Rich I know how you feel well sort of. In July of 1994 I moved from Northridge California in the San Fernando Valley  to Virginia as My home was pretty much in need of being torn down and rebuilt due to Two 7 point plus earth quakes that occurred in January that same year and my house sat 157 feet from the epicenter of the two quakes. 

I also had the problem that my company Building ( 4 stories tall ) collapse partially and enough to be condemned  as it had been build in the 1890's.

So with no intention of rebuilding either at a cost of more than $400,000.00 for the two I instead collected the insurance cleared and sold both properties and moved 3,007 miles east to Virginia. The main reason for the move was because My wife was loosing Her mind due to the daily earth quakes ranging from a 1.4 to a 5.6. personally I got used to them and my friends and myself started calling Southern California Shake and Bake.

During the quake my Railroad of 12 years was flattened when the garage collapsed on it.

I really hated leaving Southern California as I was born their and had spent 42 years of my life living there.

I hope your lucky enough to make a profit in the sale of your home and find a new one in Florida (on high ground) make sure you insure the crap out of it and get as much as you can afford.

It took me 10 years before I was able to even start building a new Model Railroad and it has been really slow going.

I wish you all the power in the world in your yard work and may you sell your home to a Sheik from Arabia willing to pay 4 times its worth. and your search for the perfect home for your family and the Model Railroad be quick.and painless.

in the mean  just keep posting and building Custom Models for friends The ones I have seen are exquisite in every way.

Remember  life can sometimes be a bowl of Pits but everybody with a positive approach to it will soon find that large ripe Cherry to make everything worth while.

Your RR MRH friend Dan

Thank you for the encouragement. Your story is an inspiration and I plan on keeping a PMA - positive mental attitude!

I too was in a similar situation with our last house: listed for 6 months and we'd already moved into our new house. It finally sold...to the FIRST people to look at it at our first open house! Frustrating.
Have you tried the St. Joseph statue? (this is entering the religion/politics zone, but here goes...) Bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down facing the house near the For Sale sign. After the house sells, you dig him up and put him on the fireplace mantle of your new house (that's his commission!). There are even kits sold now (I think Amazon has them). Here's a story about it from the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/nyregion/17towns.html

It'll happen. Good luck!
Bill

Also entering the religion zone: as a Christian I will say a prayer; however I won't be doing the statue thing.

We're hardcore Catholics in my family. Dad finds the whole idea sacrilegious; mom swears by it ("just don't tell your father") and hooked me up when my house wasn't selling. I believe that was the same year St. Joseph was missing from their manger scene.

Again... it'll happen!
Bill

Back the truck up!

I was raised in a Catholic family, back East (suburban Phila) attended 12 years of parochial schooling and I've never, ever heard of the statue thing!

I'll have to check out that NYTimes story.

George

I know it sounds like I made it up, but it's a legitimate tradition. A group of nuns who were trying to secure land for a new convent were supposedly the first to do it a few hundred years ago. He's the patron saint of families and the home, so that might explain it. The religious supply store where we get my kids' school uniforms sells the St. Joseph kit. They've also got a book: "St. Joseph, My Real Estate Agent" at the same store.
Here's a little more info:
http://www.catholiccompany.com/St-Joseph-statue-Home-sale-kit.cfm