ncrealestateguy-If a buyer signs and agreement with an agent, it in no way restricts them from making a phone call. It may ruffle a few feathers, but that is it. You might operate under a particular code of ethics as an agent, but that code does not extend to the behavior of your clients. If your client wants to bypass you in any and all negotiations, that is their right. They will still need to pay you, but that is the extent of your relationship. I'm sure your recommendation works great most of the time, but these 2 agents work together at the same agency and one can't get a return call. That is just unacceptable. If the agent can get it resolved on their own, great. It doesn't appear as though that is working at this point though. As for timing/deals - a sellers agent that helps set the price on a property and then immediately buys the property at that price is behaving improperly. If the agent knows that the property is so underpriced that they immediately jump on the deal, then they didn't fulfill their duty to look after the financial interests of their client.

I have the type trinitytx linked. They were hard to find but when I did find them I bought several and use them on the sidewalk also in the winter. Much less trouble with ice buildup. I don't bother washing them. Rain and snow take care of that but I just pick them up and slap them against the side of the steps occasionally to knock out dust and dirt. For me, form follows function. Don't want a "pretty" mat, I want one that does the job. jae_tn, I had looked for something like that ever since I saw an Andy Capp cartoon decades ago where they're looking at doormats and he asks the salemsman "Have yer got one that says 'BUZZ OFF'?" :) Has stuck in my mind ever since.

No, the difference b/w a prep sink and a bar sink is not location, the difference is size. Bar sinks are usually shallow, small sinks - sometimes as small as 9" or 10" wide and only 6" or 7" deep. Prep sinks, OTOH, are deeper and wider. They should be at least 15" wide - interior width, not overall width, and as deep as a larger sink - 8" to 10" or more (bottom of sink to top of counter). Mine is 15-3/4" square and 10" deep. Prep sinks should require at least an 18" sink base (for the sink to be big enough), and even better would be a 21" or 24" sink base. Bar sinks don't have to be that big b/c they're primarily used for filling/emptying/rinsing glasses and the like. Prep sinks need to be bigger b/c you're prepping food - which means there needs to be enough room for the food + your hands + any tools you use while prepping. Location, though, will determine how you use it, so even if you have a decent size prep sink, if you put in the wrong place it will probably not be used or it will be used for other uses (maybe even as a bar sink!) I'm chuckling at all the comments about how much space people have but adamantly refuse to put in a prep sink. Whether you actually need one or not, I cannot say b/c I don't know your layouts, but so many people put in large amounts of counterspace that is a waste of far more money than an extra sink will cost b/c the counters are located where they're useless - whether b/c there's no logical work zone in that location or b/c there's no water source to make it work. Those counters then become very expensive drop/clutter zones or maybe just dust collectors! I reiterate - just b/c you work a particular way today, doesn't mean you can't make it better with a better layout in the future nor does it mean that you will work the same way if you have a different layout. Yes, it may be all you know, and something that you've made do with for years - after all, human beings are very adaptive, we can make do with almost anything, regardless of how bad something it is. We're also resistant to change and new ideas and we often have a hard time seeing other ways to do things - even if they would be so much better! We hang on to what we know and either can't see the better or don't want to b/c we're convinced that we want can be had b/c someone has convinced us it will work when it really won't (like those islands that people cannot fit with adequate aisles & seating overhang b/c someone told them they could skimp on either or both and "it'll be fine" - those someones who often have a monetary gain b/c of that island or b/c they don't have to live with it, so talk is cheap and it makes you happy to hear them say it). That's why places like this Forum with people who can look at layouts objectively and give good critiques are so important and invaluable. There are several people here who can give you good advice and even do layouts for you. (No, not all advice is necessarily good advice and if you read enough layout threads you will learn which posters are better at layouts than others....ditto for aesthetic advice, while I will do layouts, I generally stay out of aesthetic threads b/c I'm not the best at aesthetics - others are far better!) Anyway, this whole prep sink discussion, while interesting in some cases, has brought out an interesting mix of people. Oh, and I don't recommend roughing in a prep sink at a particular location b/c you don't know where it might be needed in the future - so there's no point to it. If you know you are going to put one in in a particular location in the future, fine, but I wouldn't do it "just b/c".

I also use recipes interchangeably and haven't found a recipe that doesn't work both in the bread machine and by hand, as I only use the machine for kneading and then shape and bake in the oven. Everything from Grandma's old Farmhouse White to cinnamon rolls to whole wheat and rye loaves, they all work fine both by hand and in the machine. I agree that you need some more liquid/water in that hard to handle dough. I always check the machine and add more liquid if needed, I'd rather have a bit too much than not enough, I can always knead in a bit more flour if necessary. As plllog mentioned, you can add vital wheat gluten to the rye loaves for a bit more "oomph", rye flour is lower in gluten than wheat flour is. Bread is actually very forgiving, and I mess with it at whim. I want big holes I add more water, a dense loaf needs more flour, a tender loaf wants some milk and eggs, and I go by the way the dough "feels" more than anything. The only thing I've been unsuccessful at is a 100% whole wheat loaf with my own home ground flour. The results were consistent, they were all horrible. I finally just stopped, nothing helped that stuff and although I still grind wheat for flour, I use some of my own flour and some King Arthur flour for a passable loaf. Annie