From this past weekend's New York Times: "Single women made up 22 percent of the nation’s home buyers in the last year compared with 14 percent in 1995, according to the National Association of Realtors."

I agreed on a price for the house -- They would not budge on the 2k I asked for. I am 95% sure that the bank appraisal will come in low, and the stubborn seller may not reduce the price, leaving me to make up the difference in cash (which I don't have). My realtor is saying that there's no way I should pay more than the bank's appraisal, but, anecdotally, "over-paying" the appraisal is a common practice. This aspect of the process is very frustrating. I have to secure a mortgage (paying non-refundable bank fees to do so) and inspect the house (around $500) before the bank appraises the place, which can drastically change what happens next. I went to a home-buying class on Saturday (mandatory for the special mortgage I want) and the realtor that spoke was trying to explain how home prices are set by realtors by looking at all of the factors that the bank appraiser studies, but I and the rest of the group were clearly dubious. Someone asked why the bank didn't appraise it right away, or set the prices themselves, and she couldn't really give a good answer. Long story short, I won't know until the end of the month, and after spending $700 plus, if this house will really be mine. Then I'll have 12 days until closing. Yikes!

The Rug Burns won second place last week. It's fine, we are just getting back into the swing of things. First place will be ours -- oh yes, it will be ours. The purse was a bit small -- we need more players to come ante up.