We sold our home in just 3 days Oct. 2011. We had an offer on a short sale we planned to gut (which was taking too long in the end, so we pulled our offer March 2012). We finally decided in May 2012 we were going to build. We signed a 6 month lease initially with an option of going month-to-month after that. It is a small house with no yard, but it is in a great neighborhood near the kids' school. It doesn't require a lot of maintenance & our monthly bills are much lower, but we still have the privacy. I did look at apartments, but I felt we would be too squished. We were very lucky to find this house on Craigslist for an excellent monthly rent amount. The homeowners live in a bigger home they built nearby, so they are flexible with our situation. We sign 3 month leases at a time since the initial lease ran out. If we want to go month-to-month (which we will do when it gets closer to our build being finished), we will pay an additional $50/month, per the terms of our lease. They allow us a 30 day notice in writing. With the number of children you have (& pets) I would definitely try to find a situation like ours. I know friends who've gotten burned on CL rentals, but ours has been ideal. The kids have made friends for life while we've lived here. The neighbors are the best, & I will cry when we move into our new house, as I will miss these neighbors so much. The people we are renting from are lovely, too. They were initially going to rent the home to another family who could sign a 12-month lease. After we saw the rental for the first time, I told the homeowners we would take care of their home like it was our own. That sealed the deal! They called us 20 minutes later & said we had the house, as they trusted us more! I think being in limbo for such a long time will be a nightmare with 4 kids. If I was in your shoes, I would go nutty. Kids thrive on routine & permanency (my social worker hat is on). It might be a fun adventure at first, but it will eventually get old. Also, building is stressful enough. I don't think it will help your marriage, either. Plus, do you really want to be out of town while your house is being built? I plan to stop by every day I can. Not being there is very risky. Good luck with your decision & I hope you sell your home as quickly as we did.

Ran across this old thread and thought perhaps it would be nice to resurrect it and see if any new folks might add to it too. And my bad, somehow I never added my own posting to it either. I've been retired since 2006 and my DH just retired Dec 30, 2009. We're in our late 50's and fortunate to be able to retire so early. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area, close to some of my family. My brother lives in LA, a niece in Boston. My mother's family lives in Seattle, while my DH's mother's family are mostly in Vancouver, and a few in Calgary. So our home is centrally located to most of them, which is great. We love where we live - vibrant (even a little crazy, LOL!), diverse, ever-changing, beautiful, with every amenity and service needed...as long as you can afford to pay for it, which we fortunately can. The San Francisco Bay Area is a fabulous place to garden my roses have already started blooming. Even long-time natives never run out of sights to see and things to do around here. We have started to do some traveling. Nothing lavish or exotic, just a few places that have always intrigued us, or places we haven't visited in far too long that deserve a longer visit. There will be some more small trips but only one last big trip to plan this year  an Alaskan cruise. Not big in itself, but we invited some friends to meet us in Seattle, a city I know fairly well but they have never been to before. I think weÂll have a great time showing them the sights of one of my favorite cities  even if they donÂt drink coffee (which in Seattle is almost embarrassing, being the birthplace of Starbucks with coffeebars on almost every corner). Being foodies, this is one of the great regions to live in. The astounding variety of cuisines at every price level, with some of the greatest chefs in the world, can be found within a 25-100 mile radius of us. We recently had a wonderful stay in Monterey and Carmel, and have a week-long stay in the Wine Country coming up. I've already got every lunch and dinner reserved, an unfortunate necessity when the world is descending upon the area as it does every summer. We own a modest 2bd cottage on a large urban lot, which we've spent several years landscaping. Mostly I hang out at the Cottage Gardening forum. I still play 'plant dominoes' but it's finished and mature, save for one last section. Our garden is an urban refuge, a long sloping lot with two separate back patios, both very private and always full of flowers to look at. We love to Âcocoon at home, for weÂre voracious readers (amazon.com knows us all too well). My DH is finally looking rested and relaxed, although he likes to complain we are more active now than ever! He likes to hike, I prefer to stroll city streets; so half the time we split up and go our separate ways, and the rest of the time we pair up to explore the city's nooks and crannies. It's a wonderful (and cheap) indulgence to be able to stop for a pineapple soda or a cappuccino before driving home (without being in rush hour traffic, what a blessing!). WeÂve always had multiple hobbies so in this early stage of retirement, itÂs no problem to fill up the time. In fact, the days whizz by, and itÂs been great fun so far.

