Skrepka, your post is a little confusing to me because you say "can I make my offer with 2%" and then you say, Im not prepared to shell out $50,000 before inspections etc. If you are talking about a earnest money to "make an offer" (sometimes called a binder, and also not done in all areas of NY anymore)you can make the offer with as little as $1000. If you are talking about what you put down at the signing of the contract, this would be after you are relatively sure you are proceeding because it happens "after" you do the inspections. I dont know how different things are in LI, im a little north of that, but people still buy homes with no money down, or $10,000 at contract, etc. It doesnt always have to be a percentage. Its all negotiable. It is all what the seller is willing to accept and in a market that is sluggish, they are more open. Where it really makes a difference is when you are in a bidding war, then it might be viewed as strength in the buyers ability to close. (ridiculous, but true)

This looks like a condo unit in either SOMA or Mission Bay in SF. If so, I'm in your neighborhood and would be happy to help you after the New Year. FWIW, I like the direction of the photo you show of the faded red Asian rug with the brown leather chairs. Will add some much needed color and warmth to the space. Check out my Instagram feed: @sabrinaalfininteriors. Or go to my Pro Page here and call my office. Happy holidays! And congrats on your new home!

Based on your three choices, I would probably pick the Dewalt, but also decide if any of the combo deals might be useful. For example, a circular saw is very useful if you are going to need to cut any type of lumber (2x4's, plywood, etc.). I have also found a reciprocating saw very useful for house demo work, and for work around the yard (trim branches, cut tree roots while digging, etc.). Brushless will usually last longer on a battery charge, and should require less maintenance, but the standard motors are fine for work around the home. For an initial set I would probably pick the drill and circular saw combo, since it also appears to include two batteries and a charger. If you want a drill that is more compact, I purchased the Makita 18v brushless subcompact drill as part of a set that included the drill, impact driver, charger and two batteries. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-18-Volt-LXT-Lithium-Ion-Sub-Compact-Brushless-Cordless-2-piece-Combo-Kit-Driver-Drill-Impact-Driver-2-0Ah-CX200RB/207051121  I was constructing an addition to my house, and found the impact driver to be really useful for driving long screws of all types. Bruce

decoenthusiaste Thank you for all your good advice and your time! Of course the baby is starting to crawl, so we’d like to have good space for him to move on 😊 but we also see the value in waiting and dreaming in the meantime. We also started ideabooks and figured that we’ll be able to do some things while we plan for others. That’s why we really appreciate the advice of the experienced Houzz-ers. Now about plans some of which we are ready to implement right away and some for the future: 1. Structural change #1 we need will be actually returning the hallway from Master Bedroom back to where it used to be. This will resolve the issue of obnoxious draft in the Laundry Room from the heater above. That in its turn will leave us with a tiny LR or we might even move LR elsewhere (garage is an option.) 2. Now about the access to as well as the size of master WIC. You noticed it right away! That's exactly a HUGE minus in the layout and the reason we are thinking about actually moving it into another space and dedicating this current space to the Bathroom #3 adjacent to the Baby's Room (bedroom #2) and the LR. That will resolve another issue of not enough Bathrooms. They can be connected. Yes, we know, there are pros and cons to having bedroom/ laundry room together, but in our case it might work. The sewer and water are already there! Or we can make it possibly separate- with a door from that Bedroom #2 right into the newly formed bathroom, but not sure about this because of different reasons. That's structural change #2. 3. Structural change #3 We also see an option of moving WIC into the part of the current Dining Area (the door from the Master Bedroom is already there) while dedicating another part of current Dining Area for the Pantry Room that is VERY needed. Below you can see hand made changes to the plan :). This will resolve four issues: we get a Pantry (1), which will resolve the small sized Kitchen issue (2) and a bigger WIC (3) which will also mean that we don't have to go through the Master Bathroom (Hooray!) every time you need to change. What do you think? That leaves us with two options of having either front room for entertainment/ dining or having the family/ dining room multi-purpose space. Both are good options with garden views and a lot of available daylight, but there'd be a better natural flow from the Kitchen into the Family/ Dining multi-functional area adjacent to it which is also close to the patio/ garden entertainment/ BBQ area. With big windows these areas are very much interconnected and kind form a General Dining Indoor/ Outdoor Zone, including the Kitchen, Family/ Dining Room, BBQ area, and Patio with Garden. Any ideas? There is still an issue with the entrance/ foyer area which right now is not organized at all. Should it be screened or zoned otherwise?