What to do with the house
If we’re moving to Israel, we’ve got to decide what to do with our house. Basically, the two options are to either rent it or sell it. If we rent it, obviously the rent has to at least cover the mortgage payment. Either way, we haven’t done anything to the house since we bought it in 2006. And whether we want to sell it or rent it, it will need to be updated, painted, etc. So we met with a realtor and a designer, and have decided to redo the flooring on the first floor (ceramic tile and carpeting out, hardwood flooring in), paint all the cabinetry (it will all be white instead of cherry wood grain), and paint the walls (not sure what color yet, but i’m sure it will also be some shade of white or grey since that seems to be all the rage these days.) We are waiting for a formal plan from the designer to see and approve all the details.
Once its finished, we can A) enjoy the “new” house for a few months until we move to Israel, and B) determine how much we could sell it for, and/or how much we could rent it for, to see what would make the most financial sense for us.