Background Imagine that you've saved some money and are at the stage in life where you want to buy a vacation home. You're not looking for anything fancy, just a cabin in the woods, far from the city, where you can get away and relax. The real estate market in your area is soft, so you're hopeful that you can find something reasonably priced. After thinking carefully about your baseline, you're prepared to pay around $200,000, though exactly how much you'll spend will depend on the particular place and how it compares with others. On recent weekends, you've done some prospecting, meeting with real estate agents and looking at properties. These outings were enjoyable at first, but now you're discouraged. Everything that