hi there - I so feel your pain! We faced this same decision 3 years ago. We live in a neighborhood with most homes from the 1920's - many have been redone - but even if we moved and bought one of those, there would be a lot of aesthetics we would want to change. :) We too factored in all of the costs associated with selling, moving, etc.. it is an expensive process (never mind also ending up with the more expensive house) We needed a master bed and bath (tiny bedrooms and one upstairs bath does not work with 2 growing boys!), and a larger more functional kitchen. We elected to add on and remodel and every day I am thankful we did. One, we got to keep our great location and our awesome neighbors (having had not great neighbors in the past, this was important to me) and two, I got to remodel exactly how I wanted things - which meant we spent money on what was important to us, and did not spend money on what was not. (I have seen a lot of expensive kitchens in our neighborhood that I would not have wanted to pay for) We had an architect draft our plans first then we bid out the work. Times were a little tough for contractors in our area, so we got some competitive bids - we ended up with a gem of a contractor and that made the decision easy at that point. We did things to save money like staying in the house during construction, buying our own tile (from Overstock) and other little things like that. And then we splurged on what was important to us. I would do it again in a heart beat - there are so many unknowns with moving (traffic noise, unknown neighbors...) so I say if you are happy with where you are - change the house since you cannot change location. Most importantly, you will get to make the house exactly how you want it to be. Good luck with the process - keep GW posted - it is exciting!! laura Here is a link to my photobucket account which has some of our remodel noted - http://s817.photobucket.com/albums/zz95/LaurainLincoln/

Thank you mudhouse! I wish I could take credit for the plantings, but I have to credit the landscape architect. But, I do agree that I didnt want the lineality of some of the more modern mcm architecture. I agree with you- I do like that style, but wanted something more different for the house. That saguaro was moved there by happenchance, and it just happens to work great! I am sorry you lost your cactuses. I'm a big fan of cactus! That is good to hear, blfenton! I have to do this in stages. Thank you Lynn! You all have been so wonderfully helpful with advice and kind with your comments. LOL@desertsteph. Sometimes I do feel like I live in a fish bowl! I tore about 20 palms out - so no more palms. I hated doing it, but they werent healthy anyway. Yikes@scorpions! I do not like them at all (who does?). I was stung once years ago. I had also heard that they like palms. I dont think I saw any when they cut the palms down. It was kind of exciting to watch. I did look for scorpions and for bird nests. The only bad thing about removing the palms is that I feel bad for all the woodpeckers. I dont get so mad when they drink the hummingbird food now.

@Lily'smom You're right, there are so many things to think of! But yes, we have thought about those things to the point of eyes crossing lately. It's fairly overwhelming sometimes. Their house is only 30 minutes away, so no job considerations to consider on that front. MIL does not want to move and I understand why (has lived there for over 40 years, spent the majority of her 50 year marriage there, knows everyone, etc). We all live in the same general area so family/friends isn't too much of an issue on our end. Living there isn't a big deal to me personally, but I do suspect Mr. Lime doesn't want to sell off his childhood home and I can't blame him for that sentimentality, I would probably be that way too. There is a guest house on the property that MIL says she would want to live in if we move down there so we wouldn't be sharing living space. We did offer to update the guest house to her desires and likes if she was sure she wanted to live in it and she insists she is. The deed would go in Mr. Lime's name since we don't pay property tax due to his Veteran status and we would be paying for maintenance and it would have gone to him anyhow. MIL's home is also paid for so financially we would be in the same situation we are now just with more land to care for. We don't really have any desire to become landlords so renting it out never crossed our minds to be honest. Thanks for your reply, there are a lot of considerations!

Use the budget now to put get a landscape plan, and plan the trees and shrubs as soon as you can in your climate. The trees and shrubs are the only improvement that gets better (larger) every year on its own, so it's the first thing that should go in. You already have a good start although you may prefer a more natural look in your shrubs, rather than those clipped ball shapes. Hardscape (walkways etc.) can go in after the plants. Nice house. Is it brick all around or just at the front? I'm not a fan of the white bricks in your mix. I would paint or stain them a darker color to blend in. Your garage should be a color closer to the brick. If the front door is wood, don't paint it.