It’s too early for the spring home-buying market to start in earnest. What’s more, bad weather is slowing this year’s real estate recovery. Still, anecdotal reports indicate rising confidence among buyers.

“Buyers are past any freak-out about high mortgage rates. They’re more confident because they’re getting pay increases and because unemployment is super low,” says Stacy Berman, a real estate agent in the field since 2002.

An increasing number of young adults are seeking to escape their rental units. And changing market conditions are encouraging them to move forward. That’s especially so for people who spent the worst of the pandemic in a cramped apartment. The quest to buy remains especially urgent for those in the millennial generation.

“The millennials really want a house -- ideally with space for one or two home offices,” Berman says.

Millennials and their younger siblings from Generation Z are facing many financial headwinds. Rents, along with food prices and health care costs, have risen dramatically in recent years. But for those with young children, the real stinger is high child-care expenses.

Take the case of a nurse practitioner of 32 who’s married to an IT consultant. Together, their salaries exceed $100,000. But the cost of day care for their two toddlers now tops $3,000 per month -- more than their rent.

Even so, market conditions are now more favorable for buyers than they were during the pandemic home-buying frenzy of late 2020 and 2021, when bidding wars left many would-be buyers out in the cold.

One indication of buyer empowerment is that purchasers clearly have more leverage than they did during the worst of the bidding wars.

“Buyers are asking sellers for things that were unheard of during the past few years,” says Van Welborn, a Redfin real estate agent in Arizona.

Welborn tells how one of his clients negotiated a $10,000 credit for a new roof and several other repairs. The sellers also knocked $15,000 off their asking price.

“Concessions were common before the pandemic, and we may be returning to that norm. Sellers realize they’re not going to get $80,000 over the asking price like their neighbor did last year,” he says.

Though many young buyers now qualify for low-down-payment mortgages, the biggest stumbling block they face is often debt. This includes not only student loans but also car loans and credit card debt.

“Just like generations of homebuyers before you, you’ve got to tighten your belt and make extra loan payments until you whittle down your debt. Otherwise, your debt-to-income ratio will hinder your odds of qualifying for a mortgage,” says Sid Davis, author of “A Survival Guide to Buying a Home.”

Here are a few pointers for first-time buyers:

-- Try to reduce your debt load with extra income.

For anyone seeking to progress financially, cutting debt -- including credit-card balances -- is an absolute must.

“The interest rates charged on most credit cards are ridiculously high. All that interest can eat you alive,” says Jim Blankenship, a certified financial planner.

Unfortunately, many young adults make only enough money to meet necessary living expenses. Given this reality, Blankenship often recommends that would-be buyers consider supplementing their income.

“Think about taking a second job. Or try to get overtime at your regular job, assuming overtime is available,” he says.

-- Save cash by limiting wedding outlays.

Kristin Meador, a real estate broker who often works with young buyers, wrote a book designed to help clients save on their wedding costs. She says it’s very possible to cut costs for a range of wedding-related expenses, from invitations to rings to the reception and honeymoon.

“When you’re trying to save for a house, it makes no sense to spend $500 or more for a wedding dress,” Meador says.

She says there are many ways to hold an inexpensive yet tasteful wedding. These include having the reception at a local park or community center.

“Buying a home has long-term benefits that last far beyond your wedding day,” Meador says.

The expense of an average wedding is now hovering around $28,000 -- funds Meador believes would be better spent on a home, assuming the property is carefully selected.

-- Don’t rule out selling one car to build your savings.

A new or nearly new car is often the first major purchase for many young adults. Usually, the car is financed with a hefty loan. But mortgage lenders often frown at the sight of a prospective buyer driving up in a late model vehicle.

“Lenders know that a couple who’s financing one or more cars will likely find it tougher to qualify for a home loan,” Blankenship says.

Even if you drive an older vehicle and have no car loan, chances are you’re paying a substantial amount for car insurance and repairs -- not to mention gas.

Blankenship says it’s a wise idea for young couples bent on homeownership to ponder the idea of selling one vehicle. Consider public transit or carpooling as an alternative to commuting alone.

-- Consider shared housing on a temporary basis.

Moving in with a family member for a year or so could help you cut rental costs substantially. Perhaps an elderly uncle who owns a large house would let you live there rent free in exchange for help with grocery shopping and trips to the doctor.

Davis says he’s worked with a number of young buyers who’ve obtained substantial savings through a housing-for-services swap.

“You don’t have to live with your uncle or another elderly person forever. Just doing so temporarily could help you save sufficiently to pay down enough debt to qualify for a mortgage,” he says.

