When I am in the city, I am confronted by all the latest fads, cars, fashions, eateries, etc.  

@Brendan Novisky I maintain my broker's license mainly for the same purpose as what you intend to do with yours, as well as for agents like me to have a place to hang their own license - I operate in a similar fashion as the ones mentioned by @John Horner.

The local guy told me he would NOT be interested in helping me in any fashion because I would be a direct competitor of his.

I want to be able to reference it for years to come but in a fashion that doesn't mean just scrolling through information to find what I need. 

I looked at a few sample letters and tried to fashion mine around those while also making it a little bit my own.

I will let you know how it goes but so far I am impressed.I was hoping to have some more info on my direct mail campaign but I havent pulled the trigger on that yet because I just don't have a lot of extra cash flow right now and I absolutely want to be sure I can get the calls answered in a timely and correct fashion if I am going to be spending $1000/mo in direct mail.  

It puts everything you need to know in a clearly organized fashion and gives you access to a network of people that you can work with.

This allows you to have the numbers you need in a timely fashion and the contractor is happy.Good luck!

Crunch the numbers to see if upfront savings on a property purchase made in this fashion may cost you more in the end.All the best!

Hi Alicia,[OR] you could make the kitchen look even older than the home, as if the old fashioned home was upgraded but not the kitchen.Here is an old George Washington Slept Here look.Note: The windows (and) that big Wolf Range might blow your budget.Also: In older homes often the kitchen was in the basement, and served the dining room through a dumbwaiter.Maybe you could move the kitchen back down there and return the now-kitchen to it's original purpose, a sun room, sitting room, etc...Good  Luck!