The barriers facing prospective first-time homebuyers are hardly insubstantial. Many have mounds of student debt and diminutive savings accounts. Others have flawed credit or work histories. What’s more, nearly all wannabes confront home prices that are escalating faster than their income gains.

These multiple factors are combining to discourage more would-be buyers. Indeed, the extent of their despair is now documented in a new survey from Lending Tree, the online loan company based in North Carolina.

The survey, which polled 2,050 U.S. renters in August, found that 48% worry they’ll never be able to afford a home during their lifetimes. Among the most pessimistic were renters from Generation X, born from 1965 to 1980, and millennials, born from 1981 to 1996.

“People in the midst of their careers, especially Gen Xers in their peak earning years, are thinking, “If I haven’t bought a house at this point, it’s probably not going to happen,” says Jacob Channel, a senior economic analyst at Lending Tree.

Channel says renters’ worries are understandable --particularly during the COVID-19 era.

“What they’ve been seeing for a while now, especially during the pandemic, is home prices rising really, really fast and wages not necessarily keeping up,” he says.

Richard Rosa, a Massachusetts real estate broker who works solely with buyers, says many prospective homeowners have been on an “emotional roller coaster” that’s been particularly intense since April 2020, when the pandemic accelerated the buying surge.

Noting the steep ascent in home prices and hearing chatter about bidding wars, a segment of the wannabe homebuyer population is simply refusing to participate in the competition. These include those in the Lending Tree survey who’ve concluded that ownership is out of their reach.

“They consider it just too emotionally draining to proceed right now,” says Rosa, president-elect of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

While some renters have reconciled themselves to the idea that they’ll never be homeowners, others have simply exited the buying market temporarily -- giving themselves a breather.

Rosa tells the true story of first-time buyers in their mid-30s. A therapist married to a software engineer, they began their home chase this past January. Their motivation? The birth of their baby daughter and the dream of a suburban Boston house in a neighborhood with solid schools.

“They weren’t asking a lot -- just a basic place with about 2,000 square feet of living space, three bedrooms and an eat-in kitchen,” he says.

Until late summer, Rosa says these clients went “full throttle” in their attempt to compete with rival bidders. To make their offers more appealing to sellers, they waived contingencies. They also routinely offered $30,000 to $70,000 over the asking price. Still, they were outdone by other buyers who bid even more. That’s when they opted for a temporary break from their home-buying quest.

This fall, many would-be buyers who took a temporary break -- including the Boston couple -- are headed back on the trail, hoping a slight increase in available inventory will improve their odds.

“I encourage our clients to get out there and keep trying for a house. Remember, you have to play to win,” Rosa says.

Here are a few pointers for buyers:

-- Focus on your primary motivations for buying a home.

Anxiety is an influential factor that can stop people from actualizing their buying plans, even when logic tells them it’s the right time to go forward, says Sid Davis, a real estate broker and author of “A Survival Guide for Buying a Home.”

Of course, there could be legitimate reasons to wait. Perhaps you have a basis for worry that your employer could soon lay off workers due to the pandemic. Or maybe you fear your spouse could soon be subject to a job loss.

“None of us has a crystal ball. But those who have secure jobs and truly want to own a home in order to build equity and enhance their family life might be kicking themselves later if they wait too long,” Davis says.

-- Look for early guidance and support from a trustworthy mortgage lender.

In this ongoing era of conservative lending, most mortgage lenders still go to great lengths to ensure that the loans they originate are solid. This means borrowers must be well prepared to respond to the lender’s requests for documents.

“The right lender will help make sure you assemble every single document needed to get your loan approved,” Davis says.

As proof of income, many lenders insist on much more than the customary pay stubs and W-2s. For example, they’ll likely ask you for tax returns. In addition, they’ll probably want assurances that the funds you’ve amassed for your down payment have been in your savings or checking account for some time and weren’t borrowed from an uncle just a week ago.

The time you spend documenting your eligibility for a home loan is time well spent if the lender gives you a “pre-approval” letter. Especially in this market, where sellers are nervous that deals will fall through on financing, this letter is a vitally important bargaining tool.

-- Gather intelligence before making a home selection.

