I missed this topic first time around, funny stuff! A few of my nominations: Taste specific - usually means stunningly tacky/ugly, and seems to be tactful realtor-speak for 'for the love of god get rid of that horror!' as s/he gazes at the lime green wall, purple shag couch or beer can chandelier. Open and flowing - holy grail of interior design invoked by the buyer, usually a woman, as she starts speculating about whether every single wall can be knocked down to yield that all important internal vista. Nice yard - especially jaw dropping on the HGTV shows set in urban areas. To see 4 square feet of concrete, ringed in by the towering dingy brick walls of the neighboring multi family dwellings, described as a 'nice yard' in Chicago, Boston, etc is always amusing. Ann

Our gathering this year initiated by me. With 6 children among 3 moms living in the southern portion of California it made sense to meet in Hollywood for Thanksgiving. I recommended much of the menu according to the tastes and traditions of my friends. We had turkey wrapped in bacon, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, two kinds of sweet potatoes, green beans almondine, a lovely salad brought by guests, corn bread with bacon stuffing, apricot sausage bread stuffing, a raspberry-cream cheese jello, three kinds of cranberry sauces, homemade pumpkin pies and cheese cake, purchased cherry and pecan pies, ice creams, and whipped cream. It was all quite traditional fare. I made stuffings and gravy at home and traveled with those. Pie filling and crust pastry dough were made at home and assembled there. My crust discs didn't have enough moisture and fought me. Thankfully pumpkin pies only have bottom crusts that were well covered by filling. They were not pretty! But the taste and texture were good. I cooked the turkey and a spare breast there. The turkey went into a roaster. I cooked it 450 for an hour and then turned it down to 325 for the rest of the cooking and held it at warm while everything else finished. It was quite fine. It was an organic 19 pound tom. My friends made the sweet potatoes, cheesecake, jello dish, and cranberries. We also had canned cranberry jell. The young'uns love that stuff. Alice and Haley made guacamole to snack on before the meal. Our hostess Lisa made hot cider and coffee. Though I asked and my emails were forwarded to all guests, no one told me that the two daughters of my friend's friends are vegetarian. :( They ate around the heavily meaty offerings. I would happily have made something for them and some veggie stuffing had I known. I had many sous chefs among the young adults who wandered in and out and helped. Everyone pitched in with everything that needed to be done. Though I am perfectly capable of turkey carving, I was also really ready to abdicate the duty due to tiredness by the time the bird emerged. I asked my son to carve. He stuttered in a panic and left the kitchen. :) I asked the super social husband of the friend's friend to carve. He also blanched at the request but manned up on the spot and did the job. Bless his heart. All of the young folks took over at dessert time and set everything out after we cleaned up the main event. We were supposed to be 15 but the elderly momma was unable to attend so we were 14. I packed up a boxed meal for her. Things I would do differently next time: have a Silpat on which to roll pie crusts, make a vegetarian side that can work as entree for the vegetarians. Make sure we don't buy 2 hams and twenty pounds of potatoes. Lisa and I accidentally doubled up on a few things. I sent my starving student children home with two bags of potatoes. Otherwise, I would not change much. If we do this next year I will suggest that the adult children make some of the sides as well. Thankfully other people took photos! The youngsters gathered in the patio before dinner. Left to right: Lisa, Alice and Alice, Noelle, Haley, Daniel, Aimee, and Gina. Daniel and Alice amusing themselves while waiting to eat. Serving ourselves. Alice and Aimee with their plates. Someone's plate. The kids' table. ;) Candace, the ham thief. She was banished to the patio until dessert after helping herself to a portion of ham from the buffet. She is very tall and will counter surf if not watched carefully. The oldsters. Lisa, our hostess, is third from the left. Tom, the turkey carver is pretending to steal a kiss. Alice and Haley with desserts. Post orgy, um...meal.

I am so sorry about your loss. Poor Jane knew that you were doing everything you could for her. I lost my Megan like this in January. For her, though, there we absolutely no signs that she was ill until she had internal bleeding from a liver cancer tumor that burst. At the emergency vet, they took one look at her, said "She's a lab mix, so this is probably cancer. If it is in her liver, we'll call you right during the surgery to euthanize her." Liver cancer seems to be common for labs. Well, they were right, and they put her to sleep while she was still under anesthetic from the surgery. I drove back there and petted her until she was cold. I am so sorry to hear of your Jane. I know how you feel about your Jane's suffering. You did everything you could for her, and she tried her hardest for you. You will remember her wonderful presence in your life forever. She is a part of you by way of the lessons she taught you about love and devotion. You will mourn the lack of her company, but a part of her remains in the person you have become. I will think of you and your Jane girl often and send you thoughts of healing and comfort.

OK, first... Not every lender handles REOs the same. Countrywide with 90,000 REOs is going to be different from your local credit union that has 4-5 REOs in inventory. Lenders do like contracts without any contingencies. However, they rarely receive any. Most have several including financing, inspection, & a few repairs. Since each property is unique it's impossible for me to tell you what Countrywide is likely to do on this particular house that I've never seen. As a work-out officer though I can tell you that, yes, they have spreadsheets. However, they are not written in stone like the Ten Commandments. REO listing prices are moving targets & every lender in the country is now very aware of that fact. Any institution I've ever worked for gave me what's known as a "lending limit". In other words, I could approve or reject deals up to that limit. The experience of the loan officer & the individual instituion both play a role in determining what an officer's limits are. Usually...portfolios are divided up so most loans within a particular lender's portfolio fall within their approved limits. Now always though. So, if a contingency offer or one less than asking price should come in on a property outside the lender's limit...he/she would have to take the offer to either their department head...or, the dreaded 'Committee'. On each REO, the institution sets what's known as a 'Loan Loss Reserve' which is NOT THE SAME AS THE ASKING PRICE. If accepting your offer increases that amount...higher approval will be required...usually 'Committee' (ugh!). It is this 'Loan Loss Reserve' number that drives the contract. You, unfortunately, have no way of knowing what that number is. How are prices set??? Here's how... The lender, by accounting standards & regulations, is SUPPOSED to have an appraisal that is LESS than 6 months old. That appraised amount becomes the listing amount. Now, again unfortunately, many lenders are using appraisals that exceed the 6 months. And, as we know, prices are falling in most areas across the country. I come back to each lender handles this situation different. There really is NO one correct answer on how to negotiate on an REO. Here are some things that may make it easier: 1.) Find out the foreclosure date. The longer they've had it in inventory the better for you. 2.) What was the foreclosed mortgage amount? 3.) When was the mortgage signed...is it 2 years old or 17 years old? 4.) Is the property in an area that's experiencing significant price declines? 5.) What is the inventory level for the area? 6.) Are there a lot of other REOs nearby? Then, you're on your own. My recommendation would be to offer $885K & be ready to move to $900K. I would ask for a few repairs IF they are major. Some lenders are outsourcing their REOs. This is a real wild card for a potential purchaser. There are many things that drive a vendor & they may, or may not, be compatible with those of the lender. That's about all I should say on this matter. Bottom line is, yes, you can expect the lender to negotiate. But, it's that 'Loan Loss Reserve' that's going to determine whether they accept your offer, or not. Now, a lender is SUPPOSED to write-down a loan to the appraised price (which is also probably the list price)...but, there's a lot of REOs out there that are not written down appropriately. Neither I nor you know if the house you're interested in is one of them? :( This is the 'mark to market' issue you've been hearing on the evening news. It's very ugly out there right now...very ugly. Good luck. I'll try to answer specific questions if I can. /tricia