kollelman-
Back to the original questions that started this thread, I could answer some based on my experience.
Apartment – Renting is less common than buying. Personally, we’re renting for a one year lease to make sure we like the community/neighborhood we’ve chosen and then are planning on buying
Official Aliya or Tourist. Pros and Cons- If you make aliyah officially, there are financial benefits based on marital status, # and ages of kids. You’ll also get the health insurance. If you’re a tourist you can’t work (legally) and if you do decide to make aliyah, the time spent there already may lessen your benefits.
Ship our car? – Not the best idea. The tax on importing a car is something like 100%. Getting around by bus is the norm in some places. Also, it’s more common in certain fields of work to get a company car (high-tech especially)
Taxes, American and Israeli- You will always have to file taxes but unless you’re making in the 6 figure range I believe, you won’t have to pay anything if you live out of US. But (unless Obama changes this), you still get child tax credit.