Denise - did it seem to sell well? I would think that a Lake Charlevoix property would go pretty well even in Michigan's abysmal market. The only make so much lake property, it can be hard to find. Kathy, Denise, Michiganders - I'm still in an apt after my move and totally depressed by the idea of buying here. I hope to retire in 9 years. I have toyed with the idea of just buying my retirement place now but I'm not sure how that would work. Not sure exactly where to settle either. Just Michigan. Somewhere where were the birding and gardening are good. I'm pretty tired of trying (and failing) to make these really big decisions. Any ideas on Michigan retirement areas?

Ncrealestateguy, I thought I covered the bases because I waited until my buyer's buyer had his mortgage commitment, and I waited until the inspections were done and approved, plus he didn't have a house to sell. So you are saying I should wait until my next buyer actually closes on his house? How can someone wait to go house shopping until they close on their house? Don't they have to get out? I can't imagine there are many people who can move twice by renting in between deals. I have a couple of people coming in the next few days. One of them is closing on his house in two weeks. They need a place to move to. What do I do, tell them I can't accept an offer until they actually close? Won't they then go and look for another house that they can make a deal on? I thought of offering my buyer some more money off to help him pay for remedying his situation. In fact, I expected him to ask me. But he sounded adamant that his deal was over. Maybe I'll try. I will also tell him what Kathy and others said. I got the feeling he thinks his buyer's lawyer used this to try to get more money off the price though. I bet that lawyer said, "It's a buyer's market, you can get twenty grand off for this." Someone misunderstood. It's not MY house that's in a flood zone. Live Wire, I'm not getting a mortgage. The new location is attractive because I want to move back home to my family. My mother died last year and I got terribly homesick. Yesterday, my father passed out in his apartment, woke up on the floor and was vomiting blood. I don't know how he didn't hit his head or choke to death. He's now in the hospital and I'm ten hours away. I know the area quite well because I lived there for 44 years. It's my home state. We are not getting rid of the horses because they are our life--not only my daughter's, but my husband and I ride too. It's a lifestyle for all of us and not only that, we are responsible for these animals. You guys gave me an idea though of asking the seller of the house I'm trying to buy if we could rent it while we're waiting to sell this. It's empty. Getting some money would take some of the pressure off the seller and also show him how serious we are so he would maybe give us more time to find another buyer and allow us to stay in contract. I have confidence that I'll sell it again in a timely manner. I've actually "sold" it not twice, but three times since the fall. I don't even count the first lady because that deal fell through so fast (something turned up on her credit report.) What do you guys think of that? This way I'm renting, but I'm not moving twice.

Congratulations! Treat yourself to a wonderful dinner at your favorite restaurant. You deserve it. These are not easy times to be a seller. Wishing you fair winds & safe harbor! Tricia

I am in a small city just inside of Fort Worth. We got hit hard last night, and I rained for about 6 hours today. Not rained, but buckets of water. I just feel awful for the families here. Haltom City is a low area, and when it gets this bad, many are flooded and homeless for many days. I remember a family lost a small child last year to swollen waters and flooding. Water in these conditions is nothing to mess with. Trin