I think whether it will be a good experience or a bad experience for you depends a lot on the apartment you choose and how much leg work and research you do when looking for a place. When I was looking for my current apartment I knew I wanted to find a place I could stay happily for several years. I had made a list of things I didn't like about my previous apartment (high utility costs due to age, maintenance issues, etc). I used the internet to narrow down complexes that met my basic requirements (allows pets and in a specific geographical area, size), and then I physically visited each complex I was considering with my list in hand and asked a LOT of questions. I made several visits to the most promising complex at different times of the day to see how busy/noisy/crazy it was. Luckily, they had several units available, so I chose one that was far away from the clubhouse and pool to minimize noise. I talked to residents while I walked the grounds and asked them how they liked the place. I was as thorough as I could possibly think to be. Obviously, I can't control everything (for instance, our upstairs neighbors are pretty quiet, but if they moved, I'd have to just deal with that). That's just part of apartment living, however, I've found that I can put up with a lot of stuff as long as I am prepared ahead of time. Great things about living in an apartment is that the commitment is low. If, for some reason you had to move (or just wanted to move because the place isn't what you really wanted or expected), you have that option when your lease is up. That's much harder to do with a house you own. You don't have to worry about yard maintenance, but if you like plants and gardening, you can get a place with a balcony or keep houseplants, which I think are more fun than mowing the lawn. If things break, there is someone to come and fix it for you, usually within a day. I've lived in apartments for over 10 years, and I'd like to buy a house in the next three years, but I'm pretty happy with the situation right now. I have always been lucky to have nice neighbors, or at least quiet neighbors who leave you alone. There have been kind of crummy experiences (my last place), but it was easy to pack up and move somewhere better. There are good and bad things about apartments AND houses, they're just different issues. If you're someone who is not home often, or doesn't like yard work or physical upkeep of a larger place like a house, then I'd say an apartment or townhouse might be a good option for you.

One last thought - what about these prints in the guest room - do they work?

I use American Express for all major purchases because they are so good at resolving disputes in favor of the consumer. If you really want to try to get out of the contract, then you should write a nice but firm letter to the company today. Do it today, because some states allow you to rescind a home improvement related contract within a certain time period (it could be 72 hours or less, if your state has such a law). Send it via both fax and certified mail so you have proof of how soon after you ordered the product you canceled it. (The fax guarantees they receive it today, but the formality of certified mail sometimes carries more weight.) I would use language like the following: "Dear _______: As you know from our conversation in your store this morning, I am very concerned that the Kashmir White granite I ordered from your company will be too susceptible to staining to use as kitchen counters. I appreciate that you gave me a sample of sealed Kashmir White to take home to test. I took the sample home and promptly tested it with food samples. Unfortunately, certain food products stained the sample easily; therefore, the product is not suitable for my stated intended use as kitchen counters. As I told you this morning, I would like to cancel the contract for Kashmir White counters and request that you reverse the charge for my $________ deposit. Because I am canceling within 48 hours [change time period if necessary] and before any templating or other work has been performed, I believe you should return my entire deposit." If you have to dispute the charge with Mastercard, the letter and proof of when it was mailed and faxed may help your case. The letter establishes that you promptly notified the merchant that the product would not be suitable for your intended use before the merchant did any work, and you had the slab on reserve for a very short period of time, so the merchant is not harmed by your cancellation. There is no guarantee this will work, but it is what I would do. Good luck.

I have had excellent experiences with appliance dealers. One in NYC is something of a guru, he owns and runs a family business and he really, really knows his product and market. His advise was excellent. But that is rare. Where I live now we have a pretty good retailer though he's an hour away. I've only dealt with them over the phone and had very good service. But I knew what I wanted. They just did the ordering and walked me through the checklist of what was needed to install. I received so much bad/wrong/inaccurate information when I was shopping for a new fridge a few months ago I would never take the word of anyone at an appliance store for the most part. Today's customer, because of the internet and thank goodness for it, can do the research, ask the questions and fine down the choices to the point where you do targeted shopping. What I mean is that you go and look first at what you think will work for you, make notes, take photos for your reference afterwards. Then look at other things and talk to the sales people about price and options. Even with the good sales guy on my recent purchase, he was only knowledgeable about certain product lines. He had been to the Wolf/SZ factory for a "tour" and touted that fridge -- one of my 2 finalists -- because he knew it well. That was fine with me and I appreciated his input. But it didn't provide me with exactly what I required and my own inquires produced information he didn't have -- or even want to have. So I don't think the enemy is us. I don't think there is an enemy. I think there are foundational changes that have switched the responsibility from sellers to buyers. Don't know about you folks but the amount of research, checking, deliberation and shopping that goes into an average purchase these days can be overwhelming. It doesn't especially bother me because I've always done research and reporting of one type or another. But even with skills, it gets overwhelming. Or worse boring. I had to buy 3 surge protectors this week after another one of our crazy power events. My eyes were glazed over. And what arrived in the main was still surprising. You just want to go buy a stove or a fridge not take a graduate course in engineering. Unfortunately, that's not the way it's going. So forget about the old days. They are so gone. Today, it's research, a little luck, an ability to gauge quality and value and the ability to match expectations and budgets to the market. And it's not pretty.