I'm not licensed to practice law in SC so I'm probably not the best candidate to duke it out on this topic... but I am very surprised at the knee-jerk reaction of some attorneys.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

It's difficult navigating the home purchase process in general, but a lot of more difficult buying something with costly surprises you didn't plan for. 

So, that when I need to NOT be flexible they aren't surprised by it.

I'm in Canada and where I am, reasonably priced homes are still selling pretty quickly.It's pretty certain in high degree accuracy 30YFRM would be between 5 to 6% until 2028, that one was given and no longer a surprise.

Reading through the contract offer that my longtime buyer's agent has prepared, I was surprised to see closing date August 7 and first payment due September 1.My understanding is that the buyer normally gets the remainder of the calendar month after closing date, plus the next full calendar month, before first payment is due on the first of the following month.

I'm surprised a lender on a residential property would be this involved. 

Hang in there and try to keep yourself motivated.. you may be surprised to the upside in the end.

I'd be surprised if the hospital isn't paying her something given she was to start in 2 days and they pushed it back a week.I see that you updated things and she's pretty much arriving when you expected her to (within a day or two). 

Utility bills can also be surprisingly below expectations.