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In the current real estate market, sellers are going to great lengths to score points with potential buyers.

Faced with dropping prices and surging inventory, some desperate homeowners are offering to pay a year's taxes, pick up all closing costs, or even throw in a new car.

Others are burying statues of St. Joseph in their front yards and hoping for a miracle.

But one factor is often overlooked: Although a house is the biggest purchase most of us will ever make, choosing one is often an emotional decision based mainly on love at first sight.

"People are pretty logical about their budget and the area they want to buy in," says Gwen Gilligan, a Santa Fe, N.M., real estate broker.

But other items on the wish list are forgotten when the right place comes along. ...