[njbchbum]

in our case, home is where the heart is - or where we happen to be. we have a permanent residence at the jersey shore - monster seashore victorian that costs too much to maintain; but we love it here, husband is ultimately involved in the towns goings on and there are the friends - more and more family moves away every year.

then we have the house in maine that we bought 15 yrs ago when we had no thought of even going to florida - even on vacation. was a good deal to purchase, is not so expensive to maintain [even with house watch service] and could be sold in a heartbeat for a profit.

then our jersey friends bought in the villages and we would visit there on our return from disney world - where we had purchased disney's vacation club! bought that because we were growing weary of the cold, snow and ice of jersey and maine winters and a couple of winter weeks in florida sounded good. and it was. can't sell that for a profit, but the small timeshare enables different travel opptys and the chance to gift family with a vacation now and then.

so after visiting our villages friends for each of 4 winters and growing a little older and a bit more desireous of warmer winters we found a financial gem there that we could not afford not to buy! our investments were tanking at the same time and we thought it would do better in real estate rather than the bank - and it has. could sell in a new york minute if we ever had to for a profit.

so for now we travel between properties and enjoy the best that the seasons have to offer. am sure the day will come when we will no longer want to - and we will be faced with having to pick just one location to call home. that decision will be based on our health, finances and emotional needs of the time.