Get a release from your subs, so they can't put contractors leins on your home. Our story....we did a substantial addition to our home about fifteen years ago. (That long?!!!) The day before we were supposed to close on our construction loan, our loan officer called and said our GC was in bankruptcy, and that they would not approve the loan if we used him, unless he could provide some kind of collateral info from his bank. When I called him to ask, he went mental on me. Our second choice scrambled to get a formal estimate put together within hours for the bank, and we were able to close as scheduled. Boy, was I ever grateful that #1 had poor credit, and that our loan officer was watching out for us. Our addition went smooth as silk, our contractor was an absolute pleasure to work with, the addition is wonderful,he actually saved our home from burning down when he came back to install one last lightswitch cover, and discovered a bag of trash I had leaned against the garage was smouldering.

You could make a lot of money buying foreclosures if the people lived in their homes a long time and had a great deal of equity and went into foreclosure just after they paid their property taxes. But thats not who goes into foreclosure--its mostly people who have refinanced and also taken equity lines so there isn't much of an equity cushion. The really big money in foreclosures is teaching the seminars. Be careful also because there are scams that involve "investors" buying foreclosures and letting the foreclosees live there.

Before you get your knickers all knotted, do some research and not just take the hysterics flaunted by "news" programs. There is an RFID chip in the cards that can be read, but not all cards have them. I looked at mine and none of mine have this chip. And as said all you need to do is punch a hole in the chip's logo and it's destroyed. A paper punch, a nail, whatever you have handy. People are also all worked up over the info supposedly contained on the magnetic strips. You actually don't need the magnetic strip to make most credit card purchases. They can key in the card number manually but stores don't like to do this because it costs them more in transaction fees. Way back when I used to demagnitize the strips purposely but found out that was just paranoia, just like the paranoia that rages about key cards at hotels. Safety is all in the person. Azzalea, I recall you lost something like $1200.00. The most I can lose on a credit card is $50 and that's covered by my insurance. I'm far more concerned carrying $1200.00 than I am carrying a credit card! But with you it's different so that's fine. And considering I've received WAY more than $50 in cashback it'd still be profitable to use the card even if I lost one. Which I guess I did, but it cost me nothing more than a phone call to get it stopped and replaced. Who replaces your cash? I'm certain your insurance company does not. I use pay-at-the-pump so there's no way they can "borrow" my card. I'm not quite sure how this happens as often as you describe. Please explain. I guess we disagree on "so much safer" obviously. Chisue, I use a double thickness of heavy duty foil hat. They don't know what I'm thinking now! One chain around here tried that thumbprint scan charge which didn't last long. I laughed at them when they tried to get me to sign up for that.

I've lived in 8 kitchens in the past 13 years. We're currently remodeling now, so when it's done, that'll be 9. So this info is from what I've expereinced overall, not my current kitchen. Ceramic floor tile grout. The tile itself doesn't show dirt, but the grout is another story. In my current house, the previous owners installed the tile to sell the house. I was pretty certain the grout hadn't been sealed, but I didn't do it when we moved in. It also has a couple of gouges from dropped cans or pots in a few tiles even though it's not quite 3 years old. Ceramic glass/radiant heat electric cooktop. UGH. Everything boiled over, then proceeded to cook to a hard gunk on the top. To clean, you have to get a razor blade to scrape up the mess. NEVER AGAIN! I second the person who said, if you have to go electric, go induction. My single induction unit has the same type top, but since the surface itself doesn't heat, it stays relatively clean. Anything on it just wipes away easily. For those trying to acheive that streak free shine on ceramic/glass, you can forget windex or anything of that ilk. Use Weiman's cooktop cleaner and the red scrubbies they sell at Walmart. Apply the cream with the red scrubby, allow to dry to a film, and wipe off with either a microfiber or plain ol' paper towel. The cream turns an icky greige color, but once it's been wiped off, the cook top really shines, at least until the next mealtime. Another stainless fridge hater here. Ooh, that's a strong word, I know. Well, I've got 4 kids, um, I mean, 3 kids and DH and between the lot of them they can't seem to wipe their drips from the in door water dispenser. Or use the handles even though they're huge and conveniently mounted right on the front of the doors. If I had the money, I'd definitely go paneled. Downdraft. It just doesn't capture as much as an overdraft, if that's the right term. So, it causes more grease to settle on cabinet doors, backsplashes and walls. Cabinets that don't reach the ceiling. They're huge dust collectors. I don't really like the display idea, and really can't abide the fake ivy. It's just a personal thing, please don't flame me if you like that look. I'm a bit worried about what others have said about polished granite. I got a bunch of it when I bought my kitchen display cabinets. I'd just assumed we'd use it. It's a dark-ish, spotty stone called Baltic Brown. It's not my favorite color but, I've never had granite before, so it was kind of an upgrade from the tile, laminate and BB I've had in the past. I'm wondering if I should just sell it on CL and get butcher block. I've had it once before and loved it. I'm defintely not a great housekeeper. I want something that can take a quick swipe and look half way decent.