Hey, all. I thought I would give you an update. We have had one "low ball" offer ~$675,000 since reducing our house price to $749,000. We couldn't get that low so they offered on a higher priced home that had a pool (they really wanted a pool, so I think they preferred our home, but were trying to get us down, so that they could put in a pool). However, I think things are really picking up in the neighborhood. Four high end homes have gone under contract (2 at $799, $699 and $829) in the last couple of weeks, so I am no longer worried about comps. We are going to continue through May with it just "for sale" and then we'll offer it to rent, as well, beginning in June. I am at peace with either option, as I am just excited for us to get on with our lives together in Florida. I appreciate everyone's help, support, and positive energy.

Hmmm. I'm not understanding what you mean by refinancing a house that's already paid off - there's no loan to be "refinanced." I did look into the equity line of credit, which does exactly what you're suggesting, but borrowing the maximum amount (which is a percentage of home's value) doesn't get me there. If I was working, that + rental income would get me a bigger loan. However my situation is I'm "temporarily retired" to take time for some family matters and won't be back to work until Jan-Feb. As I understand it this cross collateralization is a mechanism more commonly used by commercial lenders/ real estate investors and allows lenders to make larger loans at less risk to them. But more risk for me apparently - whether it's worth it, I'm trying to figure that out. I've already accepted that my timing just might be horribly off and I might not get it - that's life - but I thought hey I really want to give it my all and see if it could work.

Thanks again, everyone, for all of the replies! To address some of things that have been mentioned... We will definitely talk to the landlord before making any final decisions. Our friends, the current tenants (who are wonderful people and a landlord's dream), are also planning to put in a good word for us. Our agreement would be contingent upon the rent remaining the same, the lease going month-to-month after one year, and the landlord not having any plans to sell the house. If any of those conditions are not met, we will not rent the house. The landlord does not know yet that the tenants plan to move out, so we have to wait for them to talk to him first. All of this is hinging on the deal for their new house, and they are currently still in negotiations. If their deal does not go through, which is certainly a possibility, then we will do nothing for now. I want to be ready with our decision as soon as they know for sure, though, which is why I am going through all the pros and cons now rather than waiting to see if the opportunity will actually materialize or not. If we do move into the rent house and put our current house on the market, we will not start looking for a new house until our house is sold and our lease is up or almost up, so there will be no issues with finding the perfect house and not being able to get out of our lease. Trust me, I remember how stressful house hunting was last summer, and I am not eager to begin the process again until we are completely ready. We were totally jumping the gun last summer (not even having our house ready to sell), and have learned a few lessons. Next time around, we plan to be ready to buy with no contingencies once we find a house we want. I'm prepared to be patient and just live in the rent house for at least a year while we get all of those things in order. We can't buy a new house now and just pay two mortgages until our current house sells because the monthly mortgage on a new house will most likely be higher than what we will be paying in rent. Also, we may need to dip into our savings to be able to pay for both rent and mortgage (especially if our house takes several months to sell), and if we bought a new house, we would deplete our savings for the down payment. Finally, we need to sell our house before we'll really know what we can afford and how much we'll have for a down payment. It may be that we need to save up for another couple of years, and I am OK with living in the rent house until then. Saving money will be pretty impossible while we're paying both rent and mortgage, but should be easy once our house sells and we're only paying rent. Thank you to those that suggested daily check-ins at our old house. If we do move, I'll make a checklist that my husband (or one of our neighbors) can quickly run through each day. That will be easy for us since the rent house is only a few minutes away from our current house. The more I think about this idea, and the more I talk with my husband about it, the more I like the idea. It would certainly not be right for everyone, but I think it might be the right decision for us. Of course, this all depends on whether or not our friends get their new house and whether or not the landlord agrees to rent the house to us at the same rate. We will see! We should know something next week. :)

I agree with mdln, a dark wall might look really good in that bathroom. Too many people are afraid of color. It doesn't sound like you are. The best way to find if a more dramatic color will work would be to paint a sample color on a poster board which you could move around to different locations in the room. This will give you a better idea than just a swatch on the wall. I love the colors teal/blue green. The outside of my house is a blue green color and so is my master bathroom. The granite in my kitchen is Verde Peacock which has splotches of blue/green in it. On line it's hard to tell exactly the blue/green color of your tile but you should be able to find a close match in a paint color. Remember to look at blues with green in it as well as greens with blue. It can make a difference in finding the right color. I found that out when looking for a blue/gray color. I had picked a blue/gray color and without doing up a sample board, I had the painter use it in my lower level. It was not at all what I wanted. The painter adjusted the color and painted another coat but it still wasn't right. He's told me to look at grays with a little blue in them. Third time was the charm. Just for fun I chose a Benjamin Moore color and tried uploading your bathroom picture to their visualizer tool. It didn't work because of the picture size so I just added the color to the bathroom pictures they had. The color is called Hidden Falls. I think it looks fabulous on the walls of these bathrooms. I did not attempt to change any of the other painted areas of the bathroom. Good luck trying to find the perfect color for your space and be sure to post a finished picture.