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Our house is finally being repaired by the plumbers, after an extended wait due to the insurance company. Did I mention that the furnace had also broken down and needed to be repaired? Maybe not. Anyway, that got done. But the ceiling is still on the floor, as far as I know.
Meanwhile, our house insurance (which was less than $500 per year, as I recall) is being canceled due to the house being unoccupied. We now have had to obtain new insurance, at a whopping $650 every three months.
While perusing realtor.com, I found that there are hundreds of homes for sale in Howell, several dozen of which are brand new or nearly new, that have four bedrooms and 2.5 or 3 baths, and are priced the same as or cheaper than our house.
The feedback we are getting from the few viewings we are getting is that the house needs "too much work and costs too much."
Therefore, our chances of selling it are almost nil. We can't lower the price, because if we do and end up selling the house, it would wipe us out financially because we would need to bring the entire rest of our financial resources to closing, leaving us penniless.
Did I mention that Brian's job is once again in jeopardy, as the city is a couple of million dollars over budget. Oh, yeah, they are talking about doing away with dependent health benefits even if Brian does keep his job.
So if we hold on to our old house, we will be paying:
1. Mortgage payment (way out of line with the house's current value) and utilities on the old house (This takes half of Brian's income)
2. Unbelievably large insurance payment on the old house
3. Rent and utilities for our new house
4. Health insurance for Derek and myself (currently covered, but probably won't be for long.)
5. Car insurance
6. Renter's insurance
7. The rent on the storage unit, still not quite empty
8. Gas for our cars
9. Brian's car payment
10. Credit card payments
11. Groceries and household supplies(currently about $450/month)
12. Misc. unplanned expenditures (like dust-mite-proofing our bedroom, about $150.)

I'm sure I've forgotten something.
Currently, the horse is living free of charge at a local farm, so his costs are minimal, barring unforeseen vet expenses. In the spring I will probably have to start looking for a new home for him.
If we didn't have to keep making payments on the old house, we'd be doing fine.
We are seriously considering giving the house back to the mortgage company. This would save our rapidly dwindling savings, and allow us to actually save a bit just in case Brian's job is one of the ones eliminated in the coming months.