As soon as temperatures allow it. >I could put them outside for a couple of hours in the morning and gradually increase it to be all day, bringing them in at night until much larger. Sounds like a good plan but it is not necessary to bring them at night unless weather forces you to do so.

I'd look around and see what is happening to the neighborhood, roads and rest of the area. Are there a lot of rental houses? Has the crime increased? Are people maintaining the appearance of their homes? Are shopping areas being added which increase traffic? Is there construction? We are in a similar situation. We moved here two years ago. We've done a few things to improve the house like new paint, adding wood floors and planting some fast growing trees. We don't feel like we can make all of the modifications that we'd like simply because we know we don't want to live here that much longer. Our neighborhood is starting to see a little bit of crime. It's becoming apparent as to who can afford to maintain and repair their home and who can't. Those who can't bring the rest of the neighborhood down. We'll probably try to sell in a couple of years when the market looks a little better. Dh wants to build a house. I don't want the stress. I really don't want to move into a more expensive area either because I believe in living well below my means. For now, we're looking around to see what's out there.

I might be wrong about this, but I think the goal with overwintering potted hostas is to keep them out of the sun. So I would put the pots in a shaded location. Colder and darker is better I think. Plastic pots that won't break. I had several on the screened porch last year (NNE facing). That kept them dry, and they were shaded. And I've overwintered in the unheated garage. I'll have pots in both locations this year because I just didn't get around to planting them in the summer. C'est la vie - I'm only human. But wet newspaper and plastic bags would be great if you're indeed going to have them out of the ground short-term - like if you can dig them up, transport them to the new home, and stick 'em in the ground fairly quickly. (Or - if you want to throw them on the driveway for a while!)

It probably has a type of motor that can function as a generator. Fisher & Paykel developed it 20+ years ago for their SmartDrive toploaders. F&P washers with a locking lid, the motor functions as a generator to keep the controller board energized and lid locked until the drum coasts to a stop in a power failure during spin. Whirlpool partnered with F&P to use the design on the Kenmore Oasis, Whirlpool Cabrio, and Maytag Bravos toploaders. It was then adopted into frontloaders. Whirlpool, Samsung, LG, and probably others use it now.