[Heidi60]

You need to obtain an appraisal from a professional independent appraiser, not a realtor, for the best information. They are qualified to consider resent sales, property condition, and much more than a realtor. Also, if you are going for a mortgage they will also (or at least should) use a professional appraiser at your expense.

Making extra principle payments on your house is a great idea if you are going to stay there long term but if you are just going to keep it for a few years your equity may not increase enough to profit from those payments. If your house only goes up 1%, or less, this summer but you can get 3% investing the money somewhere else, it doesn't make sense to pay down your mortgage.

Here is some info I found which would not help the seller:

Curran has a high % of unoccupied properties. It is 51.03% more than the national average. This can drive sales prices down.
The percent of owner occupied properties in Curran is 31.24% below the national average.