Thanks for the compliment on the hardwood. It's actually bamboo. It's the Java Fossilized bamboo from Calibamboo. I think I'm there first residential install on the east coast. This stuff is absolutely gorgeous and I love it so much so far. We've been in the house a few weeks, just haven't had a chance to update the pics. I can tell you, whatever you decide to go with will be the right thing for your family. Facing the disability with my husband, and having it be very real and in our face forced us to look at some very real issues. We have a 12yo daughter. It spurred us to decided to go 100% handicapped accessible. My husband couldn't stand the thought of a future time when my daughter might need him in some part of the house, and he couldn't get there to help her. The idea of her sick with fever throwing up in the only non-wc accessible bathroom as he sat in the chair outside trying to comfort her...or having a nightmare as he tried to make corners to get to her bedroom. We knew that at age 12 there wouldn't be too many more of those times, but grandchildren will come one day.... He couldn't live with those thoughts... so we made the whole house accessible. Today a paraplegic could move into our house with access to all but the basement, and we are 100% ready to pop in the elevator as the shaft is prebuilt. However, if he did not have MS...and we only had our minor mobility issues and those of guests to think of...our decision might have been totally different. My inlaws built 100 feet from us on the same 17acres. They both have serious mobility issues. They lowered the switches, raised the toilets, raised the outlets and made the master wc accessible. The other bedrooms and second bath however are not accessible at all. At their age, and with their only surviving child and grandchild living next door...the money just wasn't justified. My grandparents, both just shy of 90 on the other hand are living quite happily in their 2 story home. Nana is blind, Grampa has COPD and a heart condition and needs oxygen frequently. They both can still walk, if a bit unsteadily and refuse any changes. On bad days Grampa sleeps on the sofa downstairs instead of heading up. I just wanted to give you a bit of generational prospective from my family....thought it might help. Laney Here is a link that might be useful: Calibamboo for flooring

Your analogy seems to fit my vibe about the BlueStar (Top Gear fan?) - powerful enough and OMG fun, but a little rough around the edges, vs. solid, polished and expensive (Mercedes/Viking, maybe?). My Jenn-Air is more like my old beat up VW Rabbit -- which was also prone to spontaneously bursting into flame. It got me from point A to point B . . . eventually. But I hated it. Which now has me thinking of the last just-good-enough compromise, practical car we bought. Which I still hate to drive. It's not a bad car, it's just not *my* car. (Of course now I'm getting too far into the metaphor -- I just traded my beloved VW Passat in for a Mazda CX9, 'cause I needed the AWD and more seats -- it's not as nice of a car, it's not as powerful, but it has most of what the 'ssat did plus the things I needed at a good price, without sacrificing *all* the fun. And it won't cost $$$ every time something breaks, which was increasingly common. What does that say about my stove preferences? It's not that I couldn't afford a Mercedes, I just don't see the point.) I do find the BlueStar *really* attractive -- DH and I dig the cast iron, the open burners (because I spill stuff everywhere when I cook), the low simmer, etc. -- and the thought of having a range with an oven I could actually bake in makes me positively giddy -- even if I do have to build a new island. DH got a nice grill last year that gets wicked hot; we're now prone to all-season use -- in *Seattle* -- because the only other choice is to do without little things like "searing" and "roasting" and "broiling". But maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that the extra money is really worth the ride ;-) (BTW, does that make Lacanche the Rolls? So gorgeous, but wah!)

"It was against the law what he did (the can only come in unannounced if given permission by you, or if emergency or abandoned home, etc)" It might be "against the law" om some place, but in most places it is just a violation of the rental contract. A civil action, but not a criminal action. You could sue, but what damages can you show? You could try to get the lease canceled since he violated the terms, but now you need another place to live. Do you really want to talk with them about a new lease? If you did try to press a trespassing charge (and could get the DA to prosecute it) you are liable to have a very rough lease period. Depending on local conditions it can be cheaper to rent than own (but rarely for very long" The market of rental properties will contract and rents will increase. The landlord may actually be losing money if they are paying a mortgage that is not many years old (and thus based on a likely lower purchase price). do not be foled about manintenace expenses (both for repairs ad yard wrk). if you are in a large building both are include din the cost of the lease. The 'yard work' charges may be smaller when shared over multiple units, but you are still paying a share of them. In a single family rental you are often required to do 'yard work' type things (shovel snow, mow the lawn, rake the leaves) and the maintenance costs are included in the lease. We had a young female tenant once that did not want to mow the lawn. We told her of course this could be arranged, but the rent had to be increased. She returned to mowing the lawn, raking the leaves, and shoveling the snow.

As others have stated, it's a combination of things including whether you're happy in your neighborhood, if when remodeled the home will give you what you want and need. Also another factor in remodeling, is if you do a true remodel and not just updating deferred maintenance, will your remodel make your home the most expensive home in the neighborhood. You never want to be the most expensive home in the area. I'll use my parents as examples. When they were first married they moved into a small 3 br/1bth ranch home in a new development. This was after the war. First I came along. They decided they wanted a master bath (more like a master closet with fixtures in it, LOL) and my Dad wanted a pool. Then my sister came along. They then decided they needed even more space, so added a "great room" only we called it the playroom back then. Both my sister and I had our own bedrooms. Well then sister number 2 came along and I was already in second grade. Schools were not terrific in our neighborhood, and at that point the house was getting cramped. They had plenty of room to build up or build additional bedrooms but if they had, they would have overpriced the house for the neighborhood. So my parents moved and bought a larger home, in a better neighborhood with better schools. It was a 4br/3bth colonial. They lived there until my sister 2 was out of the house. At that point, they had to make the decision to remodel as the kitchen and baths were dated, or to move. They decided to move. They didn't need the better school district anymore and they made the choice to again buy a ranch for their later years. However, they didn't go smaller, but bought on 2 acres on flat land. The difference is they bought a home they knew they could age well in since it was all one level.