Rosa recommends you walk the neighborhood around any house that interests you. Talk to local residents about real estate trends in the community and whether it’s a good time to buy there now.

Buyers who’ve lost homes to other bidders should be especially cautious about home selection to avoid a major mistake.

“Even in a seller’s market, smart buyers hold out for a house they could keep for as long as eight to 10 years or more,” Rosa says.

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

For home sellers, it's still time for celebration. In most popular neighborhoods, available properties remain in short supply. Tight inventories keep selling times short.

“About a third of all houses are selling in a week,” says Glenn Kelman, the CEO of Redfin, a national real estate company.

He forecasts that “prices will remain strong but aren’t going to be shooting through the roof as they did last spring or last fall.”

This trend should convince more people to finally let go and put their homes up for sale.

Until now, Kelman says, “it was hard to persuade sellers to put their homes on the market because they thought, 'If we wait one more month, we’ll get more money.'”

With a leveling of the playing field, sharp sellers are becoming more attentive to how they present their properties to the public. This involves a fuller awareness of the preferences and tastes of typical homebuyers.

“It’s amazing how superficial elements of home presentation can have a striking impact,” says Jeff Levine, a real estate analyst and architect in Washington, D.C.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Think paint colors when prepping your place for sale.

Zillow, a giant Seattle-based real estate firm, commissioned a study of 1,300 recent or prospective U.S. buyers to determine their favorite interior paint colors and how this influenced the prices sellers fetched for a home.

“Interior painting is one of the most common and impactful projects sellers take on,” says Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s home trends expert.

For sellers, the survey defines several specific color choices that are viewed favorably by most buyers and that increase selling prices. One clear winner was a pale sky-blue bathroom, which increased the perceived value of a typical American home by a remarkable $4,698.

Buyers were also favorable to master bedrooms painted in “dramatic, moody tones” such as forest green or deep charcoal gray, according to the survey. But they liked light neutrals in common areas, such as living and family rooms.

Surprisingly, the trend toward bright blue accent walls and mint kitchens received negative reviews from potential buyers.

-- Consider hiring a home stager to make your place show-worthy.

Staging is the art of transforming a property so potential buyers can visualize themselves living there. Properly done, staging accentuates a home’s attractive features and minimizes its negatives.

Many agents are convinced that hiring a talented stager can increase the odds of selling a property promptly. Working under a full-service contract, most stagers will provide an array of services. They’ll remove excess furniture and personal items and rearrange the remaining pieces. Often, they also supplement the owners’ furnishings with alluring accessories of their own.

Unfortunately, the cost of hiring a professional stager for a full menu of services can exceed $500 or more, says Michelle Minch, the owner of a staging company called Moving Mountains Design (movingmountainsdesign.com).

But Minch says cash-constrained sellers don’t necessarily need the full range of services available through a stager. For a much lower price they can obtain an abbreviated consultation and receive pointers they can execute themselves.

“Tell the stager you just want the 10 top tips for making your house look better. For just an hour or so of consultation time, a good stager can tell you about furniture arrangement and also recommend mild, pleasing paint colors for your walls. You’ll get a road map for making your house move-in ready,” she says.

How can you find a competent stager to work on an “a la carte” basis? Minch suggests you visit the website of the Real Estate Staging Association (realestatestagingassociation.com).

Look for stagers in your area and make sure to check their websites for examples of their work before you give them a call.

-- Request that your listing agent promote your sale with other local pros.

Until recently, fairly priced properties in coveted neighborhoods practically sold themselves, and listing agents had relatively fewer marketing responsibilities. But in the current market, buyers are very gradually gaining power.

One key marketing skill your listing agent can use is to “talk up” your place to other real estate agents who have home-buying clients of their own.

“Strong agents will respond to your request to step up informal marketing of your place by spreading the word. They’ll make personal phone calls to other agents. They’ll also take flyers about your house to their professional meetings and hand them out. This way you should get more people over to visit your house,” says Lisa Atkinson, an agent affiliated with the Residential Real Estate Council (crs.com).

Your listing agent may have done this sort of one-on-one marketing for your property when it was first listed. But if your house has been sitting unsold for longer than you’d like, it might be time to ask your agent to do another round of this informal promotion.

