Happy New year to you both! Yeah, I'd walk away from that bidding war thing, too. It's a house, there's plenty more where that came from. Rainy season is always the best time to buy a house <G> I hear you on that Sanford and Son thing. We found a gorgeous house on 5 acres, on top of a mountain, 3/4 view of the entire Cascade range, 3300 sq feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3 level, hot tub, sauna, and a deck completely wrapping around. built 1994. And priced way below anything else we looked at. that was the good stuff. It was across the unpaved road from Sanford and Sons junk yard, and it took 9 minutes to drive back down to the paved road. Keep looking - this one was on the same page. yeah, takes some getting used to driving around not in NYC. Congrats on the engagement, too ! Seen any elkies? Mary Hey ya-all, LOL I'm getting use to that, everybody says it here. Well, we had a disappointing day yesterday, the house we were ready to place a bid on had started negotiations with another buyer. So to prevent over bidding in a price war we decided to walk away from it. We went back to take a second look at our second choice, and we found water in the basement. D'OH We spent New Years eve in the hotel room with .................... a bottle of wine. Today we did a few drive bys in a new area, and will be looking at a few homes with our Realtor tomorrow Saturday. There are nice homes out there, but ................it seams to be the surroundings that knocks it out . Some have a nice view, but are next to Sandford & son. I have driven past houses that look as if they haven't let go of anything since they were three. What's up with that? Miss everyone, my couch, my PC. Lovin the mountains, fresh air, friendly people. We haven't heard a car horn since NY. I actually waited after a traffic light turned green, and no one beeped. Truly amazing. Maybe their horns don't work. LOL Later. Frank PS: Our daughter Linda got engaged for New Years. Father-daughter dance. D'OH