I can comment on the uneven lawn. I would mow your grass as low as possible to get an idea of the terrain. Order a truckload of sand and spread that out, filling in the low spots. Couple of things to keep in mind when doing this. Don't put down too much sand that it suffocates the lawn underneath. So if it's a very low spot, you'll have to gradually bring it up. Also, you want water to flow away from foundation of house, so don't raise a low stop if it causes water to go towards the house. In that case you would have to remove soil from the high spots. The swales on the side of your house typically should slope towards the street to send water that way. Again here, you need to add/remove soil to redirect water away from house towards end of yard/street. If your house sits on the highest point on the lot, then this is easy as all you'll have to do is go downhill. But if where you want the water to go is uphill and you can't direct it anywhere else, you would need to install something like a sump pump to force water away. Good luck.

We had scotts lawn service come out and they've treated the lawn for weeds twice, fertilized twice and aerated the lawn. However prior to doing any of that, the lawn still looked exactly as it does in my pictures. We've also had 10+ inches of rainfall and it continues to rain all this week. They mentioned no sign of chinch bugs or disease. Perhaps I should check the pH and apply Lime if necessary? This post was edited by VinceFLA904 on Wed, May 22, 13 at 17:12

I agree with Mr Salesman that a heat pump is the way to go. I'm not even sure why you have gas heat in Florida. Electric back-up strips can be used in the air handler, or you can have a gas furnace in the air handler as supplimental heat. Below 32 degrees F outside air, a house loses heat faster than the heat pump can supply it, so supplimental heat is needed. What are your electric costs ($ per kw-hr). The 2TTX5042 condenser with 2TEE3F40 is a matched set rated at 42,500 btu-hr, 12.8 EER, and 15 SEER. These are fantastic numbers. Your true cost of operation is determined by EER and not SEER, much to the surprise of many people. EER is rated at 95 degrees outside air temps while SEER is rated at only 82 degrees outside air temps. That air handler does have a variable speed blower. The 2TTX5042 condenser with a 2TXCC049 air handler and UD080R9V furnace is also a matched set rated at 40,500 btu-hour, 15.25 SEER, and 12.8 EER. Not sure if the blower is variable speed. You may be able to check Trane's website for that info - search on the furnace model#. There are no HSPF ratings since the above systems are not heat pumps. For your piece of mind, you should consider a PARTS AND LABOR warranty. The manufacturer's warranty is parts-only, no labor. You can search www.energystar.gov to find the rebate requirements. You'll have to step up to the XL16i with the right air handler to get the required SEER/EER/HSPF. All 3 must be met to get the rebate. The 16i uses a 2-stage compressor. Typically these systems are much more $$ to purchase than single stage compressors. The VisionPro is loved by the pros. The VisionPro IAQ is even more advanced. You can check them out on Honeywell's website. You ask solid questions. An HVAC-educated homeowner (myself included) helps to insure a good purchase, a good install, and a happy ending. Best to you. Here is a link that might be useful: ARI Directory

Live there for a year and see what is there before making major changes. It looks like the previous owner may have been a gardener, and until you've seen a full year cycle you may miss some plants that are only visible at certain times of the year. Learn to ID plants vs weeds (the Name that Plant forum will be handy.) Depending on what is there, you may find that it's easy care or that it's far too fussy for your tastes, but until you know what you have, it's difficult to make decisions. What do you mean when you say "tree cleanup"? I wouldn't do any pruning of good-sized trees until you have had input from someone as to how to do that properly, and most IME trees don't need a huge amount of cleanup.