He came back with the sellers counter offer which am not will to pay and since then he's been pressurizing me to make a higher offer so as not to lose the property.

I just pressure wash the grout in the entry ways and high traffic areas and it looks like new.  

The pressure was on.Busy at work, I hear someone say, “You tore that thing down!”

Was he there for several days and started to decompose?

John:Unless you really want the look of cedar, hemlock or another durable wood, I would take a look at using composite decking before the run-of-the mill pressure treated spruce or fir.

For the unit's that use it, it works out to about $43.75 a month per unit that washes clothing once a week.

Belts wear out on washing machines too.

Financial pressure, opportunities for a better deal, changes in life circumstances can all be a big influence.  

So, where there is still land pressure, like downtown Tokyo, property values are high, but in rural areas, local governments are literally giving away land to anyone who will agree to move there.As long as we have strong immigration to the US, we will be okay, since that is where almost all of our population growth comes from.  

Sometime the material and compaction is not adequate, and with a lot of rain (or not) specially during hurricane season, the soil could easily be saturated, building up a lot of hydrostatic pressure that even some retaining walls can't handle...