It's That Time Of Year Again..

Every year Jim and I discuss the possibility of moving.  We go through a fairly lengthy process which involves weighing the pros and cons, discussing our financial options with numerous banks and then talking to multiple real estate agents to find out exactly how much our house could sell for and if it's even possible to sell it in the current economy.  Jim is very smart with how he handles our finances and has spent the past few years trying to get all of the ducks needed to sell this house and buy a new one lined up in perfect order.  It's far from easy though and usually there's always at least one duck that simply refuses to fall into place.  Even still, It's That Time Of Year Again and Jim is hopeful that this year will bring the change that he's wanted for quite a while now.
Prior to this year I've been hesitant about moving; We've long since turned this house into our home, one that is full of many great memories.  We've also been blessed with wonderful, kind, caring, loving neighbors who treat our kids as if they were there own.  And I've never been a big fan of change in general, especially big changes.  But this year I have more of an open mind..
Jim's commute to and from Nestle has always been a big factor; he has to leave an hour before he's scheduled to be at work and then he gets home an hour after he clocks out.  Also, I can honestly say that the lay-out of this house is no longer working for us anymore.  Jim could change it to better suit our needs but there's still the issue of him wanting more land and a garage.  We do not like living on such a busy road, either.  And, as I've said before, with him working 'round the clock these days I feel like he should be able to have what he wants.  Then there's the matter of the sky high taxes and general high cost of living here in Rhode Island.  We feel like every time we turn around we're getting screwed by the State.  They're constantly taxing Jim's cars for more than they're even worth and property taxes continue to increase dramatically on a yearly basis.  We have toyed around with the idea of leaving New England altogether - as Nestle has companies elsewhere - but I think it would be too much of a change for all of us and we're not willing to be more than a few hours away from our family, therefore we're looking into moving somewhere right over the RI line, into MA.  Financially it seems like it would be the most practice, logical place for us to live.  We would still be close to here.
So Jim has met with a couple of banks to see where we stand financially.  He's learned that our only option is to sell this house - we can't rent it because "technically" he doesn't make enough money for them to allow him to take on two mortgages.  This morning we have a Real Estate agent coming to the house to give us her opinion on what she thinks we can sell for.  I spent all evening and the better part of this morning getting things as organized and clean as possible given the fact that we've got 3 kids running all over the place.  This time around I plan on being very straight forward with the Real Estate agent.  With the exception of maybe Jim doing some painting here or there, I want to sell the house "as is" - turn the key and it's yours.  I refuse to rent storage space/bins/trucks to pack away the majority of our belongs in our home while we're trying to sell it.  We're a family of 5 with a dog and a cat.  That's the reality of it all.  I want there to be as few disruptions are possible in the kids lives because - as always - who knows what will happen.  The house may never sell.  We may decide it's not worth selling it if we can't get back at least what we paid for it.  We may not be able to find a house that we like, that's close to Jim's work and meets all of our needs.
Any decision we make about our future will revolve around what is best for our family.  Jim is tired of having to work all the time just to make ends meet.  We're constantly trying to find ways to live more frugally but it seems like there's no chance for us to move ahead if we stay here in RI.  More and more people are leaving this State because they simply can't afford to stay here.  Many of our cities have long since been corrupted.
Even still, should the ducks line up perfectly, it will be a difficult move for us to make - not only financially, but personally as well.  As I always say, though, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!