Despite my past troubles with NG I was offered wollemi pine at a discount price ($89.41 including shipping; or $69.30 for the tree alone) and I ordered one tree (I should have ordered two or three) on 17th Nov. 2008 and it arrived on 26th Nov. 2008. The shippers charged my card on the same day I placed an order, but shipped it several days after I made an inquiry on why they charge card before shipping. Not a problem. I received a much larger tree and in a nice shape this time (great!), but am not planting it outside; it will stay in the house at least for a year or two, until it becomes at least 5 ft. tall, so I can try planting it outside (in Columbia SC). So my request is - could someone advise what soil to use to replant it into a much larger pot? I bought a huge package of "SPHAGNUM PEAT MOSS". Should I mix 50% of it with any kind of soil? Last time I planted wolemia in a regular soil outside and it d(r)ied. Perhaps it was too young, or it was too cold, too little or too much water or the wrong soil. Please advise exactly what soil to use and where to buy it. Thanks very much in advance for your advise!

Those photos are beautiful. No concrete, no asphalt, no sidewalks, no urban blight. No Starbucks. (I have never been to a Starbucks as we don't have any of that stuff around here.) I understand coffee costs $5.00??? But the heat is a problem for me though. Some love the heat, but I absolutely hate it. It went to 87 degrees up here last week end the kids were jumping into the rivers to cool off. That night it went down to 42 degrees and we all slept comfortably. But the responses are quite interesting. Some believe that God meant for man to walk on concrete and nothing less will do. Others will never consider living in a suburban, let alone urban setting. Some will never leave the seaside, while others think all you get is a shack there. Some believe people literally living on top of each other is the way to go and others think that anything less than 5 acres is confining. Some talk about having fine stores nearby to buy things, while others have no need for more "stuff". I love northern New England. I love when the leaves start to change in mid September and reach their peak around Columbus Day. I love the lack of urban areas. The biggest town in Vermont is Burlington with under 40,000 people. I love walking down my dirt road on a snowy evening in December and smelling woodsmoke in the air, knowing families are gathered around the hearth. I like the fact we have no streetlights. But there are plenty of people here that would consider my lifestyle backward. That's what makes this country so wonderful!

Hi TurtlesHope. Yes, the dollar figure we received from an Appraiser who specialises in VA/FHA mortgages, not from our REA, was 306. The maximum it would be financed under either plan is 306. We could market it as VA approved property, as the mortgage was originally VA (paid-off). That does have a bearing for other military home buyers needing a mortgage. And tax value in Virginia/Fairfax County, I'd say is very close to actual market value, give or take by a few dollars only. Usual resale here, other than Flippers, appliances do NOT convey. We're conveying all major appliances that were replaced in 06/07 (including wash/dryer). Not new by any means but good quality Maytags, regularly serviced by the dealer we used. None of our work is "by homeowner" either. We've contracted with skilled tradesmen: Master Plumber, Master Electrician, Master Finish Carpenter, and Stonemason. We got Roofer through a recommendation by Carpenter. These people are friends, who know their crafts, and I trust them. :-) What's frustrating is the sheer range of recent SOLD comps and new listing competition. I don't want to price high, hope for an offer, and go through multiple reductions. One property, next row up is doing this right now and has reduced the asking by 50-thousand since May from 389 to 339. It's a conventional sale, clean, a few refreshes like carpeting & ADA interior door handles. A few visitors, no offers. Older couple, like us. They're hoping with BRACs moving in and elections they'll sell before another reduction. So glad there's folks on this list to talk with :-) DH is not accustomed to moving turmoil...add in selling and... Retirement ain't for sissies (neither is downsizing & moving). =).

As a buyer, I wouldn't pay more, but I might go away from the deal if asbestos was found. Unfortunately I wasn't always that informed. As a buyer in the similar situation we did end up buying the house:) The sellers removed the ducts where asbestos was initially found (asbestos wasn't intact) at their expense. Just to get a peace of mind, we went with a full asbestos inspection. We didn't get a peace of mind though-there was asbestos everywhere, walls, floors, and we knew we were going to mess with the house, remodel etc. Why we still bought the house escapes me..:) We know we would have to disclose it if we buy then sell..unlike our sellers who presumably didn't know. The moment we got the results from the lab, the city got them too. We almost went out of the escrow. At the last moment, we didn't. There was something special about this house. And I obviously wasn't thinking right..it was a sad and crazy year for us, we were in a hurry due to family circumstances, we were looking for a very specific location, etc, etc.. (Little did I know. Now I can safely say that even if we were looking for a house for another year-we'd still find ourselves in a new place faster.) After long and painful consideration we went for a full abatement. In our case-meaning we had to gut the house. There's been a year and a half for us paying two mortgages in Southern CA, tending to and financing the remodel, and whatnot. Sometimes it seems to me I am still alive and sane just to tell this story LOL Get rid of whatever you have to and can afford. Asbestos and remodel are not going together very well. If it's covered, fine; I wouldn't take the risks if it is going to be disturbed, whether is going to be me personally remodeling, or somebody else. Now, I'll say something a bit contradictory, but: If you feel uncomfortable with all the asbestos removal, maybe it's better not to check deeper into it. We take different decisions based on information we have; and while it's usually important to know things, sometimes ignorance is a bliss. But even in this case I'd take all the extra precautions when remodeling-wet the surfaces, work in a mask, etc. And if you have kids-keep them away from the work zone as much as possible. I must add that we did have recent death from asbestosis in the family, and it couldn't but influence us. Maybe other buyers will be less fussy than we were, not giving much significance to the fact, coming with different experiences or lack thereof. I wouldn't pay more for a new furnace, but it definitely would make my inclination to buy a house stronger, if I had such inclination in the first place. PS I just read the commentary to the end and saw it's an old discussion with a new question, albeit similar. Sorry! Hope my long rant might still be useful though