To post a followup in the same thread, alter the subject line.

No one sees how big the basement is and, in my area, basement size is not considered part of the square footage for assessment purposes. What neighbors will notice is the height and width of your house-especially as viewed from the front. A house will smaller street frontage will appear smaller than a house of the same sq ft. area with greater street frontage.

I don't know what you plan to cook on the griddles, but I can make perfect eggs and pancakes on *gasp* a large frying pan. So spend more time thinking about what you'll actually need for your family. With kids, you'll want a separate table for eating and lots of horizontal counter or table space for those school projects. You also might want counter space reserved for computer(s) to more easily observe your kids online activities. I'd make sure you've got those first. As to cooking appliances, it might be that separate wall ovens and cooktop/rangetop will fit your needs and space better so consider those options, too.

With the sad state of many public schools, even in affluent areas, my friends with means sent their kids to private school. If you'll be doing likewise, that will change the dynamics between your kids and those of the neighborhood. Just something to consider when figuring out how much time/money to put into this house and neighborhood.

P.S. Between purchase price and extensive renovations, my elderly mother spent twice the average neighborhood price for her new house. But her house is next door to my sister, which to my mother is "priceless." So I do recognize there are reasons for buying into a modest area when you could afford more.

I have found that I can only reply to a thread once per session. If you close your browser and reload the thread, you can reply again.

Allie

1) As noted, to post immediately after you have posted, you need to change the subject line, which is the rectangle above the place where you type the message. The program is set up so that you respond to a different person's message without needing to do this, but you can't respond to your own message unless the line is changed.

2) if you click the submit button but things seem slow and unresponsive so you click a second time, you will get a scolding and you'll think that the posting was not submitted, but it actually was and the thing will show up after you thought it was trashed so don't retype until you have relooked at the thread

3) as noted, close the browser completely and start over again and then take a deep breath and check to see what's there