Susie, First thing to do is take a deep breathe & calm down the emotions. I know you really like this house & the price has dropped; but, it's not the only "dream" house out there. If it's not available when your house sells you'll find something else you like as much, or better. Four months is too long to go without a price reduction. Even in today's environment the market is very efficient. If a property is priced 'right' it will sell within 45-70 days. The big question today is, of course, what is 'right'? That number has no relationship to what you either want or feel you should receive. The buyer determines value. You can't use current listings as comparison. You need to know what has SOLD recently & is comparable to your property. Ask your agent to update his market analysis. Be prepared...it's likely to be 5-10% below four months ago. If nothing has sold then it's because listing prices are not in line with buyer's current perceived value & you'll need to get down low enough to motivate a buyer. If you want to sell quickly...price aggressively...in the range of 95-97% of whatever your new market comparables indicate. The market is all about PRICE today. IMO, a $1K reduction is unlikely to excite anybody into making an offer. Also, take a hard look at your pictures. Are they showing the house to best advantage? Any wallpaper? If so, remove it & take new pictures. Any strong paint colors? If so, repaint & take new pictures. You've done a lot of de-cluttering recently. Do your current pictures reflect the new cleaner look? Curb appeal? It's hard this time of year but soon you can add a pot of pansies by the front door. Don't forget to keep the windows clean. Does the front door need paint? Is your mailbox by the street? If so, is it old & battered? If so, replace it. IOW, do whatever you can to spruce up the curb appeal. Most buyers reject a property within the first 3 minutes. First impression is critical. But, ultimately, today is about price. Bluntly, it may very well be that you can't get the number you'd like. If it's so tight that you're only considering a $1K drop...it doesn't sound like you've got a lot of negotiation/wiggle room. Over my career, I've probably sold close to a couple thousand houses. I've seen lots of buyer types. Enough to know that there's really no telling exactly what will tweak somebody's button enough for them to make an offer. I can say though that the best bet is price. A buyer will overlook many perceived deficiencies for the right price. There are many ways to manipulate price. A buyer's agent bonus is one way but, as Jo has already noted, a good agent isn't that moved by a bonus. They really do try to match a property to their customer's needs/desires. You could offer to buy down a buyer's interest rate by a point. Rates are already low...but, you might catch somebody on the cusp who could afford your house with, say, a 4.5% mortgage but not at current rates. A straight price reduction offers value to the largest buyer pool. You can also offer a redecorating allowance. First time homebuyers are, sometimes, motivated by having their new appliances paid for by the seller. This technique will rarely, if ever, work with an experienced buyer. You can also offer to pay the first 3-6 month's mortgage payments (cost would be escrowed). Again, this is a first time homebuyer attraction, possibly...not the move-up buyer. I've sold some real dogs by just offering a new TV...this only works well, IMO, if you've got the TV in the house so a buyer can see it...and, it has to be something exciting not the cheapest Best Buy close-out. All of these things are just alternatives to lowering your listing price. Ultimately, IMO again, the best is to lower your price 5%...wait 3 weeks & if it hasn't sold...lower another 5% until you find that "right" price. That WILL work almost guaranteed even today. The market is valuing your property at some now unknown price point. To sell quickly you'll have to find that value. In today's market, any other way is just luck. And, I often say I'd rather be lucky than good any day! Seriously though, if you want that house sold...lower the price ! Best of luck! /tricia

Thanks. There are literally no other words I can say to express how I deeply your support has helped me. The other day my friend's 12yr dd asked me if I was cured. I had to pause a while because that has actually been on my mind a lot. I asked my dh when I am considered a survivor. He said after 5yrs. But once I stop taking the 5yr meds things could come back. So I very kindly explained to the girl that there is no way to really know. I will be watched closely and hopefully it is gone and never comes back. She simply said, "Oh." So I guess the best way to look at all this is that I am surviving every single day, one day at a time. I truly wonder, sorry to say but I think honesty is important amoung friends, that one day I will wake up with another lump and die the next day. It is not a fear that ruins my daily life, but it is a deep down heartfelt wondering that I think will just linger within me. I know many of you here have been in my same shoes and will assure me that life goes on. I know it does. Returning to work after 9months off is going to feel weird. Like I picked up where I left off. Kinda like I took a really long lunch break and now I am back to finish the days work. Like they say, life goes on. And so shall all of us. Again, thanks.

I tend to (mistakenly, I think) focus on how much my mother and I are different, but I think it's because we live in the same city, so I am around her often. Sometimes I think absence with occasional visits would be better for my perspective of her. :-) Not that she's mean or anything, just because I tend to focus on the negatives. We don't have anywhere near the same taste in clothing or shoes, or home decor, for that matter. She's more "country/casual", and I prefer elegant and sophisticated. We both love color - I'm sure I inherited that from her, and I'm grateful everyday for that. Naturally though, we both love *different* colors. She goes for bright pinks, blues and wild patterns, I go more for greens, yellows and deep reds. It's hard to shop with her for anything, because odds are, what I like, she won't, and vice versa. She's a morning person - I'm a night person. If she didn't live with my father, she'd be a total neat freak, but there's no keeping things neat with him around. I'm more relaxed about clutter. I like things picked up, but a few things scattered here and there aren't going to send me running for the trash can. I do have an obsession/compulsion with drawers, cupboard/closet doors, and chairs or anything that belongs "pushed in" - I absolutely cannot *stand* to see them left open, and must close them immediately when they aren't in use. I probably get that from her as well. Sometimes it's a good thing (there are never any drawers or cupboard doors left open at my house, nor are chairs ever left pushed out from the table or desks), but sometimes it's a curse (I have to practically sit on my hands at my mother-in-law's house to keep from shutting her kitchen cupboard doors when she leaves them open, which is often). I think it amuses my co-workers that I always push in a certain drawer that has a tendancy to slide out just a little as I go past, and I have tape on a file drawer that won't stay closed behind my desk. :-) My mom loves to shop, loves a bargain, and is one of those people who will buy something just because it was "only two dollars!" I hate to shop, and do so as little as possible - when I need something, I am happy if there is a sale, but I don't worry about it if there's not (I just don't buy it if I can't afford it, making due with what I have). Mom loves clothes, and has three closets full - I have one closet full, and won't buy more until absolutely forced to. Mom loves people, and loves being in the thick of things. I hate crowds, and am much more introverted. Mom loves to be running all the time, I prefer to have some "down time" to watch TV, read, and just relax at home. Of course, there is the obvious - I *look* a lot like my mom, to the point that people always ask if we're sisters when we're out and about together. And we both love crafts (different ones, of course). We both love gardening. I love to cook, she cooks merely to eat. So no, I'm not really like my mother much at all, I just inherited some really good traits from her (probably some bad ones too, but no sense in dwelling on those!).

Other than the fact that it is a bit stiff, is there anything particularly Wrong with it for a 44 year old room? If so, what changes would you make? It's too cluttered, fussy and rigid. It has a good traffic flow. The mirror would go, not because it's bad, but those warped reflections make me nauseous (it's an optic thing). A flat mirror with good glass clarity in that spot would be fine. Assuming it has colors I liked and comfortable seating, I would clean off the tables, rip out the carpet and use a nice oriental rug on polished hardwood. The lambrequin might go or be recovered with something less formal. Lamps are OK, would replace scalloped shades for less formal linen ones. Because the colonial era was a big trading era, I would invent a family member who "was in shipping" and sent back interesting things. I would hang more paintings, fewer non-paintings. Mirror on the right would go, hang a nice landscape instead.