It seems everyday now I am asked to do a market analysis for a homeowner in hopes of selling and moving on with their lives.  In so many circumstances, folks have no idea what has been going on around them in their own neighborhood – that prices have declined by 20% and that in order to sell they’d have to take a huge loss in the tens of thousands of dollars.  I guess I’m writing to suggest that you stay on top of your market value.  A good Realtor can run this data and analyze it for you at no charge.  Just like an appraisal, this info is only really valid for a short period of time (i.e. you wouldn’t want to use an appraisal from 6 months or a year ago – it needs to be recent).  It’s not all doom & gloom, but if you bought in 2006-2008, there’s a good chance you’ll be in a similar situation if you need to sell.