Hi Talia,

Your situation is probably more common than most people think. It is a strange feeling to give up your primary home but that is what we see a lot of these days - particularly for those that are retiring.

You mentioned it may be the most practical thing for you to do. You might want to ask yourself - "practical how"?

Economically practical?

Logistically practical?

Practical from an upkeep standpoint?

You may also want to consider any sentimental fallout from the sale of a primary residence.

There is no standard answer for your question. Many enjoy having 2 or more residences and it fits well with their lifestyle.

And then you have those like one of my best friends in Wyoming. They retired, sold their home, sold their business, sold their ranch and are now traveling around the country in a motorhome and just love it!

Thanks for asking the questions. They will help frame some of my thinking.

I found that there is only one home. You call it a primary home. I originally thought that a second home was just that, but it's not. One is a vacation home.

To leave your primary home is just like moving... although less stressful because you have lived where you are moving to!

Okay - it's late, but I wanted to reply but see it's a lot disjointed!

I love having a second home... but I know that there is only one true home. That which the Master Craftsman is building.

Thanks for your thinking on this. It is a very complicated issue for me. Our other two homes have not really been vacation homes as we've been there for more than just vacation time, but you make a good point. What I call our primary home may be our one HOME. It certainly is the place our kids consider home and where we used to spend most of our time. Now that the kids are grown and we are retired we spend more time in the other two places (were in one of them right now), so we think of selling. We have been driving ourselves crazy and decided that by the end of '07 we will have made a decision one way or the other and then we'll live with that decision for a while.

Make certain, Talia,

you consult with your realtor and your tax advisor, to make sure the Infernal Revenoo Sonsabi - er, Service, agrees with you and your husband's determination, and what, if any, capital gains you may/may not have to pay.

That might very well help in your decision making, too.

Thanks for the helpful advice. Our first decisions will be emotional - I think we're closing in on those. And then the legal and financial must come a close second. If we wait one more year, my husband will be old enough for us to trade down without tax problems, but we must get more info from our finance guy before we do anything.

About a year late to this discussion but intrigued. What did you finally decide and why? We own a second home in a western state and haven't decided what to do with it. Until the meltdown, we were considering selling it and reinvesting in a rental in this area so we could manage it ourselves instead of relying on unreliable leasing agents.

Our tentative plan is to rent it out for a couple of years and then move into it for a couple of years to reestablish it as our primary residence. I'm told that eliminates any investment sale tax consequences if we sell it. We would sell the place we're in now at the same time and use the proceeds (if any) for the most attractive investment/debt reduction alternative.

Any thoughts?