<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Hi Tom:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    I'm going to stick my neck out and try to answer your questions.  First, an offer of $500 to buy the piano I think, would be fair for buyer and seller considering the instrument is now unplayable and needs considerable work.  You also have to move it out of the basement and into your shop.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Now comes the hard part.  I used to run into this sort of thing in the auto repair business.  Buy an old car, fix it up and hope to make money.  In this case, because of the flood of low priced entry-level Asian grands coming into this country, you might have trouble coming out ahead.  It might make more sense to rebuild it, and keep it in the family or donate it and take the deduction.  On the other hand, how about a chapter project piano or one for you or others to gain experience with.  The idea here is not to make a big profit, but to learn.  In the end, you might be working for $5/hr but the experience may be worth a lot more.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Flame suit and helmet in place......and I love the names you gave the piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Mike Kurta</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>