Hi. I'm having a problem with genderswapped Malcolm Landgraab's house in that the buy/build mode buttons are greyed out.

At first, I thought the problem was related to a hack that allowed me to visit other sims. I had Gillian and Dennis Jacquet visited her ages ago, and because it wasn't their house, buy/build mode was disabled. But I'm afraid I can't remember if they were working when I went to play her or if it happened after she started a fire. But I took out all the CC from all the folders and they're still greyed out. When she returns from community lots they're still greyed out. I can access buy mode by using the cheat boolProp dormSpecificToolsDisabled false and then if I use the eyedropper on walls/floors, I can access build mode, but it's an annoying workaround. I did try using the Batbox to re-enable controls, but all that did was re-grey-out buy mode. So the last thing I did was make a backup, go to the Jacquets, move her in, then move her out and buy back the Landgraab mansion. And success! Buy/build mode was back.

However, to do that, I either have to sell all her stuff or give her a big cash injection so she can buy her home back and I although I'm willing to do it if I have to, I was wondering if there is any other way of re-enabling buy/build mode on my backup that I can try first?

You could try this build-buy enabler:
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=204467

That's the Pets version. You'll want the BV version, which is in comment # 48.

I'm wondering whether the fire didn't clear properly. You might want to look at the Fix options on the batbox, to see whether you can clear the fire.

Ah. I already have that build-buy enabler. XD And I tried all the Fix options and couldn't get it to work. Maybe I should get her to set another fire.

That WAS due to the visitor mod. I had a similar problem, unfortunately. My residents went to work while my Sim was there, and I didn't make him leave before they did. I figured he could wait until they got home. WRONG! Instant gray-out.

I found out the hard way, naturally (naturally for me, anyway). I tried many ways to get my buy/build buttons back. The only thing I could do after a half-hour of trying (and yes, I used the batbox as well) was to move the couple out (I had already deleted the visitor), then back in again. Of course, everything in the house went "poof' ... I had to motherlode and start over again. (Thank goodness they lived in a cheap house!) Even then, I got a strange message and a mystery motorcycle in the driveway. Apparently, the game thought the visitor was still there, even if he was already at his house,. And he had the bike at his own house. Fortunately, move_objects got rid of the mystery bike in the driveway. I had no easy way of deleting that, either. (This was a known glitch.)

The best way I found out, to try to avoid this in the future was to make sure you leave before ANYONE leaves for school or work, or make the residents stay home.

EDIT ... Re-read your post. The glitch might have happened because the firefighter exited the house (like he or she usually does!) That might have triggered it. The game might not know the difference between residents and visitors when it comes to this mod. I wonder if inviting the firefighter to the house and making him or her stay would help if this ever happened again? But that is the topic for a whole 'nother site, never mind a whole 'nother thread.

Better yet, I guess, is to make darn sure no one cooks anything. Not even a toaster pastry!

I really, really like the visiting mod, but one does have to be really careful using it, I found out.

Hmm. While I was playing around with the fix options, it did delete tokens for Dennis and Gillian, so I think it is thinking they're still there. I'll delete their tokens again, maybe start another fire and if that fails, Mallory can move out. Either way, I've decided to do away with the visitor mod because apparently it's very, very glitchy with build/buy enablers and I absolutely CANNOT play without that.

ETA: Well, the only think I achieved by starting another fire was locking Mallory out of her inventory as well. Whoops.

Sadly, I will have to as well; at least for now. I'll put it in my "cleanout folder", away from the game. With my luck, a tree catches fire during a visit, and passersby start freaking out and running to the tree, like mine do. Is the mod going to think THOSE as residents? And I'm not even sure if exiting without saving will do the trick. Once those boxes are grayed-out, they seem to STAY grayed-out.

Really, too bad. If this was just a case of someone not tending to a stove, you could just have them not cook. That would be an easy fix.

I should check the source site. Maybe someone noted that problem already, and there is an easy way to get around this. I didn't see it when I read it before (otherwise, I wouldn't have downloaded the mod in the first place), but perhaps, in my zeal to snag this mod, I overlooked it.

Perhaps you should ask Chris Hatch at BAS to take a look at the mod and see whether there's some way to ensure that build / buy remains enabled after the visit? I have found him very open to requests for fixes.

Yes. I was hoping to do that later ... or at least let him know. One thing I have found out about creators is that if there is a serious problem with their uploads, most will not mind if you KINDLY (emphasis) inform them of any problems. I've found perhaps one or two in all the years I've downloaded content who got bristly when you politely mention genuine (not "but I like BLUE shoes ... can you make those?", but real problems) glitches.

I just have the same problem because I sent the visiting Sim home while one of the residents *just* went to work. How to un-gray buy mode on that residential lot?

Insimenator and Sim Manipulator have options to re-enabled build/buy. Get the destination version of one and see if you can spawn in objects. Then you can find the option in... miscellaneous options?