A nurse in her late 30s hankers to own an Art Deco-style house in the Miami area, where she’s rented an apartment since 2019. She dreams of a three-bedroom place where she and her golden retriever would be free from fellow renters. Though she makes a good salary, her attempts to obtain a property failed during the pandemic, when demand for homes vastly outstripped supply.

She’s still searching for the right home but now faces a dramatically different Miami market. While there’s an abundance of supply, many languishing properties are overpriced for what they offer.

“It’s nice to have choices, but it’s not nice to be expected to pay more than a house is worth. A lot of these sellers are delusional,” the nurse says.

The Miami metro area is one of the U.S. markets now surprisingly swamped with extra listings, according to research by Redfin, the national realty brokerage. In Miami this past November, nearly 64% of listings had been on the market for 60 days or longer “without going under contract -- the highest share among the top 50 metros.” Also overloaded with unsold inventory are the Florida metros of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. In Texas, the same is true of the Austin and San Antonio areas.

A Redfin analysis indicates that the jump in supply is a pileup of unsold homes that many buyers have deemed undesirable because they seem overpriced.

“A lot of listings on the market are either stale or uninhabitable. There’s a lot of inventory, but it doesn’t feel like enough. I explain to sellers that their house will sit on the market if it’s not fairly priced,” says Meme Loggins, a Redfin agent in Portland, Oregon.

“Homes that are priced well and in good condition are flying off the market in three to five days, but homes that are overpriced can sit for over three months,” Loggins says.

Meanwhile, given that some sellers are still demanding more than the market value of their property, caution is the right approach for buyers.

“The pandemic-era bidding wars are over. So, when evaluating the value of a particular property of interest, don’t look in the rearview mirror,” says Eric Tyson, the co-author of “Home Buying for Dummies.”

Here are a few pointers for purchasers:

-- Choose your target neighborhood market carefully.

Too many buyers let emotion dominate their decision on where to live, says Michael Knight, an Illinois-based financial adviser.

“Many people pick a neighborhood too quickly,” says Knight, who recommends you compare several areas before making your pick.

“You’ve got to do plenty of research. Have an informal talk with a few knowledgeable real estate agents in any area you’re considering. Ask them lots of hard questions,” he says.

Which neighborhoods are most likely to hold or gain value in the future? Knight says quality public schools are critical, particularly now that private schools are out of reach financially for more families.

Access to quality transit is also high on the list.

When talking to agents, ask them to show you the neighborhood’s amenities on a map. Also, ask them to assemble data for you on sales trends in the community --including the median time it takes to sell a home there.

-- Look for sellers motivated to move.

As a would-be buyer, you may feel uncomfortable about seeking out owners who must sell quickly due to extenuating circumstances. But Michael Crowley, an independent agent in Spokane, says you needn’t.

“You could actually be doing the sellers a favor in such a case,” he says.

How can you identify highly motivated sellers? One approach is to walk around the neighborhood on a weekend, striking up informal conversations with residents there.

“On a weekend, you’re likely to encounter residents out walking their dogs or taking their kids to the park. If you’re friendly and express interest in the area, they’ll likely chat openly with you and tell you neighbors they know who intend to move soon and the reasons why,” says Crowley, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

-- Do an analysis on property values in the area where you wish to live.

Once you’ve found a good home in a solid neighborhood, you’ll want to carefully assess its true current value before formulating a bid. To help develop a realistic estimate of the worth of a place, ask your agent for statistics on properties that have sold in recent weeks -- the fresher the data, the better. Make sure this analysis takes into account any likely distress sales that have occurred lately, which often come at a sacrificial price for the sellers.

“Even if we face an economic downturn, it’s unlikely that prices will plummet in coming years. Still, it’s a very good idea to resist overpaying, even if you love the house. Should you have to walk away from one house you like, I guarantee you’ll find another one that’s an equal or better choice. All that it may take is your patience,” Crowley says.

