marys1000: "Drawbacks, 25-30 miles from work, part of which is a divided 4 lane with lights that backs up a lot (commute time and gas prices." Been there, done that, will never make that mistake again. Keep in mind that traffic never decreases. It will only get worse over the years. When we first came to the D.C. area about 20 years ago, we moved to a semi-sleepy suburb about 25 miles from downtown. It took me about 45 minutes to commute down a four-line divided road with several stoplights that would occasionally back up during rush hour. Within 5-7 years, the commute turned into an hour and 15 minutes each way - - IF - - I left the house before 7:00 in the morning. It was a real nightmare if I left later than that. And that was after the road had been expanded from 4 lanes to 6 lanes. We had to move in order to regain any semblance of quality of life. Never again.

Mac users are disadvantaged by Microsoft, which sometimes refuses to update Mac versions of their software (i.e., Internet Explorer). However, this is not the case for Microsoft Office - there have always been Office for Mac versions available (and they've just released Office2008 for Mac that will run on older PowerPC as well as newer Intel macs, and keeps up with Office2007 for Windows). But it is actually web developers who are truly to blame for sites that only work using IE. Mac users are a small percentage of the market, but as a demographic they are disproportionately wealthy internet users, and it's a dumb mistake to exclude them from one's website design. There are plenty of ways to design sites that are fully functional for Mac browsers. In the meantime, if it's just a matter of the site blocking Mac users via a browser sniffer (which is really poor practice just by the way), definitely try the Firefox extension johanncv referenced. Try Firefox in any case, if you haven't already, and you might be pleasantly surprised at what it can do vis-a-vis Safari. cheers from a Mac specialist :)

I do think that I am leaning toward the girls. However, like amysrq, that lack of experience worries me. I am most afraid that the young girl will end up being the primary agent and that the manager will disappear into her busy life after securing the listing. The boss talked the whole time during the interview and did almost all of the presenting and the girl said almost nothing, except "yeah" with a big smile. They said they donÂt use assistants  they just do it all themselves. Does this mean that the young girl IS the assistant? Sounded like the girlÂs number and pager would be on the sign and sheÂd be receiving all the calls about the house. But I donÂt have confidence that she could negotiate well or field crap-offers or deal with any surprises at the closing. She seemed more interested in "playing house" and staging and creating pretty flyers and writing copy and oohing and ahhing. Which is great and what I meant about enthusiasm, but I also need someone strong to get me through the legalese, business and monetary details The boss seems like a good negotiator, but when I asked if theyÂd both be present at the closing or if theyÂd both be presenting offers, they gave each other a "look" and the boss then revealed that she was also the office manager and had 2 kids who were always at some event or another, so it would be "hard to predict which one of us would handle the offers or closing." This team is in the same office as one of the 7% dynamos that I chatted with for 3 hours but ultimately decided not to use, so IÂm not sure if that is a conflict or not. I also sent the girl an email this morning, and she still hasn't responded, which to me isn't a good sign. The boss responded very quickly to my email last night - but so far nothing from the girl. I simply must be able to communicate by email with my agent - especially if I'm going to be out of town/already moved while the house is on the market. So... does this change anyone's mind? Are my worries justified? Or I am just being nit-picky? I don't have a problem with helping to train a new agent, but I need some kind of reassurance that the business end will be handled appropriately.

I sold my house yesterday and put an offer on a house about two weeks ago so I see selling and buying from two perspectives. First, as a seller, you don't want to spend money for a house you are leaving. But, if you would rearrange your furniture a bit, take down the wall paper, also add a few decorative accessories-not a bunch of little things, but a few well placed bigger things with real impact. Also, I like you drapes, but modern buyers would consider that a bit dated. Everything now a days is sheer, light open etc. I got sheer material from Walmart and made simple drapes-$1.00 a yard. They look great-like silk. If you don't sew, you can use glue. Add a few flowers to your yard. A buyer wants to just move in these days. As a buyer, I was looking for a clean house, I didn't want to take on a bunch of projects. I wanted move in ready. I am not your normal buyer as I am willing to replace carpeting, paint etc. My new family room has hideous wood paneling, but I still bought it. The price was right. In a more expensive house I would have requested that the sellers provide a bit of money for this. I don't know if you are pricing aggressively or trying to get top dollar that makes a difference too. Watch designed to sell, they have great tips. I don't mean the crazy stuff-ripping out bathrooms, but furniture arrangement, accessories etc.