central Florida, we still hadn't sold our house, and we certainly didn't have the money for a down payment on a house in addition to rent. Besides, we weren't sure if we were going to like it, and we didn't know exactly where in the area we might like to live. 

But now it's been almost two years since we made the move to Florida, and we've decided that we're probably going to stay (employers willing, that is), and we know what neighborhoods we'd like to live in. 

Unfortunately, we can't afford those neighborhoods. At least, we can't afford houses in those neighborhoods that aren't "fixer uppers" in the truest sense of the word. 

We ended up selling our house at a time when the market was really depressed, so we took a huge loss. Nothing we could do. It's just how life is. But the equity we had built up in seven years, plus our original down payment all vanished. Add in moving costs and life, and we're back to "starter house" territory in a market that's much more expensive. 

So we're re-evaluating what's really important to us as we continue our search, and just know that with patience, hard work in looking, and a little luck, we'll eventually find something that's just right. 

We'll keep you posted.