I had a 30" Berta for two years -- until 2011. I posted about it in several threads which may/may not be linked above. I'll make a few generalizations. A Berta a-g is not Wolf a-g. Berta is, relatively speaking a budget range. The styling and finish are excellent. It offers an excellent attractive value. The gas top has a continuous grate and I found it had plenty of power. The front left burner has a double stack and boils a huge pot of water for pasta very quickly. The simmer burners are good. It was lovely to cook on and I would buy a Berta gas cooktop again. Again, it's not a Wolf, not a Culinarian, not a Blue Star. Not the same price either. Cooktop drawback is the electric ignition. You need to get accustomed to this. It can be quirky and is tricky at first. Once you get the hang of it, it's ok. But it clicks. Rap on the oven is size. The oven is smaller than some other ranges because there is a hatch below it and legs. However, I cooked a 16 pound turkey in there and catered a party for 40. It's a gas oven and needs initial adjustment at the time of installation so the heat can be evened out. It exhausts from the top and the fan goes on when the oven is going. If you're standing at the stove while the oven is on, this may be an issue. If this is going in a home/apartment without central air, consider how often you would use this gas oven -- or any gas oven -- during the summer. Additionally, the oven only goes down to something like 275F. The temperature control knob is "approximate" and, I agree, this is annoying. It absolutely requires an oven thermometer. For an avid baker it might not be the right oven. All that said, those of us who have had Bertas and cooked on them usually like them. I did a huge amount of research and contacted longtime users before I bought. Everyone was quite candid about the pros and cons, but positive. I did find the hatch below the oven handy for flat equipment storage. I liked that it was on legs and I could clean underneath. I didn't care that the oven was slightly smaller than, say a Wolf, because I hate those big huge gas ovens -- so hot -- and they are so low they are almost on the floor. But that's me. Others may not agree. Again, for the price it offers a high end look and quality and good performance. At the time of my purchase I compared it to other ranges in that price range and it was a no brainer. So the question for anyone considering a Berta is: what else can you get for the same price point and how does that compare? Don't look at Wolf. It's not comparable. Don't look at Blue Star, Thermador or Culinarion. Those aren't comparable. It's not a high performance pro range. It's a home cooking European style range.

Make sure it's a legitimate business, and also find out if you have any recourse with the store if the appliances don't work. The answer to the latter is probably not. They buy at rock bottom, barely worth the cost of doing business prices, usually from major sellers for whom it's cheaper than storage, inspection and restocking labor, as well as smaller outfits who also don't have adequate staff and space. They might also buy from builders and others who end up with extras. The point is, you don't know where the open box came from. Try to learn what the liquidator's reputation is, how long they've been in one place, if they have a place you can visit, etc., to see how legit they seem. That's no guarantee that they're not buying stolen goods, but if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Even some legit businesses do. Beyond that question, you probably don't have any guarantees from the store, just the warranty, and probably not the kind of service like you got from the appliance store buying you a probe and printing out the manual. They may also only take cash. That can just be for cost cutting, and still legit, but that means you don't get the consumer protection features that your card might have. And if you have an issue, they have your money. I'm not trying to discourage you. Just presenting some issues. If you look at what you're getting into, and decide it's an okay gamble, then go for it. Do check with the manufacturer what the warranty is and when it starts for you before you buy, however.

I had completely forgotten about this being a lake home so AnnKH had a great point about how a front garage would actually be a rear garage (or something like that). So I think the point about maximizing the views and accessibility on the lakeside is definitely more important that worrying about a 'snout' garage. But, here is our first floor floor-plan. We are on a 100' wide city lot (unfortunately no lake views) and this house is 71.5' wide. The deepest part of the house, not including porches is 41'8". It was deeper than I wanted, but the rooms in the middle of the house (closets, laundry, etc) don't need windows so I'm OK with it. Our second floor has three additional bedrooms plus a bonus/loft space. We've got 2 kids, ages 11 and 13. No basements here in Texas.

We generally prefer historical cost basis over any time of assessment, so what you paid for an item. However, one problem with the historical cost basis for ad valorem taxes is it adjusts for realized gains and losses while not adjusting for holding gains and losses. This means that two identical houses would pay two different taxes based on the last time they were sold. This isn't quite fair so to remedy this, ad valorem taxes are occasionally adjusted to compensate somewhat for holding gains and losses. In other words, we don't want people who bought 3 acres next to Central Park 65 years ago, to be paying property taxes on $100,000 when an identical property next door pays taxes on $15,000,000. That is the entire purpose of adjusting property values. Improvements aren't simply holding gains, it is putting money into the structure so that it is nicer. If you want to fairly tax improvements you would need a tax on the increased value less a tax credit the amount paid over the marginal assessment value. So, the premise that you have some moral obligation to pay marginally higher taxes because you spent $50,000 for a nicer kitchen that adds only $20,000 to the property value, is one I find questionable. In other words, if you paid more for the remodel than it added in property value you should get a tax credit against the increase. However, that is far too complicated and thus taxing jurisdictions who are acting efficiently and attempting to be fair, avoid increasing valuation for improvements and replacements, but do increase valuation for additions. Now this is completely different than rules that allow select groups to avoid assessment for holding gains and losses.