Followup to an old post... March: First, we got a HELOC on the house so we could get into another house. Then we put our house on the market. Southern Maryland, reasonable commute to DC, great neighborhood, decent schools. Started out at $475K + 10K closing help based on comps. April: Went househunting in the new state, closed on new house. Luckily we could get a first mortgage for the new house instead of worrying about a bridge loan; using the HELOC to put down a big downpayment is what made it possible. No movement on the house for sale... getting nervous. May: Ok, two mortgages start (actually three counting the HELOC which is now maxed out), and the mortgage on the first house was already tough to pay, especially after the twins came and my wife stopped working. Tangent: we had two kids, both changed jobs, and moved, all within 6 months. Whew. What kind of mess did I get myself and my family into??? Back to the first house for sale... Lowered to $450K after we moved out. House was totally clean and empty, no evidence of cats. I tried as much as possible to make it look like a new home, except I didn't have time to paint a couple of bedrooms or replace some ugly faucets. Paint was new and clean, just not neutral. Paid $85 a pop to get the lawn cut. After the listing was updated to say the house was empty, showings really picked up--about 5-8 per week--but still no offers that month. Lots of nice comments I guess. June: Got first offer in early June, $430K and 1.5% closing help. We countered $435K + 1.5% closing help and it was accepted (we were about to lower the price again anyway thus the unambitious counter). I was reluctant to counter at all but agent assured me buyer would probably go the extra 5K and he was right. Closing was set for June 29. Buyer had no home sale contingency. YAY! Inspection went well. No real faults found, and buyer asked for NO repairs. Appraisal was still good even though the market appeared to be dropping like a rock. Just needed buyer to get financing... Buyer's loan guy (who also did our HELOC and mortgage on the new house, FWIW) kept saying no problem, no problem, everything is great. I make travel arrangements to be at the closing. June 27... problem. We push closing to July 10. July 10... we get forms to sign and FedEx back (I've given up idea of being at closing in person), and then... problem. We push again to July 19. Agent says July is a dead month in our area so stick with this buyer instead of putting the house back on the market. We even drop the price a bit so that the buyer will "slam dunk for sure" qualify, thinking we'd be out money on additional mortgage payments anyway even if we got another offer right away, which was unlikely. July 19... problem. We are assured it's a minor problem but that doesn't help me sleep. Communication sucks rocks. No clue what's going on with a deal 800 miles away from me. July 20... 11am. We're supposed to settle. Buyer doesn't show up! No one can contact him! WTF!!!!!! July 20... 12pm. Still nothin'. July 20... 1pm. Buyer is found. He overslept. He works nights and has been using his days to sort out his financing mess. Kind of feel sorry for him, I guess. I just want to settle. He has to go to the bank and then to closing. He winds up having to bring a few thousand more to closing than he was told only two days before... back to the whole communication problem. July 20... 2pm. Buyer shows up. We close. YAY! July 20... 11pm. I finally get a good night's sleep...?

Sensational post, Len - just the sort of thing I'm looking for :) To answer your questions/observations: Q0. first up where in qld is alabama? if i might ask. A. Its a little known suburb of Rocky :) OK, I tried to change my preferences, and was rewarded with an error from the web server. C'est la Vie. Q1. plant data base, i reckon a good data base is going to take a lot of room on a web site that is if you are going to list the many plants that we can grow here in the sunshine state. so adding plants growths in stages will make that so much larger. for the main i think viewers will be looking for identifiacation and planting and care help. A. I agree that the majority of users will want the text relating to plant culture, but I also envisage providing *links* from the main database entry to allow them to view photos of the plant at different stages of its life. Personally, I find it frustrating trying to envisage the 'true' size of many plants from the label, and the '12-month' estimate is something I think many people would value (granted, conditions and growth rates vary enormously, but I think you know where I'm going with this). Q2.. sounds like a lot of work to manage A2. I absolutely agree, and its part of my reluctance to make this available to the outside world. There are a broad range of issues relating to security that I havent even touched on, but that goes with the territory. Removing the need to maintain all but the most basic membership data (name, username, location and email address) will minimise my concerns in this area, but I dont want to spend my days weeding out SPAM etc - hopefully, we are dealing with a better class of people :) Q3.. for me gardeners are well serviced with forums not long ago an aussie garden forum dissapeared due to lack of interest if i can put it that way. you are in a native plants forum here and it isn't over patronised a good crowd here though. A3. My broader aim is to help gardeners in their attempt to fuse natives with exotics - correct plant choice, companion planting and so on. This wont amuse the local provenance diehards, but it may just lessen the resistance to something with the word 'Native' in the masthead, and we might see more lillipillies and Austormyrtus alongside Gardenias and Camellias throughout Oz. I cant predict whether the site will have a longterm future - I can only put it out there and hope that people like yourself are prepared to give it a go. Q4.. faq's yes they are always handy for all gardeners but they need to be relevent to the point answers and the search engine for the faq's need to lead people to the answer they may be looking for many search engines like this for me just don't hit the mark unless you type in exactly the topic line as the author of the faq's has put it. A4. The whole search engine thing is a big topic - you can customise Google to have it restrict its search to your site, and I'm confident that...

I read on your other thread about parents coming to stay for months at a time. I was suggesting that the the main floor guest suite could be moved to a walkout basement with an elevator -- which would allow flexibility in your first floor planning. If you're happy with your main floor layout, or won't have a walkout basement, please ignore. We moved a guest suite off the main floor (elevator access) and it helped greatly with planning on a limited footprint. We have relatives who have extended stays with us, and my parents asked for privacy and separation in their area. So, just putting that out there as a possibility. I know we do not have a typical set up, so YMMV.

Mama goose and Damiarain, thanks for your ideas. I put some structural info on Damiarain's drawing. There is a small attic (not living space) over the hallway and storage area (it's one attic, although I made two rectangles) and the black little squares are posts may be hard to relocate. Post A supports a beam, which runs right under and parallel to the house main ridge. Post B supports the attic floor. I will definitely consult a structural engineer and architect about this renovation. The ceiling slopes down from left to right (7'). One of the "yellow" windows is close (13") to the floor. This window is in good shape and I hope not to retire it before its lifetime. The other can be added anywhere looking out to the deck and woods beyond. The skylight over dining table is my proposal to lighten up the room, which is darkened by the screened porch. I like the design of a long countertop along the exterior wall. The fridge location in this drawing is not ideal though. People will need to walk through the kitchen to access it. Also, I would love to have a walk-in pantry for easy access.