Bentgrass can be a fine grass. And living with my sister might not be miserable. IF YOU WANT TO WORK YOUR BUTT OFF. First of all, what you're used to doing, well, it's just not enough. Nope, with bentgrass, you have to get a reel mower, because that grass has to be kept short. And don't let it get away from you, like skipping a mow or two, as it's pretty dense, unforgiving stuff. The only way to keep it in check is to keep it mowed short. So next time, you can get an easy mow in, by mowing short again. My brother in law, after putting an addition on their house last year, has been informed that she has plans for their newer addition. Then you've got fertilizer. Bent is what's called 'high maintenance' because you need to fertilize the stuff all the time, to keep it vigorous, and to keep the color uniform: no sense having one (healthy) color over here, if you can see a less healthy color over there. Nope: fertilize it again. And you're going to want a light dose on that fertilizer, so you don't burn it. But because it's a light dose, you want to do it fairly frequently, because the fert is needed. And my brother in law just got done, this winter, actually painting the room where the new doorway is going to be punched, to get out to the newer addition. Well, that work turns out to be wasted, given that he's going to be starting over from scratch, eh? Then you've got weed infestation: Because the lawn is so short (literally a golf course green: that's what golf course greens are made of, bentgrass) weed seeds can get contact with the soil, and can thus sprout, because there's not a tall canopy of grass keeping the sunlight from that weed seed. So you've got to treat weeds more often than 'normal' people with taller lawns. And Weed B Gone might not do it. If it's a grass infestation, like Poa, you have to get out the roundup, and do your best with a spot spray general killer. Of course it left a spot: it's roundup. And, apparently, my brother in law left some spot (you'd have to be really looking, to notice it) on the newly painted wall, and the whole wall needed, of course, to be repainted. So after you get the grass out of there, with roundup, you have to re-grow some bent in that spot, right away, so it's only two weeks or three that it will be noticed, and commented upon, if you know what I mean. And there's more: every part of the underlying soil, that is not dead flat, like a pool table, will show. So you're going to want to take some time, again, and re level those areas, so it looks dead flat, like topdressing, or something. Mostly, it will work, but then there are those times it doesn't quite work, and you have to do it again. With more fertilizer, this time, if you please. Then you've got to keep that reel mower sharpened, or you'll get an irregular cut: that will show pretty plainly, we don't want that. Of course not. Haul the reel mower back up to the sharpening shop. Drainage issues, of course, and that's when you learn why most golf course greens are elevated, and why the ones that are not elevated tend to show water spots, and not look as good as the rest of it. Those can be topdressed, or the green re leveled, in an attempt (the first attempt) to get drainage right, and the spots gone away, so they won't be noticed. Very much. Or commented upon. You're not going to get all this work done, without having to interrupt it, for that mowing, with the reel mower. All the time, mowing. Twice a week? More? Depends on how much fertilizer you put down, how fast it grows. And, it's true, that the spring green up comes a little more late than the neighbor's lawns, because it's bentgrass. And there isn't much point to wondering out loud (if you know what I mean) about what could be done differently this year, so the lawn stays as green as the neighbors, in spring, because it's bentgrass. And the poor greenskeeper who has to do all that work anyway just doesn't have the time to actually do more than was done, because so much was done, and about the time you get it all done, or about the time you run out of season, in October/November, and you're a little tired of it, well, you're done. Until Spring. When you get to start it, all of it, over again, and do it a little more frequently, this year, please, so the lawn might look a little bit more uniform, you know what I mean? Or do you want her to explain it?

I gotta ask, is that a desk lamp on the desk? It's a bit too modern and odd to work, but yes, you do need a desk lamp. If you do a substantial sized headboard, you can get by without art here, but the bedside table also needs a lamp, and a book. Good move on the plant in the corner. Brown and blue is a popular color combination right now and you ought to be able to find some second hand bedding or fabric at the Salvation Army. I just found some gorgeous silk drapes for $5 a piece and I'm going to use them to make pillows in my guest room. If you find an inexpensive ottoman to go with your chair, that would be a nice touch. You could use the brown shower curtain currently in your bath as a throw over whatever chair you pick. I have picked up chairs off the side of the road when staging. They don't have to be able to really seat people, they just have to not smell. You can use a thrift store sheet and some safety pins to create an instant fitted slipcover. Window treatments here will be problematic, but it still needs to happen. Maybe just a tension rod and a sheer across the bottom of the window and that's it. Cafe curtains basically. Enough so that it feels dressed, but no enough that it obscures the view and the light.

ncrealestateguy, thank you for money saving tip on pool chemicals. I will check out the poolcalculator website. This will hopefully offset some cost in running pool equipment + in pool opening/closing. The previous owners spent years on building the pool and the surrounding deck and waterfall. I wouldn't want to undo their hard work by filling in the pool.. stir_fryi, our house is in a nice neighborhood, which is surrounded by woods. Our 1 acre is cleared, mostly flat land. Kids can definitely ride bicycles and play football on it. (Occasionally, I see neighbors' kids riding small motorcycles in their yard & on the streets in our neighborhood. What luxurious toys they have!) Edit to add: Given the current housing market, if we sell the house now, we would most likely not gain anything financially (after factoring in all the costs related to selling & moving). If the current market were similar to 2004 or early 2005, we would probably be able to pocket some profit, but I don't think it would be close to half million.. This post was edited by ILoveCookie on Tue, Apr 9, 13 at 12:16

It depends also upon what that particular property is worth to you. I've seen people let $5000 keep them from purchasing a home they really wanted, and end up paying the price it could have been purchased for a few months later, for a house they liked less. Market values fluctuate. There are the comps of what a house is worth on the market at this moment, and what it is worth to you. If you pay $5000 over market value today, but get the house, maybe that purchase price is the market value in six months. Does that matter in the larger picture for what is often a30 year mortgage, and the "value" bouncing up and down? Sure, you don't want to pay more than you have to. But increasing the odds of actually being able to purchase the house you want has a value, too. How badly do you want this particular property? If low-balling increases the odds that someone else will purchase the property instead, how much does that matter to you? That is a question only you can answer. Offering an amount closer to what you said you expect to have to pay, increases the odds of your being able to purchase the property. Not all offers must be made with negotiating in mind. We offered less than market for our house, but that was what we were willing to pay with consideration to the work needed. The owner wanted more, but it was easy to decline increasing our offer, because we had already established what we were willing to pay. Don't forget that most properties get appraised, and that can affect how much price wiggling is done during the negotiations for inspection repairs, closing costs, etc. Even if they accept your lower offer, if the house appraises much higher, they will then probably not going to concede additional money. If your offer is above the appraisal, you can renegotiate (per contract) and are more likely to get a roof replacement, or whatever. In the end, it could be a wash when it comes to the final price.