You know, the part that made me cry (only once, I promise – now it’s just time to suck it up and deal with this) is that I really love the rental home we are in and would have been happy staying put, keep saving and wait for the right time to buy and just slowly bleed a few hundred dollars with this “investment” but with the option I am leaning towards and the popular one here (OPTION #4) I feel like we would be forced to buy now even if it is not the “right” long-term family home and I hate feeling like we’re being pushed into another bad decision.

You guys really do give great advice. Effective Demand – I think we could take a 50 pt hit on the FICO and still be OK, do you what we need to look for in the mortgage contract to determine if it is recourse or non?

TemeculaGuy – you have to understand, I’m one of 4 my hubbt one of 5 and it is just so clear in my heart that when I am an 80 yr old granny holding his hand in our rockers I just know I will be happy we decided to go for the brothers and sisters we give our children istead of the bigger house and toys… we’ll have to make do with the current van – both cars are paid off so we’re stuck with them anyway 😉

Svelte, bubble_contagion, deriving drunk and waterboy — you guys spelled out exactly what I think we should do, as uncomfortable as it is to not know if it will be the right thing… and golfproz, my husband smiled the most at your advice. we’re pretty sure we will have 3 girls too and hope that we are just blessed with healthy ones

And then there is bob2007… you echo exactly what my husband is saying. Exactly what he learned from his father who is the most conservative, hard-working, giving man that raised the man now taking care of me and my girls with more integrity than anyone else I know – definitely myself included. And his dad’s name is Bob too…. sigh, now what??