It always amazes me that level headed rational folks like most of us cant comprehend that we are at the mercy of nitwits. I have worked with many very savy buyers who live their entire lives in Quicken or on a spreadsheet. They fall in love with an overpriced home, pull out the sliderule and calculate what it is “worth” and how much they will pay.

Then I have to sit them down and give them my “Nitwit Speech”. It goes like this. Do not put yourself or your family on the road financial distress, so buy something well within your affordability range but forget about trying to put a 100% sane market value on a home around here. As much as you do not believe the house is worth that much (nor do I) all it takes is one Nitwit who is willing and able to pay that much. The Nit Wits set the market for sane folks. It only takes one Nit Wit to crush your dream and there are alot of Nit Wits out there. Therefore as unemotional as you are trying to be, please do not forget to include the NIt Wit factor in your calculations else you will end up a “bitter renter” for your entire life. Sad as it may seem, this is the way the world works.