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

This past year was one of incredible frustration for young families who feel trapped in their rental units and seek to buy a first home. But there’s hope for those with parents willing and able to pitch in with down payment help.

Parents are more likely to provide financial help when it benefits both their children and grandchildren, says Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, the national real estate brokerage.

She says it makes sense that seniors are more likely to help kids pay for housing when doing so also provides their grandchildren with a place they believe to be safe and secure.

Redfin recently commissioned a survey of more than 1,800 recent homebuyers. It found that buyers with kids were twice as likely to have received a cash gift from family to help fund their down payment compared with those who didn’t have kids when they bought their place. Indeed, one-quarter of recent buyers with kids received a cash gift from family to help with their down payment.

The survey also underscores the reality that more home purchases are made with multigenerational lifestyles in mind.

“Monthly costs are so high these days that I’m trying to find big homes for a lot of multigenerational families,” says Julie Zubiate, a Redfin agent based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Patrick Harwood, a Compass agent who sells homes in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, says that parents are more likely to provide down payment help to offspring struggling to buy in an expensive area, such as his own market.

“People here have high incomes but not necessarily enough cash for the big down payments required to make a purchase,” Harwood says. He estimates that up to 35% of buyers in his area receive a financial gift from parents.

Here are a few pointers for families pursuing a first purchase:

-- Ask directly for parental help.

Surprisingly few parents of grown children know about the financial status of their kids, including the size of their salaries and savings accounts.

“If you want homebuying help from your folks, you have to be upfront and ask. You don’t want to tinker around the edges,” Harwood says.

Many parents in the boomer-age cohort, born between 1946 and 1964, have made plans for their children’s inheritance. It may not occur to them that their kids could benefit more from their largesse now rather than in the future.

“Your parents know that high home prices and steep mortgage rates are big impediments for you to move forward. Even if they haven’t bought a home themselves for years, they may be more sympathetic with your generation than you imagine. But you must be straightforward with them,” Harwood says.

-- Reconsider plans to acquire a property with a huge lot.

The pandemic strengthened the dream of many families for a large yard that would accommodate outdoor living. It also increased the hope of living on grounds big enough for a sizable garden.

But Judy Luna, an Arkansas-based agent, says most young families maintain such hectic schedules that keeping up a large yard involves more upkeep than they can reasonably handle.

“Actually, you’re better off living near a park with a playground rather than having a very large property of your own,” says Luna, who sells homes through the Keller Williams chain.

-- Select a setting with calm streets where kids can play safely.

One factor some buyers overlook when selecting a child-friendly community is the level of traffic coming through the area.

“You won’t want to live in a heavily traveled neighborhood or on a main road,” Luna says. As she observes, a road with a lot of traffic brings noise and fumes into your habitat. It can also pose obvious risks to the safety of your children.

Ideally, you’ll choose a property that’s located on a quiet cul-de-sac or a dead-end road. But if that’s unavailable, Luna says you’ll at least want to position yourself on a calm street with relatively little through traffic.

Making sure children are protected from road hazards is of prime importance for families with toddlers and very young children. But it’s also vital for older kids who enjoy riding bikes and playing ball on neighborhood streets.

-- Prioritize quality schools over child-oriented recreational venues.

Luna says families shouldn’t base their move on the basis of proximity to community amenities such as roller rinks or miniature golf centers. That’s because most communities offer enough in the way of recreation to keep kids happy.

“It’s ideal -- but not necessary--to have a neighborhood swimming pool the kids can use when weather is right. But you don’t need a lot of other major attractions,” Luna says.

Given the increasingly high cost of private schooling, most parents already place a premium on a neighborhood where the public schools are extremely well-rated. That’s warranted not only from the point of view of the children’s well-being but also from an investment standpoint, says Eric Tyson, co-author of “Home Buying for Dummies.”

“People who buy in neighborhoods with well-regarded schools pay more when they make their initial home purchase. But in the long run, their property always holds its value better than a place with mediocre schools,” he says.

