The property behind mine has gone into foreclosure and is now up for sale by the bank that took the loan through the FDIC after the previous bank (holder of the loan) went bust. To give you an idea of relative property values here since the crash, this 10 acre tract sold for $3.3 million about 4 years ago. That's $330,000 per acre. It had been a private residence and then a paso fino horse breeding farm for the years prior to its purchase by a developer who wanted to put a bunch of high price homes on it. The developer spent much money and effort trying to get the property re-zoned from Agricultural to Residential. After a two year fight, they succeeded in getting approval to put 28 houses on this property and its adjacent 5 acre tract on the corner of my street. .....only to be met with a market crash just prior to ground breaking. Now the property is listed for sale at $1.1 million or $110,000 an acre. I'm hoping the property doesn't sell as a 10 acre unit and the bank wants to carve it up and get it off their books, cheap. The back 2.5 or so acres is directly behind my property and would hopefully cost significantly less per acre than the going current rate since it would have no access to the roads. So, I am saving my pennies... Harry

Your drawing is on the right track. Mullions in the windows, longer windows, and changes of color and material will make a huge difference. But you are also on a tight budget. Work on getting the one or two upgrades that will give you the most bang for the buck now, and leave the rest as projects that you can do after you move in. Landscaping, shutters, premium fixtures, etc. can be bought later with cash, so they are not part of the mortgage, and that's cheaper in the long run. Also you are not under quite as much pressure-- fewer decisions up front. Just tell yourself it's "good enough for now." One thing that has not been mentioned is architectural roof shingles. These are thicker, with a much heavier texture, than the basic grades. They read as quality, and you have a lot of roof there, so cheap will not look good.

Cran, I am sorry to hear you have lupus. I hope yours is in remission. Mine presently is and it makes such a difference! I had a very long remission, 27 years until my stroke. For years I needed only survalance after initially, at 23, needing prednisone for kidney issues. Insoluble fiber acts just like resistance starch. So, I saw Dr. Kreigel' team at Yale but he recently left to work with Roche to develop possible treatment or vaccine for lupus so now I see a colleague of his. It is very hard to alter our flora but studies of high fiber diets and lower sugar were proven to work for matabolic syndrome, i.e. Type 2 diabetes, so it was suggested I beef up my fiber intake to atleast 20 grams a day. I eat two cups of all bran with unsweetened rice milk every day and have a bowl of steel cut oats for an afternoon snack to hit almost 30 grams of fiber. The rest of my diet is normal fruit, fish, veggies, yogurt, some treats, potatoes and pasta so the bran and oats are the change I made. Resistance starch is in pasta and potatoes and many other foods. Pasta and potatoes cooled after cooking are supposedly higher in resistance starch than heated is. Yams are a good source. I like to use food sources more than supplements. High fiber, low fat and sugar diets are proven to help maintain health and diverse gut bacteria. Fiber, (resistance starches) are considered prebiotics which feed the good bacteria while sugar and fat feed the unhealthier ones. Also have your vitamin d regularly checked. Insufficiency is linked to higher lupus and Antiphospholipid antibodies and thus flares. I now supplement for mine was low. xo

Then Wayne had parked in a compact space adding to the frustration.