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

A princely townhouse near the historic Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Georgetown just sold for more than $550 per square foot. Among its many features: two-sided gas fireplaces, spa-like bathrooms and an elevator. Topping it off is a rooftop deck overlooking the Washington Monument.

Given the uncertainties of the current real estate market, the nervous owners of this plush property volunteered many concessions. They kept the price a notch below market and even gifted the buyers a houseful of designer furniture. Still, they avoided excessive renovations that likely would never have paid them back at the closing table.

Ronald Phipps, a past president of the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor), doesn’t know the sellers of this opulent townhouse. But he credits them for avoiding over-the-top presale improvements.

“When picking home improvements, you want to be pragmatic and practical, not exuberant and carefree,” Phipps says.

A veteran of the real estate field for more than four decades, Phipps says it’s particularly unwise to overspend on presale upgrades during this phase of the economic cycle when a recession could be looming.

What commonly happens is that owners who try to recoup the cost of excessive presale improvements find the price they’re demanding is too high. Hence, their property is likely to sit unsold for a lengthy period until they take a price cut.

Sometimes sellers commit the double error of both overimproving and personalizing the improvements to such an extent that buyers are repulsed by the changes.

For instance, Phipps cites an interior designer who spent more than $30,000 to install such dramatic decor in his place that one prospect “literally became nauseated when she walked through.”

“Each room assaulted your senses. Picture a French provincial dining room with blue flocked wallpaper next to an all-steel-and-glass kitchen. Also ... a family room painted fire-engine red with blue lights on the ceiling,” Phipps remembers.

The sale of this “surreal” property proved problematic and, despite the owner’s expenditures, the place ultimately sold for a disappointing sum.

“Buyers view houses like this as ‘fixer-uppers.’ They typically sell for 10% to 15% under their market value,” Phipps says.

Here are pointers for sellers:

-- Seek a checklist of improvements from your real estate agent.

Real estate specialists divide problematic sellers into two categories: those who refuse to spend any money for presale improvements -- even critically important cosmetic ones -- and those who spend excessively or misappropriate their dollars.

“Before you sell, the key is to distinguish between changes that give you a big bang for your buck and those that simply represent money burned,” says Eric Tyson, a personal finance expert and co-author of “Selling Your House for Dummies.”

To come up with a focused plan for presale improvements, Tyson advises sellers to ask their agent for a written checklist.

“A good agent will know which improvements are needed and justified and which are not. By doing a written checklist, it’s more likely your agent will be thorough and not simply gloss over the highlights,” he says.

-- Abandon any plans for a presale addition.

Are you the owners of a large house with an undersized family room? Do you plan to expand your family room in hopes of making your place more salable? Would this make sense?

“The answer is normally ‘no.’ In most cases, it’s not cost-effective to knock out walls to build an addition,” Tyson says.

He says those who attempt a presale addition rarely recoup more than 50% to 60% of the money invested. Moreover, any construction project that involves the removal of walls can be very time-consuming and stressful.

“Usually, the only time homeowners are smart to do a presale addition is to replace an addition that was badly done or is an eyesore,” Tyson says.

-- Restrict your upgrades to neighborhood standards.

As your listing agent will likely tell you, your kitchen is a high priority when it comes to presale improvements. If it’s a turnoff to buyers, many will pass on your place.

“But the idea in your kitchen, as elsewhere in your house, is to meet but not exceed neighborhood standards,” Tyson says.

In a luxury neighborhood, new quartz or granite countertops could make sense. Also, new designer hardware could also be worth the expense in your kitchen, as could new upscale flooring.

Still, there are limits on how much you should spend in your kitchen, even if you’re selling in a high-end community.

“Most buyers won’t care that you’ve done a second major kitchen renovation. For instance, few are justified in adding an under-the-counter ice maker, a wine storage center or a second dishwasher,” Tyson says.

-- Accentuate the look of your yard.

The landscaping around your place is like the frame around a painting. It defines the entire image of the home.

But upgrading your landscaping need not be costly, assuming you’re resourceful.

“You’ll want to trim your shrubs, and you’ll definitely, absolutely want to remove dead plants. A dead plant is a real turnoff,” Tyson says.

For replacement plants, Tyson suggests you turn to a local nursery for free guidance on plant selection and design.

Or look to a helpful neighbor with a green thumb.

Most sellers can dramatically improve the curb appeal of their property by cutting back or replacing any overgrown shrubbery that shrouds their property. But you don’t need to install exotic plants or dazzling fountains.

“Ripping out your whole landscaping plan and starting over is almost never called for. When it comes to your yard, you can greatly improve its looks for relatively little money,” Tyson says.

