DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have two homes. We summer in Michigan and winter in Florida. To save money on maintenance, I'd like to sell the house in Michigan and move permanently to Florida. My husband doesn't want to be in Florida during the summer, but he also does not want to be in Michigan in the winter. He won't make a decision, but he leans toward living in Michigan full time.
Because I don't like living up north in the winter, I have told him I'll be staying all year in Florida starting in January to see how it is. He plans to return to Michigan. Our Florida home is older, so to come out ahead financially, we would need to sell our place in Michigan in order to buy a newer one in Florida. Any ideas on how this could be settled? -- WARMER WEATHER
DEAR WARMER WEATHER: Your idea about living for a "trial year" in Florida isn't a bad one. After spending a hot, humid summer there, you might change your mind about relocating permanently. You state that your reason for wanting to sell the Michigan home is you want a newer one than the place you presently own down south. Perhaps you could satisfy yourself and your spouse by simply spending some money to update the old one a bit. Please consider it.