“By alerting other agents to your property, your listing agent will enhance your chances of finding a buyer,” Atkinson says.

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

As the pandemic morphs and changes, the economy and real estate markets are reinventing themselves as well.

“We’ve had a kind of reset in housing,” says Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for Redfin (redfin.com), the national real estate company.

After COVID-19 hit hard in early 2020, this major transformation allowed millions of Americans to work from home. Such remote work let many employees pick and choose their lifestyles.

“As long as they have strong and reliable internet and a willing employer, folks can live in a charming historic town, near a beach or on a mountaintop,” says Mark Nash, a real estate analyst and author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home.”

With these new liberties, the pandemic pushed up home prices in small to midsized communities, as well as outlying suburbs.

“Commuting distances from major employment centers have become less determinative in setting home prices,” according to Nash, a longtime real estate broker.

“Now home prices are at a new equilibrium,” says Fairweather, who believes this leveling is largely complete, at least for the immediate future.

“There’s really no reason to see a lot more home price appreciation,” she says.

The slowing pace of home price gains is especially good news for prospective first-time buyers. But while buyers are now gaining slightly more bargaining power, sellers continue to have great sway.

Here are a few pointers for current buyers:

-- Realize that delaying your purchase could cost you many dollars.

Mortgage rates are still hovering near historically low levels. But will that continue in coming years? Michael Crowley, who heads an independent realty firm in Spokane, Washington, says buyers should remember that rental rates are rising in many areas, and there’s no guarantee that mortgage rates will stay low.

“Rental remains a viable option for those whose plans are unsettled. But for many with stable work situations, ownership is a better option than renting. Whenever feasible, it’s usually wise to build equity by paying your own mortgage, rather than helping a landlord pay the mortgage on the building he owns,” Crowley says.

-- Consider bidding on a “stale” property.

During much of the pandemic period, home sellers have reigned supreme. But at this point in the housing cycle, setting too lofty a list price can hurt owners who attempt to “test the market” -- resulting in their listings languishing unsold for a lengthy time.

“A stale listing can represent a huge opportunity for buyers -- assuming they swoop in at the right time when the owner is really motivated and will negotiate,” says Tom Early, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

“Ninety percent of the time when a house goes stale, the reason is that the place was overpriced in the beginning because the sellers were greedy. Then by the time the owners slash their price, most buyers have lost interest,” Early says.

-- Don’t rule out a “spec home” from a builder.

Early, who’s sold homes since 1982, says he’s helped many purchasers score a good deal on a brand-new property that the builders constructed without specific buyers in mind. These are known as “spec” properties.

Though many such homes have already been snatched up by eager buyers, Early says there are still more available for those who hunt them down.

“Seek out builders who still have several ‘spec’ houses in their developments. They need to sell these homes to pay off the bank for their construction loans. Their urgency could result in a good deal for you,” Early says.

-- Recognize that bargains are still tough to find.

Through strategic planning, a 36-year-old investment analyst snagged a better-than-average markdown on a colonial house near his new workplace in an Omaha neighborhood favored by many young purchasers. Because of the popularity of this area, many there must still pay at least list price to avoid losing out in a competitive bidding situation.

Early says there’s no shame in offering list price or slightly more in such a hot area, assuming you’ve done your homework and are convinced you’re not paying more than a few thousand dollars over true market value.

“You can’t let emotion cloud your judgment. But if you’ve found a house you dearly love, years from now you won’t regret that you ran that extra mile to make it your own,” Early says.

-- Don’t fret if your home search lasts into the winter holidays.

Early says that during vacation and holiday periods, many “test-the-market” sellers -- including those free from pressure to move -- take down their “For Sale” signs. Most who are left are highly motivated to cut a deal.

But how do you know which sellers have a strong need to move soon? Early says many owners, along with their listing agents, are remarkably frank about their motivation to move.

“It’s amazing just how candid many people are about their reasons for needing to sell. They’ll tell you if they’ve had serious financial problems or major health issues or if they’re going through a marital breakup, even if that weakens their bargaining position,” Early says. (To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)