Most of the posts I've logged on this site have been inspired by true, personal events. This post is no exception. I just saw a listing on a house I appraised at the end of last year. My appraisal based on all relevant and compatible data appraised for $500,000 less than the contract price of the property. The major selling point (Spin) the realtors were pushing about this post and beam house, was its famous architect. I had used two compatible,recent sales built by the same architect  in my appraisal report and they did not support such a large list price. When I asked the realtor to provide comparables that supported their price they gave me two sales, one over two miles away, the other that had a killer view of several L.A. landmarks. The buyer came up with the difference to get the loan and the house. The owner has done some "upgrading", mostly changing the decor of the house and now has it listed for another $850,000 more than what they paid! Thats a 30% appreciation rate in just over 18 months! In a declining market of higher end homes! Buyer beware, because the realtors on both sides are telling you the house is worth it, doesn't make it so. Make them prove that what they say is fact. And when they begin to make comments that you're financially inadequate or ignorant about real estate, just walk away. You will be saving yourself a lot of money!