When I called Donna Dziak, manager of housing counseling programs at the Seattle nonprofit agency Solid Ground, to get more information about tomorrow's mortgage-workout session (scroll down to the third item) in SeaTac. We quickly went off on tangents.

Among them was this gem: Solid Ground is so swamped with clients that it can't take on any new ones. It doesn't have the money -- and doesn't anticipate getting it -- to hire any more housing counselors. A quarter to a third of the agency's budget is from private sources, including fundraisers and donations, but the rest comes from federal, state and local governments.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development cut Solid Ground's contract $16,000 from last year, Dziak said, and the agency expects a cut in its funding from King County, which is $90 million in the hole.

From Seattle, the agency will receive what it did last year plus 2.5 percent for a cost-of-living adjustment. It also will get a small amount of money from the state through a program that ends in June.

But that money won't make up the gap, which comes as more and more homeowners are looking for help.

After several months of tracking three homes from listing to sale, I'm happy to report the selling price of the house at 20129 SE 258th Place in Covington: $339,000.

I began tracking the listing May 16, when it was listed for $359,500 and noted the "sold" sign a couple weeks ago. The sale closed Sept. 30 after one price reduction of $14,000.

The other two homes were at 4749 119th Ave. S.E. in Bellevue, which became a rental after two price reductions totaling $120,000, and 20132 S.E. 258th Place in Covington, recorded as sold for $354,950, $5,000 higher than the asking price before any seller incentives.

Both houses on 258th Place were the same model: 4 bedrooms, 2.5-baths, 2,050 square feet.

The Bellevue house, first listed at $719,000 then reduced to $649,000 and $599,000 before the owner took it off the market and decided to rent it out, has 2 bedrooms,.1.75 baths and 1,840 square feet.

Lisa Poole/The Associated Press

A reader called me today, asking whether I knew whom to contact to get more information about the Countrywide settlement approved Sunday. Yes, I do -- since I called spokesman Dan Sytman at the state Attorney General's Office.

And for future reference: I know everything. (Just kidding.)

The state AG's Office is updating its Web site as new information is available, Sytman said. The information is embedded in the news release about the settlement.

Here are the highlights, however, straight from the AG's Office Web site:

On Friday, Coldwell Banker will begin a national real-estate sale Oct. 10-19, but local Coldwell Banker Bain brokers and agents in the Puget Sound area have chosen not to participate.

Brokers in some other cities also have elected not to participate in the sale, which encourages sellers to lower their prices up to 10 percent for the 10-day promotion.

Ron Sparks, managing vice president of CB Bain in Bellevue, said that the idea for a real-estate sale, (as in discount) is "well-intentioned but misplaced in our marketplace."

The past several weeks have been nuts for lenders. Just to show you what I mean, take a look at this Sept. 30 post to the Rain City Guide from mortgage broker Rhonda Porter.

Porter posts rates every Friday on Rain City Guide. She also writes the Mortgage Porter and posts regular live rate quotes on Twitter.

Last Friday's rates post-bailout rate sheet wasn't nearly as much fun to read, but it gives you an idea of the difference.

Check it out.

Why does major remodeling always start with a minor fix?

I've mentioned the recent projects at my house that gave us two remodeled bathrooms.

From blog photos

From blog photos

They started with the need for new fixtures to replace the peeling, corroded brass-colored ones that came with the house. But why put gleaming new fixtures on crappy old sinks? And why keep the nasty light green formica countertop and hideous green and white tile? And the 6-foot-long mirror and ugly Hollywood lighting?

You get the idea.

Today I chuckled at the Oct. 2 Cheapskate column by Wall Street Journal personal-finance columnist Neal Templin. He's getting a whole new kitchen because his wife wanted to move the stove 2 feet and their current floor plan won't accommodate it.

Have you been down that road? What was the impetus for your remodeling project? How much did you spend when all was said and done? What lessons did you learn?

If you missed the story today about three sellers who can't unload homes fast enough, you're missing out. Check it out here.

In a poll for online home-search company Trulia, Harris Interactive asked 2,507 U.S. adults for their opinions about homebuying.

The results have lots of tidbits, but the one I glommed onto was this: 92 percent of those who owned homes and 70 percent of those who didn't said they had no plans to move. Only 12 percent of nonowners said they expect to buy a home in the next year.

That's a lot of would-be buyers who won't be buying -- which should tell a lot of would-be sellers to sit tight. This isn't a market in which to test drive selling your home. If you don't need to sell, wait. It'll save you the stress of trying to sell in a buyers' market and the frustration of trying to get what you think you deserve for your place.

But let's take our own survey. Are you thinking about buying a house? When do you expect to buy?