If your husband is able to frame, plumb and wire (and move ducts) in record time I'd say it's a good bet it'll improve your odds of selling your house.

I bet the weather there is much nicer than illinois?

Was this pure speculation... you bet.

Any other pointers will certainly be appreciated.I hope to correspond and or meet many of you, as my journey unfolds!

If I had to bet on a direction I would bet on the Yen rising in the future not falling. 8)

i don't want to be discouraged but i had no idea finding the right house would be this hard :( would our best bet be hiring an agent?

At the moment I don't know a whole lot about construction; however, I bet if you put together a good team of knowledgeable people it could work.

So many of everyones posts have been a great help already, but you bet, I'm sure I've got lots to ask help on.

I'm sure many people have done this, but I'll bet that most of them don't fully understand why they are doing it, and many of them are losing money without realizing it.What's USUALLY in the back of their mind when they do this, but is often subconcious, is that they are COUNTING on the house to appreciate and/or rental rates to go up.

Not only are you dealing with normal rehab issues for a major project, but then you are also betting on the come.