The place issuing the HE loan should have been able to find the info on line that the property was clear. You might want to request after checkiing with the county to see if a release was ever granted. Also check your credit reports to see if any loans show as not being closed. Asking for the deed sets off alarm bells for me. The Title Insurance which hopefully you paid to have when you purchased the property can be updated for a fee at most title companies. Too expensive unless to do a full one unless you are planning to sell but can save money if and when you go to sell the property.

Thanks Talley, it is good to know I am not alone. It drives me crazy when I do spend hours cleaning, only to have DH come home and move something centimeters. Or I haven't touched something all day, and he will come home and move it. AAARRGH. Just leave it alone!!! Now to the office. I do have a good 2 drawer filing cabinet I think we got from an office that was moving, but it is full! Although I am sure it needs to be cleaned out. Right now we have a corner computer desk that has really no storage. Everything is on the top of the desk, cubbies, in baskets, paper, paper everywhere! I do research for a coupon website and am the secretary for the music boosters at the high school, so there is a lot of paper. Just need a better filing system. I do have in the closet a cabinet that right now houses lots of craft stuff that I haven't used in forever. I am thinking about taking that out, cleaning it out and repurposing it. Maybe paint and a little molding, a cork board on the front, baskets and labels inside... I need a real desk with drawers to put stuff away. I have 4 different rolly carts with different size drawers for various and sundry things. One holds kids school supplies I try to always have on hand so there is no running to the store in the middle of the night! Buy them in Aug/Sept when they are cheap! Then I have all my fabric, I make flannel rag quilts for friends then use the scraps to make blankies for preemies. Have lots of flannel remnants, need to get that in line. Ok, now I am stressing, just need to concentrate on one thing at a time. Today it is the paper work on the floor. Once I can get through that it won't be so bad. Thanks again, Laura

