Majority of people in the US today dont use a formal dining room for much else than once or twice a year meals, or fancy furniture storage.Convert it into a nice office space, it will sell the house more quickly.The average american family has 2.2-2.5 kids, so its a family of 4ish.

Once there is a work around for folks to claim damages and get thier hardwood floors refinished and to purchase a good amount of new furniture, the flood gates will open.  

For a second I thought you might be designing patio furniture or something. $1600 or so should be doable in certain pockets.

(ours was, and most costs were reimbursed, after some PITA) *I later heard a flipper tell me their brand new roof on a sold flip leaked during the same storm, and they reimbursed the buyers - so I didn’t feel as bad :-/ *Delayed Xmas Flight I was supposed to fly to Phoenix to visit family the day before Xmas eve, but due to coordinating the final rehab, city inspections, furniture & personal items moving, and tenant re-move-in (touchy subject), I had to arrive on Xmas eve instead.

These are essentially tethering kits that are installed behind large items of furniture to allow them to be "tied" to the wall.See this:http://www.nbcnews.com/id/48573739/ns/health-child...These kind of accidents are horribly common.  

Our family is 3/4 vegan with the only animal products we consume being leather and cheese, however, we are phasing both out.My position as the president of a tool company and a precision agriculture company consumes most of the time.

I am pre-approved for about $190,000 and have about $20,000 cash to spend on down payment, closing costs, repairs, and furniture (if I need to turn it into a vacation rental versus long term rental).Is my budget realistic or should I wait until I can afford to put 20% down on a property instead of 5% or less?

I have heard people are getting great deals at the new Nebraska Furniture Store.

As I said, they called me, I didn't wear out my shoe leather. :) 

We use furniture feet on the bottom of our vanities before installing.