This spring, there’s rising optimism among renters exhausted by COVID restrictions and yearning for liberation from tight apartments. At long last, they hope to actualize their homeownership aspirations.

Renters’ desire to buy intensifies when they crunch numbers on comparative housing costs, says George Ratiu, a senior economist at Realtor.com, the national home listing service.

“There’s a tilt against rentals in an increasing number of metro areas where the cost of owning is within 5% of the median rental cost,” Ratiu says.

All this is not to say buyers are free of challenges in the frenzied spring market. Prices are still rising, and the inventory of available homes is still dropping.

“Under the circumstances, you’d think many potential owners would get discouraged -- they’d cut and run. But that’s simply not the case,” says Michael Crowley, an independent real estate broker.

To persevere in the highly competitive sellers’ market, he says many buyers are facing tough tradeoffs on location and home features.

“For nearly all buyers, there’s a widening gap between their wish list and what they can afford. One big gulf relates to location. During COVID, they were willing to live way out in near-rural areas, but now they’re not so sure,” says Crowley, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

Obviously, the pandemic has allowed many to live anywhere and telework. But there are now more employers expecting remote workers to come into the office at least one or two days per week.

“Do I really want to live a terrible commute away from my employer going forward? That’s what more people are now asking themselves,” says Crowley.

Besides locational compromises, many would-be buyers are compelled to set priorities on the home features they most favor, says Amanda Pendleton, a home trends expert for Zillow, the data-driven real estate firm.

“The life changes triggered by the pandemic have caused everyone to reconsider what’s most important about their homes,” Pendleton says.

Through its extensive surveys, Zillow has identified the home features current buyers most want in the post-COVID period. At the top of most buyers’ priority lists: extraordinary kitchens.

“Consumers are always looking for ways to make the kitchen more functional, more organized, easy to clean and, of course, more beautiful,” says Kerrie Kelly, a Zillow home design specialist.

Many buyers now hanker for a kitchen with professional-level appliances, including steam ovens, as well as quartz countertops, Kelly says. They also aspire to “a spa vibe” in the master bath with such luxury amenities as heated floors and a free-standing bathtub.

But given home price increases, many buyers must lower their expectations to compete in multiple bidding situations, according to Ashley Richardson, a veteran real estate agent affiliated with the Residential Real Estate Council (crs.com).

“With inventory so tight, buyers will take what they can get if they are not in a position to wait for what they really want,” says Richardson, who sells property through the Long & Foster realty firm.

Here are a few pointers for buyers:

-- Take note of the commuting penalties often linked to a large property.

Alan Pisarski, author of the book “Commuting in America,” says the time people spend driving back and forth to their jobs will likely increase substantially in the near future.

“In high-cost housing areas, some people are moving farther out to afford any kind of house. But others are doing the same to get that ‘estate house’ surrounded by more land,” Pisarski says.

When analyzing the true costs of commuting from the hinterlands, Pisarski encourages prospective buyers to look beyond the dollars associated with gas and car maintenance expenses.

“To get a larger property or a lower mortgage payment, are you really willing to trade the time you’ll spend in traffic backups -- time you could spend with your family?” he asks.

-- Consider the labor costs for upkeep.

Those attracted to ownership of a large property in a bucolic setting often assume they could easily delegate their yardwork to a landscape or lawn service company.

“Delegating such work doesn’t always save as many hours as people assume. Finding people you can trust to do the work correctly without much supervision isn’t always easy,” Crowley says.

-- Take a realistic look at your children’s needs for a big yard.

Do you have memories of an idyllic childhood spent playing on a large lawn or in nearby wooded areas? Do you dream of owning a place where your children can enjoy the same freedom to frolic outdoors?

Such dreams are totally understandable. But you could be kidding yourself about the realities of your kids’ lives versus your own childhood years. Were there two working parents in the home where you grew up? Were you involved in as many organized athletic teams as are your children?

When they think through the issues, Crowley says, many buyers realize that the purchase of a home with a large yard is not warranted, given the limited time their children will play outside going forward.

