dreambuilder: I certainly do factor end-of-life materials into the cost of a home. Figure out what it'd be worth if perfect, then deduct the cost of repairs/modernization. Hopefully that gets you to the listing price. If not, the sellers may have unrealistic expectations. If they're not countering, they're not ready. Let the POS sit for another 5 months and try an honest bid then. BTW, we went thru the same thing last fall. Unmaintained house in a very nice area. Sellers wanted full price as neighboring homes. 24 year old roof and furnaces. 18 windows with blown seals. Wood rot on all the trim. Floors scratched to h*ll. Carpets stained. Deck boards cracked. To top it off, our inspector found evidence of mold under some of the rotted (but recently painted) siding. We walked. Funny though: the selling point was that they had recently sunk $75k into a kitchen. High end appliances, cabs, granite, etc. Lipstick on a pig. They too barely budged on price. NCREGuy & nosoccermom: Not to add fuel to the fire, but I will have to agree with one point: a million dollars doesn't buy what it used to. Certainly not in the areas with high land cost. In my city, a 1/5th acre buildable lot will go for $200-$250k. In the metro boston area, out to a 20-30 mile radius, a million new construction will get you spec-grade materials: vinyl windows, particle-board sheathing, min spec mechanicals, pre-finished oak strip floors, GE or LG appliances. A million in resale will get you a 1950s-1980s era home that needs a full gut redo. Another fact of life is the million dollar tear-down, A builder will buy a million dollar home for the land. Tear down the house to subdivide the half acre into 2 quarter-acre lots, then build 2 new homes. Not that they end up unlivable, but they'll need a lot of replacements after just 20-25 years. Not the 30-50 year materials you'd hope for when spending 2 commas on a home.

Many manufacturers will build windows to exact size. Be aware that you may have to make adjustments in the interior trim. The replacement window may not be the same thickness. I went from old double pane aluminum to double pane vinyl and I had to cut the sheetrock out around every opening. Not particularly hard to do but time consuming. I also had to use my table saw to rip down the window sills. I like the windows, but I had 6" exterior walls; the vinyl windows didn't leave my much of a window sill

Well, I knew this would happen, I found some of the answers to my questions. Noting them here for anyone with the same questions. Al (talpa) on the subject of fertilizing after repotting, and whether to water with or without fertilizer first. Link here. "You can fertilize when you see signs of new growth or after a couple of weeks. What will you be using for fertilizer? The only time I moisten the soil before I fertilize with soluble fertilizer is if the plant is obviously very dry. Even then, if I'm using reduced dosages and fertilizing often, I might fertilize a plant I suspect is dry. It's always better to err on the side of caution, though, so your plan to water first and then fertilize a few minutes later is the safe bet."

Re: mtvhike Your father was right. You can actually use a higher set point because the latent cooling load (humidity) has been addressed through longer continuous run times. We feel more comfortable at higher temperatures because skin moisture evaporation is enhanced at lower relative humidity levels - even if temperature is higher. Cold and clammy doesn’t do it; it’s still uncomfortable. The best equipment would be variable speed compressor and fan coil that would drop down in speed and run at longer at lower capacities using less energy while addressing humidity and maintaining a constant temperature. The slower the air moves over the evaporator coil (dwell time) the more humidity is wrung out of the air at greater efficiency. High air flow over the evaporator coil reintroduces moisture back into the air as it doesn’t have a chance to drop out and be collected as condensate. Geothermal evaporators (or condensers, depending on the mode of operation) are generally different from that of air-source heat pump evaporators in that the geo heat pump condensers are wider or thicker, allowing for greater dwell times (air flow over or through the coil) at any given air flows than air-source heat pumps or air-conditioner. This is a benefit for either mode, heating or cooling but especially cooling due to enhanced moisture removal (latent cooling). IMPO SR