Thirty years ago, Martin Margulies went to a street fair and bought his first painting for $400. Today, the Miami real-estate developer has more than 5,000 artworks and his own private museum; he once dropped $3 million on a de Kooning painting.

When you start collecting, Margulies warns, be prepared for a potentially costly addiction. If you want to buy art, he says, "Look at the reality of parting with your hard-earned money." See a private collection

That's good advice at a time when the global art market is booming and prices for many artists are soaring. Briton Damien Hirst, for example, known for edgy works like a dead shark in a fish tank, reportedly sold one of his latest creations -- a platinum skull studded with diamonds -- for $100 million in August. Photo: The $100 million skull

So is it too late to snag, say, an Andy Warhol for the living room?

We're not so sure about the Warhol: His turquoise Marilyn Monroe sold this year for an estimated $80 million to hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen. But more generally, the answer is no, it's not too late -- and you needn't be a billionaire Wall Street mogul or a filthy-rich Russian oligarch to start acquiring art. Can art make you rich?

Despite the sticker shock associated with some of the blue-chip artists in today's frothy market, there's plenty of quality art for sale at reasonable prices. You won't be taking home a large Picasso -- but you won't be hanging posters, either. $16,000 for that?

At the low end of an art-buying budget, the best prices are for multiple-edition works such as photographs and prints, rather than unique pieces, like an oil painting. Photography's growing popularity has pushed up prices, but "there is still affordable photography to be had," says Julie Saul, owner of the Julie Saul Gallery in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, where contemporary photographic prints sell for an average $6,000.

Prints can also be a bargain compared with paintings -- especially prints by well-known artists, many of whom often dabble in works on paper. (Miss the boat on Hirst's diamond skull? His London gallery is selling limited-edition prints of the skull's image, sprinkled with diamond dust, for $20,000.)

More reasonable are prints by portraitist Chuck Close. Compare these numbers: Although you should expect to pay around $5 million for a Close painting, his prints go for as little as $3,500.

One bonus: You could bring your purchase home right away. "There's a waiting list for Close's paintings, but you can buy a print today," notes Kristin

Heming, director of Pace Prints in New York, which sells Close's work.

Another tactic: Target younger, undiscovered artists who have yet to find fame and fortune. "If an artist has a reputation or connections in the art world, prices go up quickly -- it's all about supply and demand," notes Joe Amrhein, director of the Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn, where prices range from $50 to $3,500.

Once you're ready to buy, your first task is to ask yourself a basic question: What art do you like?

Don't know? Then do a bit of exploring. To see what's out there in the freewheeling art world, visit galleries and museums and trawl art magazines for the latest trends -- be it abstract or figurative work, sculpture, installations or multimedia. It's not about matching your sofa, but "discovering what stirs your soul," says Allen Thomas Jr., a collector in Wilson, N.C., who has acquired over 300 photographs since 1995.

Next, set a spending limit. Over the years Thomas has paid as little as $100 for a photograph -- and as much as $20,000. Some say the price will be right if the artwork moves you. But to be sure, check the price tag against auction-house results and Web sites like artnet, which track sales results for major artists, to see if the price you're being offered is in line with prices being paid elsewhere for the artist's work.

Now it's time to start shopping. One way to get a broad view of the market -- without traipsing to galleries or jetting to art capitals -- is to visit an art fair. Last year New York's annual Armory Show, a must-see event on the ever-expanding international circuit, featured 150 galleries. The advantage, says Katelijne De Backer, Armory Show director, is that "you have all the best galleries in the world in one spot." See the Armory Show

You will also have rivals. Some 90 minutes after the Armory Show opened in March, a capacity crowd was jostling to see the art. More than 52,000 visitors filed through over five days, and sales for the 2007 event totaled $85 million, up from $62 million in 2006.

For a less hectic pace (and lower prices), try the aptly named Affordable Art Fair, which rolls into London, New York and other cities annually. At this event, all galleries must agree to sell work for under $10,000. "Affordable is a relative term, but the average price here is $1,000," says Will Ramsay, the fair's founder. Slide show: Art for $100 (and up)

For the adventurous collector, it pays to go off the beaten path. To discover new talent, visit thesis shows at discerning graduate art schools, where up-and-coming artists make their debuts.

Another option: art from emerging countries. At the Armory Show, the Michael Stevenson Gallery of Cape Town, South Africa, was showing dramatic photographs by Guy Tillim of child soldiers in the Congo for around $4,000.

"It takes courage to walk up to a booth and buy an artist you have never heard of," says Joost Bosland, an assistant curator at the gallery. "But it's amazing how many people have taken that leap of faith."

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Published Jan. 18, 2008