Change is in the air

So... the reference to having a tight budget in my last post is related to some big changes!

First, we finally decided to look into moving and getting out from under the huge debt we're in with this town house. The first step was to meet with a real estate attorney who specializes in loan modifications, short sales and foreclosures. What we discovered talking with her and crunching, re-crunching, then crunching some more numbers, was that unless we plan to stay put for the long-term (5-10 more years), we should consider a short sale. (With no back yard, a pretty bad school district, and plans to grow our family, we definitely don't want to stay here). It came as a bit of a shock, since I always thought of short-sales and foreclosures as solutions for either people in a lot of trouble financially, or the irresponsible. The reality is that with the way the market's going and the banks' unwillingness to work with the average person paying their mortgage, we don't have a whole lot of options. The even more surprising advice we were given was to plan to purchase a new home before we stop paying on this house, and before our credit takes a hit. Yikes. Sounds crazy! With the low prices and really low interest rates, it makes more sense to pay a new mortgage then to pay someone else rent when we do move. That's the long and short of it. So we are now officially house hunting! It's been an emotional roller coaster so far. The first week we looked, we found two houses we really liked, both of which sold before we could even consider making an offer. Since then, it's been kind of slim pickins' for our price range. (Oh yeah, that was yet another surprise, that we pre-qualified for a loan on a secondary residence...). As of today, the search continues. We're struggling with whether to buy an older, larger house that needs lots of work (for which we have no cash) or a newer, smaller place with less character.

Add to all of this some big changes at work. My department has been re-structured and my whole team was notified last week that our positions had been eliminated. We've known of the reorganization for months but weren't sure how it would all go down. Basically I will have to re-apply for a job on the new team (with my job share partner). It's exciting and unnerving at the same time. I think the end result will be good for our organization and I'm hopeful that it will mean a new, more interesting and challenging job for Sarah and I. So obviously we won't be signing on any dotted lines for a new house until all this work business is straightened out. Needless to say, I could use your prayers!