“After COVID-19 goes into the history books, life will likely revert to a lot of the old patterns for your children as well as your work life,” he says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

Mortgage rates have become volatile in recent days, adding another element of uncertainty for buyers already in battle with rising home prices and tight-as-a-drum inventories of available homes. No one -- not even Nobel Prize-winning economists -- can know for certain the future trajectory of rates. But most wannabe homeowners have no intention of retreat.

“The small increase in mortgage rates has had zero impact on buyers so far. Rates are still historically low, and they’re still keeping buyers in the market,” says Ben Stanfield, a real estate agent for Redfin.

To date, would-be buyers have been much more focused on the severe scarcity of available property in popular neighborhoods than on mortgage rate ups and downs.

“It’s true that rates have come off the pandemic period lows they hit this winter, when they were absolutely rock bottom. Since then, rates did firm up a little bit. But the change has been nothing spectacular,” says Keith Gumbinger, a mortgage industry analyst for HSH Associates since 1984.

A recent pickup in rates caused many planning to refinance their mortgages to back off. But those in the millennial age group -- born between 1981 and 1996 -- remain highly motivated.

Granted, higher home financing costs mean that purchasers must raise more money to cover down payment and closing costs. But, so far, that’s affected relatively few buyers.

“It’s only people close to the margin who must go back to the drawing board when mortgage rates rise slightly. Most purchasers are not that close to the line,” Gumbinger says.

As a consumer advocate for homebuyers, he urges them to shop carefully for the type of mortgage that most closely fits their future housing plans.

“The vast majority of buyers will jump in and grab a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. But if you’re absolutely sure your tenure in the house will be only a few years, you might consider one of the new adjustable mortgages that guarantee low rates for five years or longer before they adjust,” Gumbinger says.

Here are a few other pointers for buyers:

-- Seek a lender willing to get you started with tutorials.

Gerri Detweiler, a consumer credit expert and author of “The Ultimate Credit Handbook” and several other books on debt issues, encourages first-time buyers to seek out a mortgage lender who will instruct them on the intricacies of home loans.

“A good lender won’t think it unreasonable to spend a couple of hours teaching you the basics and helping you deal with potential flaws on your credit reports,” says Detweiler, who offers free credit pointers on her website: gerridetweiler.com.

But how do you find a sympathetic lender willing to tutor you through your first or second attempt at home finance?

Gumbinger says real estate agents are usually a good bet for sound advice on finding a qualified lender. But he says you should look well beyond the suggestions of agents.

“For referrals, I recommend you use what I call the 'Satisfied Customer Index,’ also known as friends and family,” he says.

-- Arrive at your lender’s office fully prepared.

To maximize the use of your time and that of the lender you’ve chosen for your preliminary tutorials, there’s no substitute for gathering key documents in advance of your meeting. Ideally, these should include recent pay stubs, your latest W-2, a couple of years’ worth of federal tax returns, and bank account statements.

“Anything germane to your financial situation can help the lender help you,” according to Gumbinger.

By providing these documents at the front end of the process, your lender should be able to quickly calculate your top borrowing limit and also assess your eligibility for various lending programs.

“Well before you’re ready to apply for a loan, you can bring the whole mortgage picture into much clearer focus by supplying basic documents related to your financial life,” Gumbinger says.

-- Research your credit standing to ensure you get the best possible rate.

Under federal law, you're entitled to one free credit report each year from the three largest credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can easily request these online, at annualcreditreport.com.

Besides your credit reports, you'll want to access your "credit scores." Such scores, which draw on data from the credit bureaus, seek to provide lenders with a quantitative measure of a person's credit risk. Most lenders still use FICO scores, pioneered by the Fair Isaac Corp.

In most cases, you'll need to pay a fee to obtain your credit scores. One way to get them is through the Fair Isaac website: myfico.com. You can also receive credit scores through the three large credit bureaus. FICO scores range from 300 to 850, and the higher the score, the more likely you are to get the best available rate on your mortgage.

Once you’ve chosen a property you want to buy, it’s time to get serious about making your mortgage application. And with your credit scores in hand, you can readily begin the process of comparison shopping on rates.

You may wish to start the rate-shopping process with the lender who tutored you in the basics of home finance. But Gumbinger strongly suggests you extend your rate hunt well beyond the first lender you consulted. And he recommends you include community banks and credit unions in your search.

