That's a problem of language and terminology, as we aren't "thick" all together, or alternatively - are we? LOL I guess it's the fault of people who want to force bifurcation (black-white thinking) in the dualistic world of ours. A world that wants things to either be good or evil. Hence chemicals also have to either be good or evil, - and as some are believed to be dubious substances, harmful, hazardous or even poisonous, we must think of them as being- and call them bad/evil by default. It's a general problem in many discussions, because most people aren't actually educated or used (or even radically refuse) to differentiate, as in adding (different) concepts to the original concepts. ;-) PS: don't you believe that nutrients are "minerals", - because what is used to compose standard nutrients can absolutely be defined as chemicals. They are in fact extracted from minerals in most cases, but yet undergo chemical processes with the extraction. Many are in fact products or byproducts, some even waste products of the chemical industry. Even some so called "organic nutrients" are in fact the result of chemical procedures, as in cooked in acid. Example: If you dissolve magnesium, by 'cooking' magnesium carbonate in citric acid, as it is actually done with some "organic ingredients" for nutrients, would you call those chemical or organic?! If there is even synthetic citric acid used instead of natural citric acid (which is way to expensive), how would you call the component that is obtained through this process?! We get played and fooled every single day - and even before the end of the day, not even waiting the exam at the end of the course - we already start to naively tell it around and try to convince others of the very same fallacies. That makes it possible for any lunatic to play the whole world by only telling their cock-and-bull story a single time ;-)

Cynic, I was not suggesting an untrained person design brakes or engineer buildings! But there are many design jobs that do not require ASID or AIA qualifications. RV makers already know all the technical stuff. When they hire designers, it's for new ideas for space planning and finishes that are functional and will sell well. Not that there are a lot of jobs open there--it was just an example of the kind of place where someone with great ideas can sometimes find a niche without formal qualifications. If you'd read thoroughly, I said get a job with, not do it yourself. Okay, S-lash, no / for you! Architects--the kind who spec out projects rather than passing high concept drawings to others to finish--and interior designers, rather than "decorators" deal with wholesalers of everything from studs to stone to custom and stock windows to light switches to underwater speakers. I wasn't talking about furnishings. An unlicensed, uncertified "lifestyles surrounds consultant" can take a design concept for a house to a structural engineer for plans that will pass plan check, and to a qualified general contractor to build. There's nothing illegal or dangerous about it. It still has to pass code, and has to be correctly drawn and built by the pros. What such a consultant lacks is the same thing that a newbie architect lacks--field experience to know that the others are doing their jobs correctly. Architects are not even required, unless by local ordinance, for houses and small business buildings, and people often go straight to the engineer. That's why I brought it up. It's a path that's possible if the OP is more interested in the creative process than the nuts and bolts.

You might also look into getting a seller's home warranty after the inspection, since there will be a long time between inspection and closing. HWA offers one and it is very inexpensive, although I cannot vouch for how thorough it is. Here in Florida we can accept an initial deposit (earnest money) with or within 3 days of contract, and then often in a situation like this, ask for an additional deposit within 10 days. This is all standard on the first page, but the days can be adjusted. I was surprised when I bought a place and the seller asked for $10K deposit...which wasn't a problem but I hadn't encountered it before, but she also wanted us to have skin in the game since we were "investors" and therefore shady.

