I have a success story for y'all. I closed on my 1956 house on 12.30.2009. Part of what attracted me to it was almost 1/2 acre lot. It's the standard mostly square older home - nothing at all fancy about the house. But the yard... I've always wanted to become a gardener. I wanted to grow my own food, plants beautiful plants, and have a place of serenity and beauty by way of landscaping. The prior owner was a very old woman who passed away last year. All my neighbors tell me she was all the time working in her yard and had one of those magazine perfect yards all year round. Before she passed away of course. I'm told the yard - front and back, was immaculate. There are several HUGE oak trees in the back yard. There are azaleas, hydrangeas, dogwoods, magnolias, weeping cherry tree, wisteria, hollies, ferns, TONS of hostas, solomon's seals - and so much more! Since I moved in during winter, the back was just sticks and leaves. Years and years worth of leaves. It looked really bad, being neglected for so long. I'm told too that the previous owner had suffered in health her last few years and during that time could no longer take care of her yard. Now, I'm the owner. When I first moved in I must admit - in my extreme ingorance, I was the typical non-gardening type. I looked at the yard and only saw what I wanted to remove so I could plant what I wanted. Terribly selfish I know, and all I could see was my own limited view of beauty. But I believe the gardening Gods were smiling on me. I read a few books prior to me doing anything in the yard, which saved both the yard from disaster and myself from ignorance. After reading these books - my view or gardening was changed forever. I hired a landscaper to identify what he could, and continued to educate myself. Once I realized what I truly had I choose to only clean up this spring and I'm not doing anything else really so I can see what's actually back there. I want to see what grows and blooms throughout the year so I don't accidentally remove something that I should leave. Spring came and my yard came alive! I had no idea how beautiful it would become. And after reading several books on ecological gardening and permaculture, I decided that this yard was mostly fine as it is. To honor the woman who created this masterpiece, I decided that I'd maintain what is back there and the only things I want to do now is replace some of the non-natives plants with native plants, and just keep the yard picked up. I know this will take years as I'm only one person and as you can see, the yard is huge for just one person. I believe this is a very big success story. While the prior owners are no longer here to do the drive by, I believe that my education in gardening and the respect I'm showing for their hard work and beauty is somehow felt by them. At least, that's how I sometimes feel. Or, what I want to believe. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=100333308934400577480&target=ALBUM&id=5479246416174947185&authkey=Gv1sRgCPHA8eW40a3S9wE&feat=email KJ

OK, thanks for the background information. The house you like is not 'a crown among thorns'. It's just been fixed up more than its neighbors. So...you will pay more for the already-improved property. I don't see a problem with that if it difference isn't huge. How WELL has it been added on to and remodeled? Would you be ahead to buy and remodel a neighboring home? We own one of the smaller homes in our neighborhood. We bought a 1950's ranch on a nice lot in a nice neighborhood of mostly larger homes and did a teardown. We are 'money ahead' of what we would have had if we'd just remodeled. The good existing neighborhood plus other teardowns after ours have increased the value of our property. There are now only three other old ranches in the area -- future teardowns. OTOH, our DS and DIL bought an old house in an established Chicago neighborhood about the same time we moved. The prior owner had done some remodeling. It wasn't THE nicest house on the block when they bought ten years ago, but it's starting to look better and better as the others *deteriorate*. The neighborhood has gone downhill as older people sold to immigrants who have different values. The nice park at the end of the street isn't as pleasant and safe. The local school is trying to cope with children who speak ten other languages at home. DS remodeled their kitchen and replaced pipes and electrical, but they have decided NOT to 'improve' further; the area no longer warrants it. I'm trying to illustrate how "Things (can) Change."

Thank you all again for the comments. I am summarizing my interpretation so I can more easily bookmark for future reference. 1) Design for the way you live. Circulation should be a key consideration in the design process. 2) Develop a set of personal scenarios such as those listed below. Be specific in the steps you are taking (what you pick up and put down in the process, where you start, where you need to visit, where the scenario ends): - Getting home for the day and dropping of coat/electronics. - Checking the mailbox, sorting mail, putting mail away to deal with later. - Receiving guests into the home. - Entertaining larger groups. - Entertaining smaller groups. - Entertaining overnight guests. - Charging electronics. - Watching a movie. - Morning routine (bed -> bathroom -> kitchen -> closet -> bathroom -> etc.) - Evening routine 3) Test the scenarios on the floor plan. Laminating and using different color dry erase markers is an option. Another option is to use a 3D home design program for a "virtual" walk through of the plan. 4) When testing use a 30" circle (human size), then add in an element of others that may be on a complementing/competing paths. 5) Include furniture placement (properly sized) on the plan when assessing the flow. 6) Watch that sight lines meet your individual expectations and tastes (what can you see from where). 7) Do not forget to include the outside (land and exterior) in the process of assessing flow.

In my deal, we are allowed to go outside the "program" for stuff if we pay the difference. For example, they allow us to get certain tiers of countertops. If I want to select a higher tier counter top, then I have to pay the price difference. If I go entirely out of their program and select a counter that they don't typically use, then I can purchase it and receive a credit. I see Sophie's point about the appraisal, and that might be the cause of their inflexibility, but I would think a flooring upgrade would range in the $10K-$15K range? Every time I disagree about something, I have made "made a stink about it" using your term. In my experience, I have either gotten my way or found a compromise with the builder. Don't just accept things without questioning them when you are making such a huge purchase like a home.