You are being premature. Some things can't be lived with at any price. Some things can. And "how much" depends on the brand and age of the appliance as well as the degree of damage. A Wolf with a dime sized barely there dimple would be different than a Maytag with a football sized dent. As with any negotiation, the first offer from the other guy gives you plenty of clues as to what the result will actually be. As a FYI, most people expect entirely too much of a discount compared to what they'll end up with. If you're expecting half off, then the retailer had much rather take the appliance back and deal with the insurance claim than to give you a discount. And then you'll have to wait for the new one to be shipped.

Well, I'm not a carpenter or a cabinet maker, but if the cabinets are to be painted, can't they make doors without floating panels? I assume floating panels are the cheaper way to go because then you are not using big pieces of wood, but in my mind, doors with floating panels are not paint grade doors. I can't really tell what this picture is showing, but I am fairly familiar with the floating panels problem so I can tell you what I do about this. I caulk them. I know they float and they will move but not caulking them looks so bad, I think that some cracking caulk down the road isn't the worst thing in the world compared to the whole project looking bad. Where there are not floating panels in the frames of the cabinets, these gaps should be caulked for sure. Be sure to use a good caulk too. The better caulks will have more flex and may not crack as easily as the cheap caulks. Stay away from DAP Alex Plus, every carpenters favorite. DAP only makes one good caulk and it's called Dynaflex 230. I also like OSI H2U.

Ahhh, the question to end all questions. I am househunting as well, and have asked myself the same question many times, so I don't know that I have the best answer for you. Plus you factor in the differences in opinion between the family members and that makes it even more complicated. It is different for every person out there that is house hunting based on their needs. Here is one thing that helped me a bit when my mom pointed it out based on something that I said about one particular house....think of how you live and your day to day activities. Now think of doing all that in that house. How does it work? Are you struggling to find a place to put your coat and shoes without a coat closet? Is that important to you? Are your kids bikes in the way of backing out your car when want to navigate that tight driveway? When you wake up in the morning, do you want to have a quiet place away to drink your coffee and check your email like that loft? Or will that just be wasted space that you feel that you have to furnish and wont ever use? If you want to have children, what happens with the 3 bedroom thing? What if your teen kids don't want to share? Just sit back and imagine yourself living there. Reality is, some things will drive some people crazy, when it is embraced by somebody else. The house hunt is obviously filled with give and take, but what matters the most is what works for you.

Saphire- It wasn't the same neighborhood, but it was the same town, within 3 miles distance. Actually, my house was in a better physical location. The house that sold for 725k was the smallest on that other street, which was off an older neighborhood with smaller homes. Mine was one of the larger five homes on my street. Nothing better than mine sold on my street, except for the 2 worst homes on my street, so the comps weren't great for me. The people who purchased the similar to mine, but more expensive home (725k)never looked at my home because they qualified between 700-800k. My house was for sale for 569k. Realtors usually don't bother showing homes for much less if you are qualified for that much. That's what a realtor told me. Ironically, we (in the NE)got caught in a bad market bewteen Sept & Dec 2006. Only the homes under 450k and over 650k to a lesser extent were selling. The in between were not being looked at, or sold. Where I live, we have a few neighborhoods. Most of the newer construction (last 15 years)consists of one or two streets in between older streets. In our town we don't have much land left. Lots are at a premium, that's if you can find one. My point was that "comps" can work for you or against you. It's not good if the first house on your street has to sell quickly & the owners need to bail & give it away. That sets the standard for your neighborhood. I think comps should be done with a fine tooth comb, not just a colonial is a colonial. I can tell you stories from meeting with a few of the realtors, how they would start comparing 2 houses never being inside of them! I don't believe that you should pay 175k more for the same sqft on another street, just because some of the surrounding homes may be valued at 700-800k. I can see the neighborhood carrying a house an extra 25-50k but not almost 200k. I definitely think that the other party got taken. I've been in that other house & it was not worth 725k. The realtors must have worked hard to get price. To the OP- sometimes it works for the seller to list high. After all, realtors will show their house to a party that will be qualified in their price range, however skewed it may be. The savvy buyers won't fall for it. But there is a $.... born every minute & they listen to what the realtors say ;)