Update I wanted to update everyone and leave a kind of “How it went for me” for anyone in the future that may search these threads for VA home loans. I closed on Friday February 3rd. From the beginning it went like this: I contacted an organization that specializes in VA loans (Veteran’s United). I did the application and sent in all the required paperwork. It didn’t take very long for them to give me a quick estimate of what loan amount I would be approved for. Then it took them probably another week and a half to officially give me an amount that I was pre-approved before. In that time they also got me in touch with a realtor that they endorsed and that has experience with VA loans. One thing I did not do that I have seen encouragement to do, was shop around for a better interest rate. I didn’t do it for a couple of reasons. First, it takes actually a lot of time and effort to jump through the hoops, fill out the paperwork and give them all the information that they need. And of course they do a credit check on you and each time they have a credit check run it can affect your credit. I also believe that for the most part, most of the lenders are probably pretty close in the interest rate that they will offer. It is possible that had I really shopped around, spent a lot of time and effort in it, I may have found a lender that may have given me a slightly better interest straight. However my time and effort is very valuable to me and I felt like that was something that I did not want to do. The realtor sent me several listings for homes, this was after I gave her an idea of what I was looking for. She did a pretty good job as I also was looking myself in the area. She did not send me houses that were in my price range that clearly probably would’ve had a hard time passing the VA appraisal process. Found the house I was interested in. I really thought long and hard about how much I could afford every month. When I spoke to my lender he was able to give me an idea about what my monthly mortgage payment would be depending on where in my price range I fell. For instance I was approved for up to 350K. I wanted to keep my monthly mortgage below 2K a month. He was able to tell me that if I got a house for 300K, I would keep my mortgage around 2K a month. His estimates were pretty close. I went and looked at the home and asked a lot of questions and decided that this is the home that I wanted. It was originally listed at 340K and about two years ago. It had dropped and was currently 315K. My buyer's agent suggested that I offered 296K and the seller pay 6K in closing costs. I gave a check for 1K in earnest money to my buyer’s agent. She then deposited this into an escrow account once we were under contract. Counter offer came back at 311K with the seller paying 6K in closing. I thought long and hard about it, I wanted the house but I also knew what my personal limits were. So we countered back at 304K with the seller paying 6K in closing. They came back and offered 304K with the seller paying 4K in closing. So essentially I got it for 300K which was what my personal limit was. I chose to have a home inspection aside from the VA appraisal. I’m really glad I did. It cost me about $600. He was able to come out on my schedule and he specifically encourages the home buyer to be present for the last 15-30 minutes. At that time he gave me a general verbal about what he found. He also took me around the house and showed me where there were concerns and recommendations. I had contacted a couple of home inspectors and the other ones said they didn’t mind if I was around but this was the only one that truly encouraged me to show up and wanted to talk with me and show me what he found. I was very happy with him. The VA appraiser actually showed up on the same day that the home inspection was happening. The appraisal was ordered on a Thursday and he presented to the home the following Tuesday. I realize often this is a big sore spot with VA loans. Often the appraisal takes time and then the write up takes time as well. He also was very polite and talked to me about a few things. His write up was very thorough and he appraised the home at 316K. The inspector found three significantly concerning items and the appraiser found three items as well. All of them were pretty easy fixes with the exception of the boiler system. The inspector found a leak. The homeowner reassured us that there is no leak it must just be a coincidence that there were a few drops of water down there. She had it looked at and realized that there was a significant leak and had to have a certified boiler inspector come out. He replaced a few things on it and said it would be fine. Three days later it was leaking all over the place again. He came out again and had to replace a significant part of the system. I bring this up because in reality is unlikely that the VA appraiser would have found this. It was the inspector that found this. It has been explained to me that an inspector looks for structural conditions on the home. The VA appraiser looks for value and any blatant safety issues. All in all I am very glad that I decided to have an inspector and not rely solely on the VA appraiser finding anything that is concerning. The inspection cost me $600; the VA appraisal cost me $800. Apparently this is a regional thing and certain areas are much more expensive to have the VA appraisal done. The VA appraiser then came out after the homeowner completed all the requested fixes and re-inspected. I had to have that money up front, it can’t be rolled in to the loan. It is important to note that there were several little things that the appraiser and the inspector found. For instance the garage door opener needed adjusted; there weren’t screens for all the windows; no GFI outlets in the mudroom, etc. I had decided that since the seller had come down a decent amount on the price that I was going to be easy to work with and not request a fix for every little thing. I wanted to keep my eyes on the prize and only request truly deal breaker problems to be rectified. I had to notify the lender who I wanted for homeowner’s insurance. I contacted them and they sent an estimate and a binder to the lender We had originally given a closing date of January 31. This was actually just a month away from our initial offer (and several of those days were “taken away” by the holidays). I was very surprised when I got that “clear to close” the Friday before the Tuesday close date. It was actually the seller that needed more time. We ended up closing in February 3, just a few days later. I had to bring 563.00 in the form of a cashier's check for “cash to close”. Not very much I thought. I have heard so many horror stories about how long VA loans take and the problems that arise. Although I’ve only done one VA home and I’m certainly not an expert, I think there were a few reasons why mine went off without a hitch. I went with a lender that does nothing except VA loans. I could’ve gone down to my local Wells Fargo Bank or some other place and they would’ve been able to do a VA loan. However VA loans are very specialized and the organization that I went with (I’m sure there are many that are just as good) specializes in VA loans. They knew exactly what was needed from me to make it through the underwriting process. I went with a buyer’s agent that is well versed in VA loans. She has closed 100s of VA loans as a buyer’s agent. Additionally she has purchased homes as a VA purchaser. She knew which homes were more likely to appraise and pass VA inspection; she knew approximately how long things would take and she was very responsive to my needs and concerns. I purchased a fairly new home that was in pretty good shape. I had good credit and a good job with a decent income. I purchased in the dead of winter. This made things difficult in that everything was covered by couple of feet of snow and some of the outside parts of the yard and even part of the roof was not that visible. However I think that is one reason that the appraiser was able to come out and take care of me so rapidly. The lender had told me that the summer prior there was such a backup that it was taking weeks and weeks for VA appraiser to even show up to new homes to complete the appraisal process. I did things requested by the lender immediately. I’ve read so many times that the loan is held up because the purchaser has to get this form or old tax returns or some other piece of paper sent to the lender. I was very quick in response to every request of me. And lastly but not least I believe this is a home God wanted me in. So that is my experience at the VA home loan process. It really went very fast and it was pretty painless as far as I could tell. Thanks for all the support! Here are a few photographs for you to enjoy.