Before you can decide on a real estate’s value, it’s important to determine whether you’re shopping in a hot, cold, or even level market. As you travel to open houses, do you witness a train of buyers inspecting the home or is the Realtor playing solitaire on his or her cell phone? You can estimate how hot the home market is by contacting your friends who are also trying to buy a house, and ask if they’re have a difficult time getting in their offers before other home buyers, or if it’s been a cakewalk talking terms with sellers. These situations are only a few ways to gauge the temperature of the local home market.