Desperation is influencing the bids of homebuyers in many inventory-tight markets. Both novice buyers and those struggling to trade up to larger spaces are now unnerved by the hyper-competitive seller’s market.

Indeed, some buyers are so determined to beat out rival bidders that they’re tacking gifts onto their offers, says Stacy Berman, a real estate agent who’s sold property for more than two decades.

“People aren’t just going way over list price. They’re also promising sellers lots of tangible incentives. These include season passes to Disneyland and cases of exquisitely fine wine. For sellers with kids, they’re giving away prized video games,” Berman says.

What’s behind the current red-hot seller’s market? Art Godi, who’s headed a family-owned realty firm since 1961, says the historically high demand for larger housing started intensifying last year due to COVID restrictions.

“Suddenly in 2020, your house was no longer just a place to live. It also became an office, a schoolhouse and a restaurant for your family,” says Godi, a past president of the National Association of Realtors (www.nar.realtor).

But even as the yearning for more space has intensified, numerous homeowners have kept their selling plans on hold.

“Lots of would-be sellers are still scared that if buyers come in to see their property, they’ll bring the virus with them,” Godi says.

Predictably, the extreme imbalance between supply and demand has caused prices to ascend dramatically in recent months.

“The trend of accelerating prices that began in June 2020 has now reached its eighth month,” says Craig Lazzara, who tracks housing trends through the widely cited Case-Shiller home price indices.

Multiple bidding wars are now ubiquitous in many areas, and in the wake of a bidding war loss, some wannabe buyers feel so emotionally wounded that they back out of the market indefinitely. But instead, Godi encourages them to regroup and move forward.

“Sit down with your buyer’s agent and a trusted mortgage lender to discuss your options. You may need to be more flexible in terms of your financing or the target area of your search,” he says.

Here are a few other pointers for buyers:

-- Widen the scope of your search by talking to local residents.

Your agent should be helpful in sorting through property listings, making sure you identify the most promising homes available.

But once you have your eye on a particular area, it could be the time to talk to those who know the community best: residents.

“Believe me, most neighbors will bend your ear about their neighborhood. For example, they’ll tell you if they like or hate the local schools and the ages of kids who live in nearby homes,” says Eric Tyson, a personal finance expert and co-author of “Home Buying for Dummies.”

-- Inform yourself on neighborhood property values.

If you’re uneasy about the price tag attached to a property you like, have your real estate agent show you several comparable homes that are also on the market, including those under contract.

Resourceful buyers might even go a step further by asking people who’ve recently bought into the community whether they would mind giving you a peek inside.

“Drop a little note in their mailbox telling them you’re interested in the neighborhood and leave your name and phone number in case they’ll let you come by,” Tyson says.

What’s the advantage of evaluating the price and quality of freshly sold homes? In areas where home prices are rising, the latest sales are the most telling, more so than transactions that occurred months ago.

-- Tour enough properties to make an informed comparison.

Even if the first place you see looks perfect, you’ll want to ponder alternatives to make sure you have a basis of comparison, says Tyson, who recommends that home shoppers look at a minimum of six properties before they buy.

Many sellers are now offering virtual tours, or you can go inside properties with the proper protective gear, including masks and gloves.

“Buyer’s remorse is much less likely if you’ve examined several options -- even if you must do so in a single day,” Tyson says.

-- Contain your emotions before shaping a bid.

Granted, buying a home is now a highly competitive activity in many neighborhoods. But every property should be evaluated on its merits, not on the number of people vying to own it.

Tyson suggests buyers set a ceiling on how much they’re willing to pay for a place before making an opening bid. This is especially important if one partner in a couple is likely to get carried away with a “must have” house they come across.

Jane Fairweather, who sells property through the Long & Foster realty firm, says would-be buyers who’ve lost houses to other bidders are sometimes prone to rush into a deal they might later regret.

“Buying on the rebound without a lot of forethought is not a good idea. Rather, I urge people to recenter themselves until they can create a strategic plan of action to determine their next moves,” Fairweather says.

