Homeowner Forum / General / July 2004

my wife wants an island in kitchen. anyone knows where I can buy or custom
built?
thanks

Please excuse me if this is the incorrect forum to post this question.
We would like to have an addition built on our house.  I know about HELOC's
and Home equity loans.  I was recently talking to an  acquaintance who
mentioned a "blended mortgage".  Here's how he described it.  ...

I have a 5200 BTU Samsung window A/C with electronic control and I'd
like to know what kind of cycle time window A/C should be getting.
This thing has Energy Saver feature which slows down the fan immediately

Does anyone have an effective way of cleaning old dog urine stains from
carpets. I've tried at least 5 different brands that guarantee they remove
both stains and odour, and they do neither. The stains were usually dry by
the time I saw them. I also have stains that I've cleaned, ...

We're planning to put in a mudroom in our next house.  The only
logical place to have the mudroom is actually in the basement, since
the attached garage is in the basement.  It's a bit awkward, but the
natural path would be

Just bought a new Panasonic S47 DVD player.
Imagine the following question is probably applicable for most any of their
new units.
Works fine, but some of the zillion options are throwing me a bit.

Our offer on a house was verbaly accepted by the seller and we are
already pre-approved for the financing. When should we put our current
house up for sale: (a) after signing a contract for the purchase of
the new house or (b) after attorney review for the new house or (c)

I'm moving locally (only about 5 minutes away) in October and was told by a
person who works for my broker's agency that I should wait until after labor
day to get estimates from moving companies.  She seems to think the
estimates might be lower if I were to wait, since we're ...

Anyone have any good/bad experiences with particular companies?  I am
looking to buy Mirage flooring and putting it in.  The savings is
somewhere around $500 when looking at some of the sites.  I am in the
Chicago area.  I have heard great things about Mirage.  Any other input?

Question. If you are over 65, would you only get to choose between the
OVER 65 HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION and regular HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION? Or are
you eligible for BOTH exemptions? Thanks.

My wife and I are looking at investing residential real estate. Whilst
we do have some experience in this area we would like to know more!
Does anyone have any websites that they would recommend on this
subject?

My wife and I just bought our first home two months ago and we've been
looking for books to answer our first time homeowner questions on
everything from repair and maintenance to taxes and various other
concerns. I looked around online and in local stores and am not finding

Tried to start it today - note that previously this hasnt happened
before... turned the key, the thing turned a few times (cranking), but
didnt start. Tried again, this time the thing wouldnt even crank.
Thought maybe the battery was dead (which is brand new), so I tried to

Hopefully some of you experts can answer my questions.
I am planning to rent out my first house (which I have lots of equity)
and purchase a second home.
My questions are:

Married couple to retire in Mar. 2005.  Would like to know if we
should consider buying our first home, or rent  like we've been doing.
Our retirement income will consist of  wife's Social Security, wife's
pension, husband's pension, and husband's distribution of tax shelter