What to do, what to do!

We spent the day today with a realtor looking at various houses. Out of everything we looked at, we've only found two that we like; well, one I liked and the other my hubby liked. My preference was for a smaller, very nice home on a small lot. The hubby liked the larger house on the larger lot that needed work, but which had a ton of potential. The house had "renters" living in it, although I got the feeling they were actually "squatters". They wouldn't let us into various rooms in the house, and actually had a bulldog in the backyard that had left a friendly deposit on the living room floor. The tenant didn't feel it was necessary to clean it up before we came in to look at the house. So strange.

I'm having such conflicting thoughts on this whole thing. As much as I dislike living in the town we live in, I am in no way ready to make a permanent move. We have too many ties to the community we live in, and I would never leave my kids or grandkids. On the other hand, with the current economy and real estate market, we would be able to buy a home at rock bottom prices right now and I am almost desperate to have a chance to get out of this town and reside, at least part of the year, where I can wake up to sunshine and blue skies, and be free of the drama of the small town I live in.

Finally, I'm feeling more than a bit guilty about the possibility of owning a second home that would sit empty for the majority of the year. For someone who works hard at being a good steward of what we've been given, and tries to live a fairly frugal lifestyle, purchasing a second home is pretty extreme. Lots to think about, and that's what our plan is right now. To go home, think and pray about our options, and then try to make a decision about how to progress from here.