“Maybe your best decision is to back off from the house-hunting struggle for a short while until you can reassess and decide what truly makes sense for your family,” Fairweather says.

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

Months into the pandemic, a middle-aged couple with two teenagers became fed up with their city condo. With everyone home, it felt way too crowded. So they vowed to move up to a much more spacious suburban place with a yard.

“Sure, it was convenient. But to heck with downsized living. We needed liberation,” recalls the wife, a government consultant.

Given that homebuyers now greatly outnumber sellers in most popular suburbs, the family knew they’d have to scramble to compete for a trade-up property. But they vowed to take on the competition.

“We were determined to win the kind of forever house we’d been fantasizing about,” the consultant says.

It took several weeks for the family to locate the sort of place they were seeking. To beat out rival bidders, they added an escalator clause to their offer, promising to pay $1,000 over the highest bid that came in. Also, the consultant composed a persuasive letter to the elderly seller, telling her how much the family appreciated her place.

“That letter made all the difference because the owner had babied that house for many years, keeping it in exquisite condition,” the consultant says.

Mark Nash, a veteran real estate analyst, doesn’t know the family in this true story. But he empathizes with those now seeking larger quarters.

“These days, trading up to a big suburban place can be nearly as hard as buying a first home,” says Mark Nash, a longtime real estate analyst and author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home.”

Steadily rising home prices, combined with higher mortgage rates, are now doubly disadvantaging buyers, says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor).

“Housing affordability is weakening. Various stimulus packages are expected, and they will indeed help. But an increase in inventory is the best way to address surging home costs,” Yun says.

Here are pointers for move-up buyers:

-- Disconnect emotionally from your current place.

Surprisingly, many who want to sell their property in favor of a better one have a tough time letting go of their current domain, says Sid Davis, the author of several real estate books. The problem is that many who are emotionally attached to their property find it difficult to price realistically -- especially now, when sellers rule in many areas.

“Subconsciously, many sellers think they’re entitled to a higher-than-market price because they love their house and think it’s better than any other place for miles around,” says Davis, a veteran real estate broker.

But given the psychology of buyers, most so resent an overpriced property that they’ll refuse to bid on it. Therefore, a beloved house with too rich a price tag can sit unsold for a period of time, creating a serious snag in the plans of owners who wish to trade up.

“Even now, people who get greedy reduce their odds for an expeditious sale,” Davis says.

How can you loosen ties to your current property so as to be emotionally free to move on to a larger or more luxurious home?

Davis recommends that before setting your list price, you do a brief tour of the trade-up properties available in your price range in the area where you wish to live.

“Looking around at other options can flip the switch in your brain and cause you to get excited about buying that better house,” he says.

-- Always remember resale potential when buying a home.

If you’re trading up to a better property for the second or third time, you may assume your next property will be your last. But statistics show that many owners sell sooner than expected, says Dorcas Helfant, the co-owner of several Coldwell Banker realty offices.

“Your plans are one thing, but what happens in real life is another,” says Helfant, who cites financial and health issues as reasons why many sell sooner than they anticipate.

Regardless of how long you stay, you’ll want a place that not only holds its value but appreciates. That’s why it’s wise to look for features that will gain in value over time, such as those that help keep utility bills to a minimum.

Helfant says good bets for future appreciation are energy savers -- including extra attic insulation, double-paned windows and high-efficiency appliances. In addition, look for an open floor plan that should retain its popularity over time.

“People do want home offices with doors they can close for privacy. But other than that, they dislike chopped-up floor plans with lots of small, self-contained rooms. They favor a kitchen that flows directly into a spacious ‘great room,’” she says.

-- Consider choosing a brand-new home.

All available homes are in short supply in coveted communities, including in new subdivisions. Builders are facing rising costs related to both land and materials. Even so, Davis says buyers who are attempting to acquire a more spacious place can sometimes get a better deal on new construction than on a resale property.

“Look at pricing on a square footage basis. You could be surprised at how far your money will go on a brand-new place when it’s a really large house you’re chasing,” he says.

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

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.)