What would be our options if we cannot afford to another mortgage in our new location until this mortgage is taken care of?

You do not post enough information. I assume you are asking about what to do with 2 mortgages and you can only afford one. But you do not indicate how much is owed or what the properties are worth or where they are at or any other details. It is not clear from your post whether you actually have a mortgage at the new place. If you do not already have one, I suggest that your husband go to his new job site and rent a relatively inexpensive apartment short term and get familiar with the area to find out what are good or bad neighborhoods. He should be there at least 6 months before you buy anything new. In the meantime, get the house you are in ready to sell. If it sells quick, you join your husband and continue renting while you look for a new home. You and your husband may need to rent a bigger place so he should only be in a place for 3-6 months or month to month. He does not want locked in a long term lease for a year. If you already have an existing mortgage on the new place, then you need to get the old home ready to sell. You really need to talk to your mortgage lender - maybe if the home is up for sale they will let you slide a couple of months. If you have good credit, you do not want to do a deed in lieu of foreclosure. If more is owed on the current home than it is worth, then you should try to do what is called a short sale. You again have to talk to the lender about this and you need a realtor who is experienced with short sales. If you have 2 mortgages on the property then both lenders must consent to a short sale. If there is no way that the home can be sold and the property is worth what is owed or a little more, then you can talk to the lender about a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure where you convey the property back to the bank. This will only work if there is only one mortgage on the property. Failing that, then just let the lender foreclose, but then you may be exposing yourself to a possible deficiency.