Landrum, South Carolina (the upper western part of the state, about 5 minutes from the NC border) and female!

Joann, I have longer list and keep on adding more info as it resurfaces in the posts. Still some info is missing. Here is my latest Amazing Aunt Aubrey - Oklahoma - female Adellabedella - ? ? ? Alisande (Susan) - PA Scranton ? orig.from NYC - female Angela_Nor_Calif - Northern California - female Angelaid - Idaho ? - female Arkansas girl - ? ? ? Barb-45 - south-west Washington. - female. bengardening - Middle of South Dakota - female Bigack. (Susan) - Fairmont WV - female Big baby - Southeast Minnesota - female breenthumb - Upstate New York - female Bulldinkie - Kim in PA - female Cardamom - North Texas - female Carla35 - ? ? ? Carol in California - the beautiful central coast of California - female Caroline - Larimore, ND You can Google me at 806 Booth Ave. W. Casey (Karen) - St.John , Newfoundland, Canada - female CathyId - SW Idaho, - female. czech_chick Carol - Long Island, NY - female Cherryfizz - Windsor Ontario Canada - female Chemocurl - Indiana Cheryl ok - southeastern Oklahoma - female ChiSue - 30 miles north of Chicago - female Chi83 - Irvine, S.California - female ChloeCat - St. Louis - Home of the WS Champion Cardinals - female ColeenOz - Australia - female Chubby Rat - El Paso, Texas - female Cynic - Minnesota - male dances_in_garden - Ontario , Canada - female DeaMN - Southwestern Minnesota - female deborah ps - Palm Springs, California - female des_arc_ya_ya - N. central Arkansas - female dirtundermyfingers - Stacie in Nebraska - female dianamo 1 - MO - female Dollydolots - British Columbia, Canada - female Donna37 - South central MO - female Dotmom - N.Central Minnesota - female drewsmaga - Oviedo (by Orlando) Fl nowb. The Woodlands (by Houston) TX - female Ellie45 - Alexandria, VA - female FlamingO in ar (Susan) - near Eureka Springs, AR - female Fran1523 - SE Massachusetts - female Fun2BHere - Southern California - female Gazania - SW Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh - female georgysmom - Williamsburg, VA. - female gemini40 - ? ? ? glenda-al - Birmingham, al - female gibby3000 - ? ? ? gmom74 - Roswell, Georgia - female Granlan TX - Texas panhandle ? - female grinch_gut - Stacy in OK - female Haffie - North Shore - MA Heather ON - Ontario, Canada - female Hellion - North central Florida - female hoovergal - Hoover, Alabama - female. hostapasta - Western New York State - near Buffalo - female houstonmom - Houston, Texas - female Jannie, Janice, age 58 - Kings Park Long Island NY - female Jasdip - Southwestern Ontario (Canada) - female Jaybird - Texas - female jbelle108 - Boston, MA - female jeaninwa - Colorado Springs, CO - female jel48, - Michigan U.P. - on the Keweenaw peninsula - female jemdandy ? ? ? -male jennmonkey - Virginia ? Seattle? - female joann_fla - North Florida, orig. NJ - female Joan mn - E.Minnesota (Pine City?) / Ocala, FL in winter - female jodi_in_so_calif - Orange CO, CA - female joyfulguy - southern Ontario, Canada - reputedly male Kathsgrdn - Central Kentucky - Kathleen - female Kathi_mdgd - S.Calif,Oceanside to be exct. - female Kathy G in MI - northeast Michigan - female kat__wa - Washington - female Kayjones - Panama City, Florida - female Kfca37 - Bay area CA Kittywhiskers - 4B - female lazypup - Chicopee, Massachusetts - male Lidia1959 - Mid-Missouri , an hour from St. Louis - female Liira - Edmonton Alberta Canada - female lily316 - south central PA lindalou - Tonawanda, new yor k - female