I did tiling for the first time when I tiled my backsplash and I can give you some advice from one beginner to another (not meant to replace the advice of a pro, but just might be some things that a pro takes for granted since they are good at what they do). IMO the way to get a professional looking job is to: 1) take your time. It's not going to go quick, that comes with practice. It took me a week to do my backsplash, a pro would have done it in a day, but I got a professional look. 2) use spacers. If there are no lugs on your tile to give the proper spacing, use spacers. I will never forget watching some DIY show, maybe weekend warriors, where the guy was like "I don't need to use spacers, I have a good eye." Oh what a crappy install THAT turned out to be. Again this is a practice thing, someone who does this all the time might be able to do it without spacers but you don't have that much practice so use them. 3) never work with someone who doesn't have the same standards you do. Tiling is not necessarily a 2 person job. 4) Try out one of those cheapie tiling kits at home depot - the one that comes with a cheap, half circle shaped piece of tin for spreading thinset. I have kind of small hands (definitely smaller than the average man) and found that this tool was MUCH easier for me to control than the larger trowel. Sure, you can't spread as much at one time but see #1. Even with the trowel, the thing is notched to make sure you get the right amount of thinset on the walls. Use the right size notches (maybe bill can help you with that and also some tips for applying). 4) Buy more extra than you'd need for a pro and don't be afraid to use it... to re-cut anything that needs to be re-cut etcetc.

In comparison we are a 3bdrm 2.5 bath townhouse with about 1650 sq. ft, largest yard on the lot- new privacy fence- and we have new hardwoods in the whole house, fresh paint, fixtures, etc.- The ones that have sold- 2 of them were 2 bdrm 1500sq ft-not updated at all. 2 were 3 bdrm 2.5 baths completely gutted and redone (priced 15K adn 20K more than us) We are priced $500 more than the lady with the outdated 2bdrm on the other side of us. Everyone sold pretty close to their asking price and we are priced at the lower end of our range. We just don't understand why we haven't sold and maybe a new agent and agency can open us to the market again. When did these houses sell? I also wonder if there were a few buyers in this price range that decided not to continue looking for houses due to the news reports. I'd stopped looking for another house but just started going back out the last 2 or so weeks. I think you have a good plan, maybe you need someone that's advertising more, but do you know what your current agent has done? Before switching, I would let the current agent show you your folder with copies of the advertising she's done. If there are no buyers, switching agents won't help. If extremely similar properties have sold, and yours hasn't, definitely change REAs. Better yet, find out which agent sold the comps. Find out which company and realtors sold, and hire that one. My REA just told me that August is slow, to hang in there, and wait for things to pick up in September. How does one find out who sold what properties? This is something I would like to look into myself. Our contract is coming up for renewal, so we have to decide what we will do. I may make a new post as this may help someone else... if people aren't following this post, they won't see the answer if there is one.

We had four bedrooms and we needed them. I doubt if very many people coming through our home needed four bedrooms, but many commented on the traditional 70's closet although it was big for it's time. I know the buyers were going to make the smallest bedroom into a closet. I don't think making it a 3/2 will hurt resale and addition is going to cost much more. It's not always easy to deal with new foundation and rooflines. The bath conversion won't be cheap anyway and you'll have to see if they can get the plumbing where you want it to go. If they can, I think you will find a nice master is a draw. I'm not sure what you mean by a raised bungalow. Raised ranch? Split entry? I really can't picture all four bedrooms, living. kitchen and dining in that space. A room without a closet does not qualify as a bedroom here, not matter what the age of the home. Gloria

I grew up in a family of nine. Most of the time we lived in military housing, which was assigned based on rank, not the size of the family. At one point, we lived in a 3 bedroom, one bathroom house, with a galley kitchen and a combination living/dining room, with a tiny pantry/utility room off the kitchen for the washer and dryer. No attic or basement. The age range of us kids was newborn to 12. The master bedroom had two sets of bunk beds and the 4 oldest boys slept in there. Mom and Dad had the next biggest room, with the current baby. My sister and I had the smallest room, which was a bit cramped with a crib and a twin sized bed. As for getting ready in the morning, we had a shower schedule, with some of us showering at night and others in the morning. (In part because no water heater was going to be able to provide enough hot water for 7-8 showers in a row.) I know that there wasn't much extra room, but my memories of that house don't include any idea that it was too small for us (I estimate that it was about 1,750 sq. ft.). Mostly, it was the 1960s and we just didn't have a lot of stuff. Otherwise, we'd have been hurting. My suggestion is to declutter stuff before the move. Then declutter again. In a small space, it is difficult to hold on to stuff that you aren't using right now. So clothes you are saving for the next kid to grow into, toys that aren't being used right now, but a younger kid might want in 2 years--consider letting those go. You'll have to pay to move them and then you will have to find storage space for them, unless they can be stored in one of the outbuildings. Be flexible in how you look at your new space. That porch room, since it is heated, could become a playroom. Or an office. The kids are getting to the age of homework--maybe you will need to fit desks into their rooms instead of the dressers. Could one of the outbuildings be set up as a play space, at least for the older kids, for at least some of the year? If at all possible, I'd move there with your current furniture and live in the space for a few months before making any big changes. You need to see how you really use the space to know what furniture you will want to let go and what new furniture you will want to replace it with. My parents always ended up making a shopping trip after we'd been in a new house for three months, to buy the things that would make living there easier--a kitchen cart in one house, storage cabinets in another, a smaller coffee table or kitchen table. (Just so you don't think the military kept us in inadequate quarters all the time, a few years and houses later, we moved into a 6 bedroom, 3 bath house with two pantries, a music room, a 3 season porch, parquet floors, window seats, french doors leading from the living and dining rooms onto a lovely front porch, basement and attic with tons of built-in closets and cabinets, a room for the maid (which they must have had in 1850 when the house was built) and a tunnel connecting the house to the garage, the former stable, so the occupants could get to their transportation without getting cold or wet. That was military housing on a tiny little base in Philadelphia. )