“It sounds like overkill. But it’s smart to take the time to make enough extra phone calls to collect at least a dozen rate quotes before going forward with a formal mortgage application,” he says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

To the great frustration of would-be homebuyers, popular neighborhoods everywhere are now extremely short of available properties.

“This constitutes a significant housing crisis,” says Merrill Ottwein, a realty company owner who’s long focused his business on buyers.

Through much of 2020, one major factor constraining inventories was that many potential sellers were sitting on the sidelines, fearing COVID exposure during public showings of their homes.

But as the nation starts to enter the post-COVID period, housing analysts foresee gradual improvement on the supply side.

“We expect that the vaccine rollout will likely boost inventory as sellers become increasingly willing to move despite COVID-19, resulting in greater numbers of new listings beginning this spring,” says Chris Glynn, the principal economist at Zillow, the national real estate firm.

Yet many owners who’ve long resided in their property face a daunting challenge to prep their place for sale.

Joan Doyle, a real estate agent for Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, has worked with numerous sellers making major housing transitions. And she’s consulted with many relatives who want to pitch in.

“The most important thing relatives can do for the sale is to help clear the house of clutter,” Doyle says.

Granted, in inventory-tight markets many buyers continue to face multiple bidding situations. Yet they’ll still pay less for a property that’s crowded with accumulations, or they’ll rule it out altogether.

“If your stuff is everywhere, some buyers will never be interested. When they walk in and see all that clutter, they’ll just turn around and walk out immediately,” Doyle says.

The problem is that buyers who see a home in chaotic shape can’t picture themselves living there. Also, they assume the untidy owners have neglected upkeep and that the place is in bad condition.

“Today’s buyers are more sensitive to everything. They’re hesitant about the economy and their financial situation,” Doyle says.

For sellers who’ve long struggled with organizational challenges, the prospect of getting their property cleared out and ready for sale can seem overwhelming.

“I’ve worked with people who are crying and shaking when I come in,” says Susan Pinsky, a professional organizer who specializes in helping disorganized people get through difficult transitions, like the involuntary sale of their property.

Pinsky, author of “The Fast and Furious 5 Step Organizing Solution,” says that when a financial or medical problem necessitates a home sale, owners often need relatives to help them mobilize.

Here are a few tips for family members who wish to assist:

-- Consider hiring a professional organizer.

Many longtime owners resist the notion of paying for help from an organizer, believing it’s a waste of money for work that shouldn’t require outside assistance. But Pinsky says a professional can sometimes mean the difference between success and failure in the residential decluttering process.

“Too often, family members are very subjective about all the stuff in the house and fail to see the big picture the way a professional can,” she says.

Of course, not everyone can afford a professional to slog step-by-step through decluttering. If funds are limited, one possibility is to pay solely for the organizer’s services at the front end in order to create a roadmap that relatives can then follow.

To locate a professional organizer in your local area, Pinsky cites the website of the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (napo.net) as one source of names. Or sellers can ask trusted friends, neighbors or colleagues for this type of help. Alternatively, real estate agents can be a good source of referrals.

-- Break up the tasks among several family members.

What if no funds are available to pay a professional organizer? In that case, Pinsky recommends the relatives choose a project manager within the family who can then delegate tasks on a room-by-room basis.

“Divvy up the activities. One family member could help the homeowner go through all the dishware and china in the kitchen. Another could help with clothes in the bedrooms. And a third could tackle tools in the garage,” she says.

However, Pinsky cautions that no purging project goes forward smoothly unless the homeowners are consulted when decisions are made about which items will be kept, sold, thrown out or donated.

“If the owners aren’t the decision-makers, you’re just wasting your time trying to help. You can’t make decisions about other people’s things without meeting major resistance,” Pinsky says.

-- Ease your way through the disposal process.

All too often, Pinsky arrives at the home of clients who want organizational help but aren’t set up to make the process flow efficiently.

“The pathways in and out of the house are crowded, and there are just a few tiny wastebaskets for the collection of discards,” she says.

Pinsky arranges for the use of large trash bins, along with trash bags of different colors to make sure, for example, that items for charity don’t mingle with those destined for the landfill. Then she clears pathways to the doors to make sure it’s easy to remove anything that won’t be kept.

“The idea is to make the removal system as streamlined as possible,” Pinsky says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)