• Ask for a list of all homes within a fairly wide price range in the area(s) you have interest. Don't narrow the field by limiting your search by any other criteria.

• Review the "makeup" of the area's "Available" and "Sold" properties to see if the mix and price ranges fit the type of neighborhood you are looking for. For example, if your budget is around $100,000, it would be preferable to be in a neighborhood priced from $90,000 to $150,000 rather than $70,000 to $100,000. The top end usually appreciates at a smaller percentage than the bottom. Also, it's impressive to live around more expensive homes than yours. This will be helpful when and if you decide to sell your home in the future.

• The last thing you should do is walk through dozens of homes. You will get confused, hostile and depressed. Choose the neighborhood first. Drive by the available homes, ALONE, and at your leisure. Using a yellow pad, make notes about each home and it's surroundings. Look at some recent sells in the area for comparisons. You will cover a lot more ground, and probably eliminate 75% to 80% for the time being, for one reason or another.

• Have your Broker analyze the remaining homes to see how the asking price relates to the recent sales in the area.

• Check the Multiple Listing Service and the County Tax Record to see what the Seller paid for the property. Often, this information is available.

• Rank the remaining list by personal preference and your Agent's analysis.

• Now it's time to go inside. Look for signs of a motivated Seller. Examples: a vacant home, sparsely furnished, moving boxes in garage, signs that the Seller has purchased another home, corporate listings, etc. You Agent should ferret out any information they can get about the Seller and the property.

With all the public information that's available, your Agent should be able to give you an approximate range of what the properties are worth and what you should offer. You don't need to know how to build a clock to tell time. An experienced Agent can give you the tools you need to make a logical decision without teaching you all he or she knows about the Real Estate market. Consider choosing a Realtor with experience you can use. An Agent with appraisal, home-building, or heavy negotiating skills might be preferable to one that's been listing homes for sale for 10 years or more.