Through 2021, a Boston couple in their early 30s -- a software engineer married to a therapist -- struggled to buy their first house. After their baby daughter was born, their two-bedroom apartment felt cramped, and the urge to own became compelling.

But the couple’s strenuous efforts were to no avail. In 11 multiple bidding contests, their offers were rebuffed by the sellers in favor of still higher bids.

“The whole year has been an emotional roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs,” says Richard Rosa, the couple’s real estate broker.

Housing economists are predicting that mortgage rates could rise significantly in 2022 due to Federal Reserve attempts to contain inflation. Meanwhile, home prices continue to increase. Yet many wannabe owners like the Boston couple remain determined.

“Lots of young people are cautiously optimistic that 2022 will be the year they’ll finally get the chance to buy,” says Rosa, president-elect of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

Rosa says there’s plenty that aspiring buyers can do to strengthen their hand for future competitive bidding situations.

“You want to show sellers you’re ready and able to reach the closing table with your offer. Besides getting mortgage pre-approval, I recommend you provide key financial documents to your lender for prior review. These include your W-2s, bank statements and tax returns,” says Rosa, who heads an independent realty firm.

Here are a few other pointers for would-be buyers:

-- Try to reduce your debts with extra income.

According to federal government data, overall credit card debt is now relatively stable. But student loan debt continues to soar, and now exceeds $1.5 trillion.

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 longtime financial planner who has advised numerous young clients on their real estate plans.

Unfortunately, many young adult tenants make only enough money to meet necessary living expenses, particularly if their rents have risen. They’re limited in their capacity to pay off debt or generate savings for a down payment. Given this reality, Blankenship recommends many would-be buyers consider augmenting their income.

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

He urges clients who’ve accumulated too much debt to think positively about changing their financial habits rather than dwelling on how they ran up so much debt in the past.

-- Seek to slash your nonessential expenses.

Most young adults who live in rental units are very sensitive to their monthly housing costs. But they’re typically less aware of how much money they’re spending to eat out at restaurants.

“It’s amazing how eating out costs can really add up quickly,” he says.

Those in their 20s may also spend what he calls “shocking sums” on clothes, as well as entertainment. He also advises would-be buyers to comb through a recent month’s worth of spending to realize where they could cut back.

“I recommend you look closely at your cable bills to see if you really need all those channels. Also, look at that fitness club membership you never use,” Blankenship says.

-- Consider selling a car to help build your savings account.

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 homebuyer 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 talk through the possibility of selling one vehicle. This could be less limiting than you imagine, especially if one or both adults in the household expect to continue teleworking indefinitely.

-- Ponder the possibility of 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 aunt who owns a large house would let you live there rent-free in exchange for help with grocery shopping and trips to the doctor.

Sid Davis, a Utah real estate broker and author of “A Survival Guide for Buying a Home,” 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 relative for many years. Just doing so temporarily could help you save sufficiently to pay down enough debt to greatly improve your financial picture,” he says.

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

Many first-time homebuyers are brimming with optimism about their housing plans. One reason is that more than 75% are young -- from the millennial generation or Gen Z.

But real estate analysts say that all shoppers hoping to make a purchase in the new year must brace themselves for tough market realities, akin to those that have faced buyers since the pandemic began.

“Home shoppers should still be prepared for fierce competition, fast-paced sales and affordability challenges in 2022,” says George Ratiu, the manager of economic research for Realtor.com, the home listing company.

The obvious problems: Available properties remain in exceedingly short supply and prices are still ascendant. These factors will likely continue to translate to bidding wars and high-above-asking-price offers. Moreover, economists are forecasting rising mortgage rates.

Even so, Ratiu says wannabe homeowners remain eager, and 72% of first-time buyers still plan to make a purchase in 2022.

Income-constrained buyers who wish to prevail in the new year may need to take a strategic approach to the competitive market, says Eric Tyson, a personal finance expert and co-author of “Home Buying for Dummies.”

“It’s a cliché, but buyers who seek to score a victory in 2022 need to think outside the box. In hot markets, that could mean considering properties that other buyers have shunned for one reason or another,” Tyson says.

What you don’t want is a house that’s ridiculously needy.

“Rule out a place that would require complex and hugely expensive repairs to the electrical, plumbing, heating or air conditioning systems. Also, avoid a house with serious structural problems or one that sits on a road with trucks rumbling by,” Tyson says.

But beyond these categories of challenged houses, there are other types of superficially problematic properties that savvy buyers may wish to consider, even though they’ve been spurned by rival purchasers. One such stigmatized category includes houses that were overpriced when they first hit the market.

“After sitting unsold for a lengthy period ... the owners eventually drop the price. Yet many buyers remain wary of these shopworn houses, which could translate to opportunity for you,” says Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor).

Here are a few other pointers on spotting a diamond in the rough:

-- Don’t automatically reject a cluttered place.

Real estate agents often have a terrible time convincing their clients to clear through the clutter that packs their homes. For that reason, many homes go on the market in a cluttered condition -- a definite turnoff to most potential buyers.

But sharp home shoppers realize it’s possible to get an excellent deal on a cluttered home, assuming they’re capable of looking beyond the mess to the property’s intrinsic structure and floor plan.

“The idea is to picture the house as if it were vacant and then decide if it has the ‘good bones’ you’re looking for,” says Helfant, the broker-owner of several Coldwell Banker realty offices.

She estimates that at least 60% of the home-buying public can’t envision how different a cluttered home would look if all the sellers’ belongings were hauled away.

If you're one of that majority, ask someone with clearer vision to stop by the place. This could be an interior designer, a professional home stager or an artistic friend.

