For what its worth: I bought a Miele S180 upright to replace my old upright. I ignored the standard advice that canisters are better for what we have (hardwood and area rugs) because I had the same fear that it'd be a pain to lug a canister around. Well... that Miele upright sucked, and not in the way a good vacuum should ;) I exchanged it for the Miele Polaris canister vacuum and I absolutely LOVE it. It's small, light, easy to move around, and the wand/head is sooooo much better for getting under furniture than any upright I have ever had. I really, really love it.

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

"Emailed documents are legally enforceable in a lot of cases. There is federal law behind it. Only an attorney can tell you whether it would be binding in this case." Unless they emailed a signed and completed contract (as opposed to just saying "we accept" y0ou will not get very far. "if the bank's policy is to negotiate & accept verbally or via email, you may indeed have a contract. ": You can try pushing the bank,m but they have much deeper pockets an attorneys on staff or retainer. You can negotiate any way you want, but all final RE contracts must be in writing and signed by both parties. Expecting an RE agent to understand even basic contract law seems to be a a sore point.

I am a seamstress. The previous posters were correct in suggesting you may need more panels to make your drapes sufficiently full. No "professional" is going to hand sew your drapes together. As a professional, to do a professional job, she will have open the seams at the sides, which means undoing the top and hem as well, to stitch the panels together. She should either serge the seams together or use a French seam. The entire top seam will have to be ripped open to add the pleating tape and re-stitched. Generally, there needs to be four inches of fabric at the top to cover the pleating tape. You can have her make the pleats for you, and they will be permanent. Or you can buy the more expensive hooks that make the pleats by themselves. The work of the seamstress is greater than you'd think, because she has to take the vertical seams apart before she sews the panels together. The entire top hem will need to be picked or razored apart, the tabs removed, pleating tape added and a new seam at the bottom edge of the pleating tape. She will then re-stitch the hem where she took it apart to stitch the panels together. Razoring all the seams apart carefully and putting them back together, adding pleating tape, re-doing the hem, I'd estimate $250 to $275. She should ask to see them, first, though, to make sure there's nothing that would make them taking them apart more difficult.