WOW! Thank you all soooo much! You all have made me so much more zen about everything. And you're all 100% right--it's not as dire as I thought when I first got the photos. There IS room and I know I can make it work, with lots of help, of course! Desertsteph, yes, I understand about not being able to get down and get to stuff in the back of base cabinets! So much space is wasted because I never want to use anything beyond about the first foot or so. Apartment base cabs are the worst! You have to use them because usually you don't get enough uppers, depending on the apartment, of course. I like the two big windows too! One thing I will say about this little place is that it has a LOT of windows. The previous owners have replaced the LR window, the LR bay window, and both kitchen windows with the good double pane ones. I will need to do the bedroom and bathroom windows. Historian, thanks for the recommendations; I'll be sure to check them out! Omelet, thanks for the kind words. I'll get out there ASAP to take measurements, photos, video, the whole works. Scone911, so true! NYC is maybe the worst, but if you don't have a lot of money, renting in any large urban area can be challenging. There are still some good deals in the Seattle area if you know where to look or have connections. I'm lucky to have those big windows! I remember the first little apartment my husband and I had in 1980...full of huge jumping spiders, no natural light...but I guess when you're 20 and in love you make anything work. ;-) bpathome, smiling, practigal, I think an induction cook top is a good idea. Also, I saw an oven hood/microwave that also can be used as a convection oven. That might be worth considering. Dhygarden, indeed! People in much of the rest of the world work with much smaller kitchens than we do here in the U.S. Haha, that often seems to come up on "House Hunters International"--Americans can't fathom the tiny kitchen. And you're also right about not having an electric appliance for everything. I can't wait to tell my best friends in Zambia the phrase "appliance garage." (They both work for American diplomats, so they'll just shake their heads and laugh.) I recently bought this really cute Jamie Oliver knife set; it's just three knives, but really you can do everything with them. I've always sort of dreamt of the European way of walking to the market every day or every other day to buy everything fresh. Though there are reasons I like the location of my new house, one disadvantage is that the closest grocery store (or anything, really) is about 10 miles away. Believe me, I never pictured myself living in the tulies...I always thought I'd end up in some downtown flat in a big city, but life is funny. I really do want to get a freezer if I can figure out where to put it...we can get snowed, or iced, in out there and it would be good to be stocked up on a couple weeks' worth of meals. I'm still holding out hope of getting a year long visiting professor gig in either in France or the UK, because I'd love to live in Europe for a year. Writersblock, first of all, let me just say I loooooove that cat!! What breed? Is he (she?) named Batman? If not, why not? ;-) Thanks for the advice on staying away from the 20" ovens! I haven't purchased my own appliances in a couple of decades, and I'm really not familiar with what's what out there. I like your under cabinet lighting too, very nice! My daughter and I are long overdue for a trip to Seattle, so we'll have to head over the mountains this spring--I'm a wuss when it comes to driving over the pass in the winter, haha! I kind of thought the same thing about the IKEA cart; I'm glad you've seen it and could tell me about it. I can't shop at the Evil Empire (Walmart) for political reasons, but I do know there are options--I can check out Fred Meyer, Lowes, Home Depot, BB&B, etc. Also, thanks to you and everyone for tipping me off to the "Little Paris" show! YouTube is completely awesome. Crl, ah to be tall! :-) I'm barely 5'1", and can't stand up straight because of my arthritis, so although I really love the hanging pot racks, they probably aren't the best for me. I think a microwave with oven or convection oven would be OK, at least for now because it's pretty much just one quick move to put something in and then take it out. Crl, also thanks for the suggestion of the toe kick drawers, and thanks to Chicagoans for the illustrated version! Very, very clever! Amazing how much space we have in houses that we don't think to use, like whomever came up with the brilliant notion of recessing things back between the studs. Chicagoans, I'm assuming you're from or live in Chicago, I have enjoyed visiting Chicago twice in the past few years for an academic conference. It's a beautiful city. Although I must say I've never truly known what cold was until I walked around in Chicago! :-) lferg92, I was looking at a super susan the other day; I think it was on the KitchenAid site. They look really wonderful. I'm glad you're enjoying yours, and thanks for the recommendations! Funkycamper and everyone else who mentioned the dishwasher issue, thanks for your honest assessment! You're probably right. Our first dishwasher when I was a kid was a portable--we lived in a tiny little house and it was a tiny kitchen. When we finally moved to Seattle from California we thought our built in dishwasher was the coolest thing ever, lol! I will seriously reconsider a smaller built in. And cpartist, point well taken about the stackables. The w/d that are there now are about 7 years old, I think, still in perfect working condition. But they are monsters; I've never seen such big machines, and both top loaders, ugh. LOL when I was staying there with my friends I practically fell head first into the dryer one afternoon trying to get stuff out. I have to use my little grabber/reacher tool, but that's OK. But as soon as I can afford new ones, they'll definitely be front loaders! Cawaps, "truly awful clutter management," haha! If you knew the half of it, but I'm going to remember that phrase! I'm very anti-clutter and kind of a minimalist. I really like the clean counter look, nothing sitting out. And you're right. When everything is moved out of the house, a feat I still don't know how will be pulled off, except they're getting another storage unit (in addition to the two they have now), and when the extreme cleaners have worked their magic, and when the ghastly china cabinet is knocked out, I know the space will look much bigger. Thanks for the encouragement! There was recently a huge debate, but I can't remember if it was this forum or something else, about pull-out bread boards. I'm pro-bread board, for the record. :-) buehl, thanks for the link. I'll be sure to study the instructions! Desertsteph, that makes a lot of sense, sitting at the table to do prep work. I have a wooden stool that I have used in my last couple of kitchens and that has worked pretty well. Sounds like you got a great deal on the bisque appliances! Ilovered and practigal, you've pretty much talked me into an 18" dishwasher! :-) Thank you all again so much! I'll get a floor plan up as soon as I can! I hope I can overhaul the whole house, roof to subfloor. The yard is also a mess; it's not actually a yard, it's more dirt with weeds. Since I'd like to be a good neighbor, something's going to have to be done next summer on that too. Luckily, the bones of the house are good. No leaks, siding and skirting in excellent condition, etc. The eat-in kitchen and living room will be my biggest and most expensive projects, and I want to do them first because that's where life is lived. I'm very much looking forward to getting your community wisdom! :-)

jae_tn2, sorry, I should have been more specific...I didn't find him but did find that first name, so it's not a made up name like I surmised, and also the last name but not together. The one that comes up most often is Clodosbaldo Russian looking like possibly being some crime connections in Bolivia or Uraguay (but I don't read Spanish and google translate wouldn't work). Not that I thought it was your guy, just that the name is an actual name.