If it needs $23,000.00 in repairs it is NOT a new house.

Ok, granted, I mean new to us house. It's the same when I get a
'new' pair of shoes - they tend to be ones worn a couple of times, or
never, and taken to the local thrift store because somebody didn't like
the color. It is a 30 year old home that someone neglected - didn't
repair the roof when it needed it, etc.

that you're purchasing an FHA rehab indicates you are very borderline
home

Actually, we have our current home 100% paid off, so we have a decent
amount of equity. We are not selling this home to purchase the new one
- prices are very depressed in the area right now, and we would take a
loss. Instead, we are renting it out after we move (20 minutes away),
and using the rent to fund our IRA.

Simply put, the FHA 203k rehab program had a lot of perks that made
it a better deal for us, such as them chipping in up to 2% of the cost
of the home towards closing costs, and several other worthy benefits.
Even with the roughly $23k in repairs, we are paying ~ $35k less than
the house sold for 3 years ago, when it still needed lots of repairs.

Best news: after we closed on the house, it was announced that
Caterpillar is opening a facility with 600 jobs just a mile away. That
can't hurt the value of the house!