We have decided NOT to take this property. We have lost sleep over this and gone back and forth with no clear decision until yesterday. Day before yesterday were told we had a clear flood cert and we were SO HAPPY but then when we did some digging we realized that the loan would be sold and we'd require a new flood cert and would be fighting it again, eventually. From what we've been told there is a HUGE chance that we'd be required to have flood insurance on the land and house and it would cost $350 per month over our mortgage. I wish it was cheaper as some of you are finding but both our realtor and lender looked into it. Our lender wasn't able to get any financing but the other realtor found a lender in Dallas who would but they said once we had a clear flood cert we would never have to have flood insurance again. This is NOT TRUE. As we know this can always change and we don't want to fight it. I honestly feel sorry for the owners as they have done a lot of work and had extra expense and have been wonderful to work with but we have to do what's best for us. We lived with water in our yard at our last house for 19 years and had water in the garage several times and feel it's best to go another direction. I'm sad but also relived. As much as we like the house there was a part of us that continued to worry and that should be a sign that it's NOT right for us. Thanks to everyone who offered input. Be watching for an update on building now!!! LOL Thanks and HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Sunny

Thank you all for the comments and insights. Patty Cakes-thanks for the links! I'm a huge bargain hunter also! As you can see in the pic the room is mostly neutral and pretty stripped down. It's a reflection of my recent (last 2 years) love affair with federal style furniture. I bought this sofa and loveseat on CL and unloaded my grey velvet lawson sofa....also on CL. I'm on the fence about the ottoman but my dog loves it so....sigh. I live in a Victorian Cottage, ca. 1870, all the rooms are approx 13x13 with 12' high ceilings. The house is also 2 blocks from Main st. in our small town....small city lot.....lots of trees on the property but after going crazy with neutrals I now feel the room needs a little color....like green. Loving the Emerald green but a little scared of it too! I want it to pop but not scream lol! Having said that...I keep coming back to stare at that Como Emerald!

Thanks to sierraeast for straightening my goof-up out & Bill,that's a pretty good detailed work-up about what I've got planned. I'm going to study it at length,but you confirmed my basic original thoughts about how to accomplish this. Your charts and guidlines will be very helpful as I fine tune this. The point about installing the panel in the garage/interior wall cavity was a great heads-up....I was going to do just that. If I surface mount the sub panel in the garage on top of the firerock(perhaps in a firerock plenum) then I should be OK ? I had planned to run all the garage wiring in conduit anyway. I should add the additional rooms(12' firewall between the garage/shop & living area) will be 8' ceiling height in an area that is 12' tall(this leaves a 3&1/2' loft/storage area above those rooms). This will also make those areas easier to wire/insulate/& run HIVAC plumbing. Thanks very much for the information.... back to the drawing board..LOL...Dave

Yes, rabbits are cute and all that. But they're wild animal. While I'm sorry about the situation, I was glad to read that what threatens them is NOT a result of human activity. I trust nature in these situations. There really isn't an alternative but to allow it to run its course to whatever outcome there is. An aside. I know that the New Yorker is a long-established, well-respected and upmarket publication. Every encounter I've had over the years leaves me with the impression that its style is to produce articles that seem to be 2X or 3X or more too long than would be needed to adequately cover the subject matter. I get bored before getting to the end and that's what happened to me with this linked article, I couldn't finish it. New Yorker's loyal readers, and I know there are a lot of them, must like the style or demand the lack of conciseness but I find it off-putting. A favorite story a propos the aside. A university professor gets a call from his department chair: Dept Chair- "Fred, Prof Anderson has taken ill and I need to find someone to cover his 90 minute time slot in tomorrow's seminar schedule. I hate to hit you with this at such a last minute, but might it be possible for you to fill in for him" Fred - "Yes, no problem. I'm happy to help out and can handle that easily" Dept Chair - "Oh, and one other thing. In two days, there's a visiting group of professors from Oxford coming for an orientation. Prof Anderson was going to give a 15 minute presentation to them. Can you handle that too?" Fred- "Sorry, no, that would be quite impossible. I can give a 1-2 hour presentation at any time with ease but if you want me to do a good job with a 15 minute presentation, that normally would take me 7 days or more to prepare.