I have great news! On November 17th, our credit card company, Citibank notified us that the dispute has been officially settled in our favor and the entire amount of our insurance premium has been permanently credited back to our account. Yippeee! For us, the hard part was following through with the documentation. I guess that our insurance company is so disorganized at this point that they could not file a case against us (plus, what they did was wrong as well). In short, thank heaven that I used a credit card to pay the premium. And speaking of credit cards, I wanted to say that several months ago I bought an item on eBay that the seller never mailed to me, nor would the seller communicate with me, even though I paid in full when the auction ended. I reported the transaction via Pay Pal (which is the only avenue eBay would let me take other than leaving negative feedback), which has a very mediocre, no, pitiful, disputes process. After a few weeks of waiting on Pay Pal to get somewhere, I finally told Pay Pal that I wanted my money back from the deadbeat seller. Here's the bad part: Pay Pal wanted to charge me $25 to pursue a claim (that's really about the amount I spent on the item), even though I'm the victim of a fraudulent seller. In fact, I believe the seller resold the item I bought in another auction. Well, if I had paid for the auction via Pay Pal's instant bank transfer method, I would have been stuck. But thanks again to my credit card (which I always use on Pay Pal, never, ever the instant bank account transfer because you don't have the same level of protection, obviously) I am disputing that charge as well. Moreover, disputing the charge via Citibank got eBays attention and they sent me a questionnaire about the transaction (what that will do, I have no idea). I'm very disappointed in eBay and in Pay Pal for the lack of support in the face of a very bad transaction, in fact, a criminal one. I am not the only one, the seller now has several negative feedback listing the same complaints as this one. In any case, thanks for helping on this homeowners insurance dispute. What a great outcome.

Perhaps your house will truly be worth that amount when you have completed the remodel? If you have replacement-in-kind type insurance it wouldn't be unreasonable to charge a premium based on the cost for the actual replacment value of the building with like materials. To keep your rates down perhaps you could consider having a very high deductible? I think ours is 5K, which has a substantial (downward) effect on our premiums. Have you asked Chubb about this? I have always had the impression that they were pretty good about insuring older buildings at their true value, rather than trying to argue that they are not worth it. Is the appraisal that they came up with a whole lot more than you think you would sell the house for after you ahve made you repairs? Still premiums of 15K a year would startle me, too! We have Traveler's, and our experience when a rare northern tornado did substantial damage to our 160 y.o. house was very good. We had full replacement with like materials coverage and though they would have been pleased if we wanted to exchange slate for shingles, they paid the cost of repairing with slate, without a whimper. Good luck. Molly~

I have rentals from college students to retirees. I agree with lazygardens that hardwood in the kitchen is fine if you have a great finish and the right tenants (never college students). It appears it can take more abuse than the laminate in my rentals. Laminate tiles are cheap and quick too but can look worn in a few years (again, depending on the tenant). Tile flooring for me can take the most abuse and not show it. As someone previously said, determine your target rental group and set the kitchen tone with that. Check out a few other rental houses in the area. Now I only list on craigslist. 10 times more responses and better quality tenants than from the local paper. It's free and easy. You can see the other local rentals there too with pics. Since this is not a high end market laminate countgertops (Wilson Art at HD) is great and cheap. Get something with a few colors in it so you can't see cuts, etc. I have white cabinets in one apartment and I would never do that again. Yes, it's low end HD but it always looks dirty and worn (vs. darker or stained cabinets). Darker cabinets and appliances will make it look darker but go with light laminate flooring, light paint color, light countertops and good lighting and it will make a difference. And remember - don't go too crazy since this is a rental (and you're going to charge below market rent) Also, MA state law says you cannot take a security deposit more than one months's rent. Not sure of the laws in your state.

What bothers me about that kitchen is the weird angle of the island and the placement of the post. I did not go to the link, but the mix of colors and materials isn't a huge deal breaker for me. The varying distance between island and perimeter is, though. The bookshelves are easily rolled out of there to accommodate more seating and to erase cookbook clutter. Not a big deal. Wouldn't have been a big deal to construct one that matched the island either, and make it removable, too. As for lighting, photographers' lighting, followed by whatever adjustments were made in website, following monitor issues, and who knows how the colors really look?