How do you find a good contractor, architect and designer? Carefully. The professionals you hire will quickly become part of your extended family. Barbara Buchholz has some ideas on making the right choice. Finding a Competent Contractor, Architect and Designer Managing the Renovation Assessing Your Needs vs. Your Wants Buying a Gut-Job How to Win the Bidding War Should You Renovate or Tear Down and Start From Scratch? Buying a Gut-Job Gut-jobs are becoming more popular as the country's housing stock ages, and as homeowners migrate to established neighborhoods but still crave the modern amenities found in new homes. A Multi-Family Building Buying a Fixer-Upper How to Win the Bidding War If more than one party is interested in bidding on a single home, the result could be a bidding war. Meg Crane offers some tips to make your offer shine, so you'll come out a winner. What To Expect After Pitching An Offer How Do You Create a Good First Offer?		Put favorite family photos in a special box so that you can place them on the mantle immediately upon moving in. For the rest of your photos, order pretty photo albums, maybe monogrammed, and when the cold weather comes, snuggle up next to the fireplace a See archived tips What's the Budget? Ilyce Glink is the bestselling author of 100 Questions Every First Time Home Buyer Should Ask, and is the Managing Editor of Right at Home Daily. Handy tips and tools formatted for your printer or PDA. Summer Maintenance Chores Take advantage of summer's longer days and warmer weather to tackle some home repairs. Jim Sulski provides the summer maintenance worksheet. Copyright © 2010 Studio One Networks. All rights reserved.