“A crowded house can represent an excellent opportunity for you if you can see past all that junk. And remember, the sellers have to take their stuff with them when they move,” Helfant says.

-- Don’t dismiss a place with personalized decor.

The home improvement shows ubiquitous on cable TV are one reason more owners are now experimenting with eccentric wall colorings and unusual carpet hues. But the strawberry dining room or lime green kitchen that the owners fancy is likely to send many prospects away.

Real estate agents grow hoarse trying to persuade clients to “neutralize” their houses before they go on the market -- which often means repainting walls in a light neutral tone and replacing odd-colored carpet with something less flashy.

Just like the cluttered house, the flamboyantly decorated house offers opportunity for people with vision to obtain a property for a very favorable price.

“People with the ability to see the potential in this type of a property can sometimes find a great house for a fair price,” Helfant says.

-- Don’t avoid a home based solely on photos.

Nowadays, most buyers sift through lots of advertising -- both online and print -- before agreeing to visit particular properties. If they don’t like what they see in the pictures, they’ll reject properties on that basis alone.

But like some people, some good-looking homes are simply not photogenic. Or possibly the photographers who take their pictures don’t know how to portray them well.

Either way, you could be the winner if you’re willing to visit a home that others won’t tour because of unfavorable photos.

“A wonderful and well-priced surprise could await you when you open the door to a house that others have missed,” Helfant says.

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

All signs point to a sustained hot seller’s market for real estate through 2022. Many longtime owners could sell now, make a bundle and then move.

But a large number of baby boomers -- those born between 1946 and 1964 --have been dissuaded from selling after a deeply disappointing home-shopping tour. Instead, they’re tapping their equity to renovate and stay.

Take the case of a pharmaceutical sales rep in her 60s who’d hoped to downsize from her large colonial to a more convenient townhouse.

“I crunched the numbers on moving; they just don’t work. Sure, I could sell for a very pretty price. But I had terrible sticker shock on the new townhouse. With the moving costs and all, I wouldn’t save a dime with the smaller place,” she says.

Rather than sell, the sales rep did a cash-out refinance on her house, pulling out enough equity to cover the cost of adding a first-floor master suite. Construction will start in February.

Analysts at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies don’t know the sales rep in this true story. Yet they’re not surprised by her decision, given that equity-rich boomers are now helping power a major increase in home renovation. All told, remodeling expenditures are expected to reach $400 billion by the third quarter of 2022.

“The rapid expansion of owners’ equity is likely to fuel demand for more and larger remodeling projects next year,” says Carlos Martin, a Harvard housing analyst.

Of course, not all boomers are excited at the idea of tapping their home equity with a cash-out refi. Yet others are willing to do so, with reassurance from the mortgage industry.

“Some seniors fear they’ll be rejected for a cash-out refi on the basis of age. But they won’t be rejected if they have good credit and can show steady income or exceptional financial assets,” says Keith Gumbinger, a vice president at HSH Associates (hsh.com), which tracks mortgage markets throughout the country.

In most ways, applying for a cash-out refi is no different than doing so for a plain vanilla refi or a mortgage to purchase a home. Here are a few pointers:

-- Refresh your grasp of mortgage basics before you apply.

Many older applicants need a refresher on mortgages. Because they’re rusty on the topic, they hesitate to ask questions, says Sid Davis, the author of several books on real estate.

But as Davis says, the main concepts of mortgage lending aren’t hard to grasp if you take a little time to do so. You can do a quick study of current mortgage essentials by visiting the website of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (hud.gov).

In addition, he suggests you pick up a book on mortgages -- ideally one published recently.

“When it comes to mortgages, the turf is changing so quickly,” Davis says.

-- Search for a lender willing to meet you face-to-face.

Most lenders are entirely comfortable taking refi applications from homeowners they’ve never met. On a technical level, there’s no reason your lender can’t process your application by phone, text, email, fax or overnight delivery, says Marty Qualls, who makes mortgages for several large banks.

“But you’ll have a lot more credibility with your lender if you go into his office,” says Qualls, who’s been in the mortgage business since 1992.

Meeting face-to-face is an especially good idea for borrowers who anticipate special challenges to loan approval. Such applicants include the self-employed, those with credit blemishes, and those with relatively limited assets.

-- Respond quickly to your lender’s request for documents.

Dale Robyn Siegel, an attorney and mortgage broker, says that due to increased federal regulation, loan officers must work diligently to assemble the files they need to meet the exacting requirements of their underwriters (who have the final say on mortgage approval). Hence, they’re grateful to applicants who help them obtain documents without nagging.

“Good preparation is a big plus,” says Siegel, author of “The New Rules for Mortgages.”

Ideal loan applicants arrive at their initial appointment with all the primary documents they’ll need --including recent pay stubs, W-2s and bank statements.

Mortgage officers are also pleased when loan applicants review their credit reports in advance of applying. Under federal law, you're entitled each year to one free credit report from the three large credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Just go to this website: annualcreditreport.com.

You may also want to access your credit scores. Such scores -- which draw on data from the credit bureaus -- provide lenders with a quantitative measure of a person's credit risk. Most lenders use FICO scores, pioneered by the Fair Isaac Corp., though other rival scores are also now in use.

Usually, you need to pay a fee to obtain your credit scores. One approach is to buy these through the Fair Isaac website, myfico.com. You can also receive credit scores through the credit bureaus. FICO scores range from 300 to 850.

-- Stay in close contact with your lender until the deal is done.

Davis says lenders appreciate applicants who reply promptly to their requests for information and communicate often while their applications are under review.

“Whether you stay in touch by text, phone or email, connecting with your lender nearly every day is a great idea,” he says.

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