or a seller's market," Ms. Gao says. "Anyone with a good heart would feed them." In this booming real-estate market, prospective home buyers are encountering some unorthodox requests. As sellers are barraged by eager bidders, they're seeking not only the highest price or wrangling over who'll pick up taxes and closing costs -- but some also are asking to stay in the house months after the deal closes, or requesting fixtures that typically stay with the property, such as refrigerators and diving boards. In Tempe, Ariz., one seller invited bidders to sit for interviews until he found one he thought his neighbors would like. A homeowner in San Antonio was happy to let her house go, but only to a buyer who promised not to renovate it. "As a buyer you have no leverage in this market," says Bruce Ross Bernor, an agent in San Francisco. "You have to bite your tongue and go along with it." [snip] Some buyers aren't eager to give ground. After Lisa Lai Fook offered the $499,000 asking price for a town house in Oakland, Calif., last month, the seller asked her to write a letter describing her background. Ms. Lai Fook walked away. "I'm really busy," says the 33-year-old chemical engineer. "To sit there and write a letter to someone I don't know after I've put down a ridiculous sum of money is insulting." Let's face it... if you're a property owner (a good person), if you're not being demeaning and cruel to non-property