lindie_mi - west Michigan - female Linda_in_Iowa - Ames, Iowa - female linda_6 PA - Sewickley, PA - Female Lisa_fla - Orlando, Florda - female Littlebit - West TN - female Lindaohionowga - Linda Ohio now GA--Fayetteville, GA - female lindyluwho - Remlap, AL - female littlebug5, - north Missouri - female Liz_ga. - fayetteville - female lovemymimi - Mesa, Arizona - female LuAnn_in_PA - PA (southwest) - female luckygardnr - Southwestern Ontario (near Jasdip) - female Lynn D - Johnstown, PA - female Marilyn Sue - Central Indiana, Madison Co - Female mary7060_mi - Northern lower peninsula of Michigan - female Mamatoad - Tucson, Arizona - female Marita40 Mary - St. Paul MN 2011-Rome - female Marry - northeastern Indiana - female Matti5 Cheryl - Northern CA - female maybee - Iowa - female mboston - Lakeland, FL - female mcmann - southern NJ originally from Pittsburgh - female Michelle PhxAZ - Phoenix, AZ - female minnie_tx - NE Texas - female mom24 - Pennsylvania - female momof6 - SW Louisiana - female moonie 57 -female MonicaPa - Blue Bell,Pa - female mwheel - Falling Waters, WV - female nanaofmany08 Linda weeks - western KY - female nanatricia - central Texas - female Nanny98 - Southern Oregon - female nancylee_ ky - Western Kentucky - female Nicole - Colorado Springs - female NitaAZ - Sierra Vista, AZ - female Nodakgal - female OklaMoni - Oklahoma City - female oldgardener_2009 - western Washington - female Pam 25f - northern NY pammyfay - N.VIRGINIA ? patti43 - Ocala, FL - female pattico - female paula_pa - Pennsylvania - female pekemom - Lynne from southern Colorado - female Petaloid - Southern California - female petra - female pickyshopper - Ontario , Canada - female Poohbear 2767 - Dunlap Tn - male Phyllis mn - North Central Minnesota - female ratherbegardening - near Lansing, Michigan - female RavenCajun - Houston,TX area - female Reader77 - Johnson City in upper E.TN (almost in VA) - female Renee FL - DeLand FLorida - female redcurls - Ft Lauderdale FL - Female ronf - Southeast Minnesota - male ronm80 (Ronnie) - south Georgia - female Rosemaryt - Rosemary Thornton - female rosepetal2 - near Liverpool, England - female ruthieg__tx - Texas - female Sable - Monterey Peninsula, California - female Salgal - ? ? ? SamKaren - Milledgeville, Illinois - female Satine - Northern Maryland - female schoolhouse - Ohio scissors - ? ? ? secsteve - Delaware? - male sheilajoyce - southern California - female sherrmann - Wisconsin - female sjarz (Susan) - Canada - female sjerin - Bay Area in Ca, originally from Oregon - female sleeperblues - northwest Wisconsin - female Socks12345 - South CA - female ? soxxxx - mid East Texas - female stoneybaloney - Patty from Kansas - female sue_va - Stuarts Draft, VA - female Sunny DJ - SW. Pa, near Pgh.... Sunshines - Weeki Wachee, Florida - female susanjf - in SE Michigan - female Sushipup - Monterey Bay central coast of California - female sweet_betsy - Decatur, AL - female Tally - Los Angeles, California. - female Terilin - Texas - female Thistledew5750 - ? ? ? Tobygirl - Upstate New York - female Trishaw - Landrum, SC (upper W. part ~ 5' from NC border) - female trixietx - Texas panhandle - female two.25acres - SE Wisconsin on 2 1/4 acres - female Valla55/Bj - central Kansas widowed - female Vannie - Tyler, East Texas. Dallas and Shreveport vee1 - Pensacola Florida VetaAl - Vestavia Hills, AL - female Vicki lv - Las Vegas, Nevada - female vicki7 - North GA - female wanda_va - Front Royal, Virginia - female wildchild - CA - female zeetera