How do you know if you are getting a bargain in a home right now?  It is pretty easy to find out if the home you are buying is a bargain.  Ask your real estate agent to pull all the comparables in the area.  A comparable is a home that is very similar in size and style as the house you are buying.  For example you only compare ranch to ranch and colonial to colonials.  You should never have to compare a ranch to a colonial.

Some of the basic rules of appraising is that you look for a similar style of home with roughly the same features and approximately the same square footage within a square mile of the existing property without crossing over any main roads, or railroad tracks.  And they should have sold within the last six months.  Houses that have sold over six months ago may not be a good comparable any more.  Especially like the market we are having in 2007.

So your agent should first pull all the homes that have sold in the neighborhood, then they should pull all the homes that have sold within the square mile. They all should have sold within the last six months.   Then the agent should pull the solds in the city if he can´t find enough comparables.  Some agents don´t like to do this because all they care about is selling a home and not whether the home is worth the price.