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

Real estate guru Spencer Rascoff has one word to describe the current real estate market: stuck.

In some cases, high mortgage rates have priced wannabe owners out of the market. Other buyers are awaiting a steep decline in rates before they’ll reenter the fray. Meanwhile, many owners with low-rate mortgages are delaying a trade-up move that would cost them higher home finance outlays.

“That’s a lot of stuckness,” says Rascoff, the former CEO of Zillow, the national realty company.

There’s no mystery about what’s going on with the economy. To tamp down inflation, the Federal Reserve is deliberately pushing up interest rates to cool economic activity. And its program is gradually working, slowing real estate transactions as one result.

The reluctance of owners to put their property on the market is constraining the supply of available housing in popular areas, says Rich Rosa, president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

Rosa, who heads a realty firm with 16 brokers, says sought-after Boston suburbs are among the areas where inventory levels remain depleted.

He says a shortage of available housing options continues to frustrate many of his home-buying clients, including a single woman who urgently wants to acquire a condo in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

“This woman is determined to escape her rental unit but can’t find even one condo to her liking in the neighborhood of her choice. Still, she vows to persevere despite affordability challenges,” Rosa says.

In contrast to this single condo buyer, many would-be purchasers are waiting on the sidelines in hopes of taking advantage of a major drop in home prices.

Yet Rascoff and other housing analysts are skeptical that steep price reductions are likely anytime soon. Though prices have slipped in some parts of the country, the situation is very different than in 2008, when housing values plummeted and foreclosures ballooned.

“What’s different now is that people have a lot of equity in their homes,” which makes foreclosures less likely, he says.

In all markets including the present one, there are diehard purchasers who insist on moving forward rather than waiting until the barriers to buying drop.

“There are always people fed up with their rising rents, and families with newborns and young kids who need a larger house,” Rosa says.

Here are a few pointers for committed buyers:

-- Keep an eye on overpriced properties.

Merrill Ottwein, an Illinois-based broker with a long track record working with novice buyers, says some first-timers overlook an important reality in real estate. This is that buyers sometimes get the best deals on properties that were priced too high in the beginning.

The trick is to be sure you’re among the first to know when the owners of a desirable property in your neighborhood of choice decide to take a significant price cut. Ottwein says buyers should tell their real estate agent to alert them immediately when this happens.

-- Don’t rule out a dated-looking place.

Cash-conscious buyers may want to consider a category of properties a notch below the fixer-upper.

These are essentially well-kept houses. The electricity, plumbing and everything works. But their owners, though conscientious in some respects, have neglected the interior decor. Hence, they may be forced to sell at a price that’s well below market value.

One real-world example involved a retired engineer and his social worker wife. The couple had lived in their custom-built contemporary-style waterfront house for more than 30 years. The engineer kept the heating and cooling systems in order and made sure that roof repairs were done promptly.

When they put their house on the market, a big drawback was its drab interior. The interior paint, wallpaper and home furnishings were essentially the same as they’d been when they’d first moved in.

Given its condition, the house couldn’t fetch anywhere near what the couple sought in their asking price. Soon they gave up and sold it to their grown daughter at a steep discount.

But Ottwein cautions against mistaking an out-of-fashion house for one with serious underlying issues -- what might better be termed a true “fixer-upper.”

He recommends a thorough inspection to determine whether a home has fundamental flaws, such as a failing air conditioning system or a bad roof. These are far more costly to fix than is an uninspiring decor.

-- Screen for highly motivated sellers.

In real estate, as in many transactions, time is money. Sellers who must move quickly -- perhaps due to a marital breakup, job relocation or financial reversal -- are obviously more likely to let their property go for a bargain price.

You don’t have to pry or do anything sneaky to find out more about the motivations of owners in an area where you’re searching for an affordable first home. Often, sellers telegraph their intentions through online or print ads placed by their listing agent. Perhaps their ads will read: “Seller Motivated” or “Must Move Quickly.”

If the ads don’t reveal the sellers’ motivation, a few casual inquiries placed by your real estate agent to the listing agent could do so.

“It’s amazing how often listing agents will reveal the real motivations of their clients, even when it’s against their clients’ interest to do so,” Ottwein says.

Once you grasp the sellers’ motivation and their timing, you can customize your contract offer in keeping with their specific needs. Flexible buyers who’ve also been fully preapproved for a mortgage and can document this are the most likely to command the sellers’ attention.

“The obvious truth is that highly motivated sellers are much more open to both offers and counteroffers. Often, it’s just a simple matter of timing,” Ottwein says.

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