The surrounding mountains are lovely; the natives are friendly. (I've had relatives living in the area. The rest of the natives are really nice, too) I strongly suggest that you study up on reports on the water and air quality, and the causes for some of the not-good ratings. Big business is big business, and certain companies have had a strong influence on any attempt to legislate for improvements. link is to one report, which has additonal links upon which the report is based. Additional information can be found through government sites both state and federal. Here is a link that might be useful: earthday rating

Jane_NY. I think you could get just as good advice from the Decorating Forum for what you need to make the place appeal to buyers. The one thing stagers do is to rent you furnishings to make the place look updated and trendy. You can go to a furniture rental store on your own and get matching current looking furniture with the help of their design consultants. Places like Cort Furniture Rental have design consultants to work with you FOR FREE and even a Home Stageing department with furnishing just for staging. (I have had good experience dealing with them BTW.) Brook Furniture rental has been around for a long time and has a good reputation. Some places like Instant Furniture are only located in certain states. Find places near you or use one of the national furniture rental stores. Make sure you tell them you want furniture for staging. The price is cheaper since the furniture is not being used on a daily basis for family living and you do not have to sign a long lease either like for corporate rentals. Save your moola and go with free staging consulting with a furniture rental place directly rather than going through a middleman and paying them $450 for advice that may not even work. Rent directly. The furniture is high quality and they have differnt looks to go with different style houses. They even rent out accessories and wall art for that 'finishing touch'. It will all match. It will be effortless to pull off a cohesive look for the entire home. http://www.cort.com/furniture/home-staging.html http://www.brookfurniturerental.com/homestaging/home_staging.html Just a thought. Here is a link that might be useful: Cort

Jane, After I posted above, I read your other threads, and really feel for you--this sounds so stressful and I think the property taxes would give me a heart attack!! But I don't think you can get away with just replacing the cabinet handles. I do think you could keep the floor and backsplash since they are neutral, and maybe the countertop too (though if you really can get granite for free I'd do that). In your price point, and if the demographics of buyers in your area tend to be affluent younger couples, I really think leaving the cabinets as-is (even with new knobs) would be a serious detriment to your ability to sell at an acceptable price --- unless your realtor says people are likely to buy it as a tear down and re-build on the lot (which doesn't sound likely from what you've posted so far). Even if buyers plan to rip everything out and do a major remodel of their own, there's still that first impression that you mentioned. Plus, if the kitchen stays as is, people may discount your house's value by their imagined cost of the remodel, which is probably a lot more than it would cost you to hire someone to change the cabinet finish. And -- speaking as someone who bought a house 4 years ago that was very dated and needed updates throughout the house (which I am still doing) --- I think most people, even those who like renovating/remodeling, when faced with a room that seems dated, ask themselves 'can I live with it as is, and for how long?' In that analysis, there's a difference between a kitchen that has been updated in a way that's not to your taste, and a kitchen that hasn't been updated at all. And I think that a very dark java or black finish on the cabinets would shift your kitchen to the 'not my taste but livable for a while' category, whereas it currently runs the risk of being 'too dated to live with for one day--has to be remodeled before we move in.' And the problem is, if there is another house on the market that needs less work, buyers will choose that and pass you by. I don't mean that to insult or dishearten you at all. Honestly I'd have much preferred to have your current kitchen vs. the kitchen in my house when I bought it; it's clear that you chose high quality materials when you did the kitchen, and the tile and backsplash are neutral. But most buyers in the demographic you describe are not like me (in fact most of my colleagues when I worked in the private sector fit that demographic exactly and purchased homes in DC neighborhods/suburbs comparable to westchester). I deemed my kitchen 'not livable for one day' and replaced the floors, countertop, & stove before I moved in. But I bought near the height of the market in 2004 (when in this area most houses had multiple offers and bidding wars within 2-3 days of being listed), so I didn't feel I had the luxury of continuing to wait to find the perfect place. In fact, even in that market, my house had been on the market for weeks and I bought it for less than appraised value; given the bidding wars on similar houses in my neighborhood, the dated decor seems to have deterred a lot of buyers. If the market in Westchester county has slowed at all this year, buyers are likely to be quite picky, and the more yo can do to make your house appealing, the better. Unless you're in a community where very few houses come on the market, and there are lots of people waiting to buy, I think the kitchen could make buyers pass you by because they don't want to take on a major renovation project immediately. I would not advise painting the cabinets white because the grain is likely to show through and hiring a professional to cover up the grain and get a factory-type finish would probably be cost-prohibitive. But I think applying a gel stain or the dark brown paints like some others in the forum have used would be straightforward, and you may be able to get a handyman to do that (or your realtor may be able to recommend someone inexpensive). I wish you the best of luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Oak-to-Dark cabinet Redo (by girlwithaspirin)

Jeane.... thank you for the advice. All our research is pointing us to Summerville. That rental estimate is right on target, I would need to stay around 1000 until we get our house in Virginia sold. We do have two older dogs, Boxers, that will certainly be moving with us. I haven't rented in many many years, and I hope we will be able to find a small house in a nice area that will allow the dogs. They are my babies. :) I don't want to buy until we live there awhile. I suppose it will be after the first of the year before we get our house ready to put on the market. DH will probably look for a part time job there to get us through the money crunch. I wish we could move next month!!! But i know we have to be realistic. I am anxious to explore the area.