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

An Idaho couple in their early 30s -- a nurse married to an attorney -- are anxious to sell the tiny two-bedroom rambler they bought before the pandemic. Given their salary increases, they now aspire to own a brand-new place with an upscale kitchen and a larger bedroom for their 6-year-old daughter. They also crave a spacious home office.

“Our place is so small that we call it our ‘mouse house.’ We waited and waited for lower mortgage rates. But we’re waiting no longer. We’re actively looking for our next house, and we want to move on as early as possible. Still, our first step must be to sell our current house,” the nurse says.

Maya Hyman, an agent for the Compass realty brokerage, doesn’t know the couple in this true story. But she cautions that in the immediate future, sellers could potentially face more headwinds.

“Right now, the overall market is sluggish,” Hyman says.

One issue is that sellers have relatively less bargaining power than they did during the pandemic, when available listings were exceedingly scarce and housing demand greatly exceeded available supply in many neighborhoods.

Lately, the supply-and-demand balance is gradually shifting toward buyers, given that the number of available listings is steadily increasing, says Jiayi Xu, an economist for Realtor.com, the home listing service. She notes that the inventory of for-sale homes has increased more than 23% since last year.

Lauren Davis, an agent with the Sotheby’s realty company, encourages wannabe sellers to avoid arrogance when they decide on a listing price.

“It can be a good idea to price your place aggressively, maybe even to 10% below its current market value. Because buyers are now very sharp on property values, your house is likely to attract more interest if it is priced realistically, prompting more bidders to come around,” she says.

Here are a few pointers for wintertime home sellers:

-- Don’t discount the winter months for your home sale.

Maybe you regret missing the traditional high point of the home-selling season, which runs from spring through early summer. You might think your house could have yielded you more money then, when more prospects were out looking.

But the factors that most influence markets are less seasonal than in previous years, says Ronald Phipps, a former president of the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor). A well-priced house in good condition that’s located in a popular community should sell well at any time of the year.

“The date when you sell is less critical than the price and the ratio of supply to demand in your neighborhood,” Phipps says.

No matter when you put your place on the market, he urges you to avoid the most common home-selling pitfall: pricing based on wishful thinking.

“Buyers are more prepared, more informed and more self-disciplined than ever. You can’t fool them into spending more than your house is worth,” says Phipps, who heads a family-owned realty firm in Rhode Island.

Granted, there are fewer would-be buyers looking for property during the winter months. But he says those searching during this period are mostly serious buyers who need to move due to a job change or another compelling reason.

-- Know that your kids will likely adjust well to a midyear school change.

Many parents hold back on selling their home during the winter months because they fear their kids will have a hard time making a midyear switch to a new school.

But William Bainbridge, an academic expert on school choice, says students who make a midyear change often fare better than those who do so in the fall.

One reason is that midyear switchers are typically showered with attention from teachers and classmates. In contrast, those who start a new school in the fall typically receive less academic and social support.

However, he advises the parents of high school students to check in with the new school to make sure their credits will transfer. This is especially important for students taking challenging precollege classes, including Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

-- Retain your seasonal decor for wintertime home showings.

Real estate agents typically tell home sellers to “neutralize” their properties to make them more appealing to a wide range of buyers. That means repainting boldly colored walls in a light tone and removing personal items like family photos or a collection of bowling trophies.

But Phipps says owners who happen to have showings during the winter holiday season don’t need to take down their seasonal decor before prospective buyers come through.

“Actually, seasonal wreaths and other generic holiday decorations give buyers a warmer, more comforting and embracing feeling when they walk into your house,” he says.

-- Realize there’s room for confidence about near-term home sales.

Given the economic uncertainties related to the new administration in Washington, some would-be home sellers have felt nervous about a near-term sale. But Rafael Corrales, a Miami-based agent for Redfin, says seller optimism is finally warranted.

“The market was stagnant in the months leading up to the election, but within 48 hours of the results being announced, I was getting more home-tour requests. We definitely saw an uptick in demand on the buyside, but less so with listings,” Corrales says.

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