Allegedly he told the developer that he no longer cared about the money but he was going to break every bone in his body. 

It'll open your eyes to people's motives and how to "read" their body language.Then as you build up some more money and knowledge, buy yourself a nice little duplex or a few "cheap" houses.  

The appraiser will do research on the property and if the news account is located, you can count on some type of "human reaction" to be noted in the valuation. 

Then (other than being a good human) they have no incentive to actually include you.

I did not know what it means to have a carefully-selected group of people relying on you for one for their basic human needs.I had not figured out that empires have been built on a lot less.

And so I buy drawer/cabinets from Habitat for Humanity Restore/Construction Junction/etc; sometimes I need to nail a laminate countertop to it if it lacks the top but they often have the countertop still on there - buying them used is naturally way cheaper. 

The reps you will be in contact with are commission based salesmen and are trying to get as much money out of you as humanly possible.Good Luck

While it stinks your wife isn't doing what she enjoys (working, seeing her co-workers, etc.) it's also tough in that the routine of her job the past 15 years is now gone and it's human nature to not want change, let alone such a extreme change as a job-loss. 

Certain items I will be repurposing thru Habitat for Humanity ReStore just because I like to upcycle.

I was listening to a recent podcast from @BiggerPockets .com on the importance of having a specific goal and why we as humans set a goal but end up falling short.