Aaah, INSPECTIONS. One word that fills homebuyers with a strange mix of excitement (at the prospect of spending more time in the house and squeezing the inspectors for advice on their HGTV-inspired remodeling plans) and dread (at the possibility that some big, bad deal-killing problem will come between them and their dream home).

The headlines all scream, "no one's buying," "homes are sitting on the market," "great buyer's market." So you take a deep breath, embrace your inner contrarian and decide to buy when everyone else is selling. You make an offer on an entry-level home and realize that, apparently, someone else read the paper and decided to buy now too, because there are 14 other offers, and you get outbid. Thinking that's a fluke, you try again, and get outbid again. And then again.

You worked for years to improve your credit score. You saved every penny you made and then moved in with your parents to save a few more. You surfed real estate listing sites until your Chihuahua could tell a Craftsman from a Rancher. After all that, you were finally awarded the distinction of being pre-approved for a mortgage. Fast forward through the house hunt, and past inspections, disclosures and all that jazz. The end is in sight, and you can practically hear the Chariots of Fire theme song playing as you approach the finish line that is close of escrow. Then, the unthinkable happens -- your loan doesn't get final approval.

Realtors have been fleeing the profession like Atkins devotees from a cupcake boutique. And it's no wonder -- the combo meal of plummeting home prices, the slowdown in sales and their own adjusting mortgage payments has made it pretty stinking tough to make a living as a Realtor.

My mother used to think it strange that someone with psychology and law degrees ended up selling real estate for a living. Lately, though, she's conceded that my background could not be more appropriate, as an ever-increasing amount of my time is devoted to what we've jokingly dubbed "r.e. (short for real estate) therapy." Even apart from the market drama, buying a home often brings up lots of issues that must be navigated to have a successful outcome -- issues as diverse as the buyer's relationships with their parents to the buyer's relationship with their money.

As a high-powered Realtor in the fancy-schmancy city Area real estate market, I have developed an uber-sophisticated client needs assessment technique I like to call "The Restroom Conversation." (I say this TIC, which in this case stands for Tongue-In-Cheek rather than Tenants in Common!)

Life doesn't stop during escrow. As nice as it would be for a homebuyer to be able to press pause on all non-real estate matters during that 30 days, the reality is that people still travel, give birth and get married (and divorced!) during escrow -- just like any other month of their lives.