Optimism is rising for a stronger springtime home sales market.

“There’s definitely more buyer enthusiasm, along with seller enthusiasm,” says Kate Foster-Bankey, a longtime agent with Compass Realty, a nationwide brokerage.

One huge factor accounting for greater buyer ardor is that more properties are finally coming up for sale, giving prospects more potential choices than they’ve had for several years.

New listings, a statistical measure of owners putting homes up for sale, are now nearly 12% higher than one year ago, according to Danielle Hale, the chief economist for Realtor.com, a national home listing service based in Santa Clara, California. Active inventory, which includes properties already on the market, is also increasing.

Changing life circumstances for owners help to explain the latest increase in inventory levels, says Foster-Bankey. Chief among these is that many young families from the millennial generation have outgrown their present quarters.

“Maybe a young couple with a toddler has a baby too. Then the need for more space becomes urgent. That’s when they finally sell their small house to move up,” she says.

Meanwhile, older owners -- including from the boomer generation -- are finally selling to live near grandchildren.

“These are people who postponed a move after the pandemic started in 2020. They refuse to wait any longer, after having missed several precious developmental years for the grandkids,” Foster-Bankey says.

She urges those planning a home purchase this spring to prepare well in advance. That’s especially important if you need a mortgage and have targeted a popular neighborhood where multiple bids are especially likely.

“Otherwise, you could find yourself bidding against other buyers who’ve already obtained mortgage preapproval -- the assurance sellers are seeking,” Foster-Bankey says.

Here are a few pointers for buyers:

-- Avoid any major purchases right before closing on your home.

You may have sufficient income to carry the payment on a new car as well as a mortgage payment on a home in the price range you have in mind. But it’s wise to hold off on that new vehicle until your home deal closes.

“This is not the time to buy a luxury Lexus SUV or even a Honda Civic,” says Keith Gumbinger, a vice president at HSH Associates, a New Jersey firm that tracks mortgage rates for consumers, including those with “bruised credit” (hsh.com).

As Gumbinger explains, making a major purchase with credit can easily depress your credit score, as can opening new credit lines, whether or not you use them.

“You need to hang back financially until you get the house you really want,” Gumbinger says.

-- Take advantage of a willing relative’s good credit.

There’s one exception to the rule against expanding your access to credit before a home purchase. You could boost a weak credit score by teaming up with a trusted relative with a strong credit score.

“Get added to a paid-on-time credit card account as an ‘authorized user,’ and you may benefit from that person’s good credit history. You never even have to touch the card itself,” says Gerri Detweiler, a consumer credit expert.

This tactic can be especially effective if your name is added to a card that’s been paid promptly for several years.

“Remember, though, that if the person who has the account pays late, it will appear on your credit report as well,” says Detweiler, author of “The Ultimate Credit Handbook.”

-- Decline to close unused credit accounts prior to a home purchase.

It’s a myth that rushing to close unwanted credit lines will help your credit score and therefore make you look more appealing to a mortgage lender.

Detweiler explains that closing accounts reduces the total credit available to you, thereby making your overall “debt utilization ratio” rise. Among other factors, credit scores reflect the gap between the credit you use and your total credit limits. The smaller the gap, the more harm to your score.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, however.

“Sometimes, you have to close unused accounts to protect yourself from a co-signer or during divorce,” she says.

-- Restrict the number of mortgage lenders allowed to check your credit.

Shopping around for the best available mortgage rate is a good idea. What’s not a good idea is letting every lender you talk with check your credit.

Every time you authorize a lender to use your Social Security number and other pertinent data to do a computer run on your credit, this generates what’s known to the industry as an “inquiry.”

The problem is that inquiries done by lenders can count against your credit score. And, as Detweiler points out, your score is especially vulnerable to harm if it’s at the 700 mark or below.

The good news is that consumers can obtain their own credit information without harming their score. One source is the Fair Isaac website: myfico.com. With your reports in hand, you can shop all you’d like. There’s no need to let more than one lender pull your credit -- the one you ultimately choose to do your deal.

-- Reduce your credit card balances to the extent possible.

Of course, many prospective buyers lack the means to wipe out their account balances in full. To gain the maximum benefit to your credit score, Detweiler advocates spreading your funds around. If possible, pay your revolving account balances down to 30% or less of the available credit, she says.

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

Scott Saxton, a North Carolina real estate broker, remembers vividly one Sunday in 2021, when four of his homebuying clients rushed to open houses and hurriedly submitted offers on properties they liked. So competitive was the Wilmington market that any delay was unthinkable.

“It was insane. To compete, my buyers literally had to write offers in the driveway of an open house. I felt awful for these clients because there was no time to work through the process before making a hasty decision,” says Saxton, who owns a five-agent realty firm.

Much has changed in many real estate markets since the end of the pandemic and the unnerving rise in mortgage rates. Affordability is a vastly more significant issue for would-be buyers.

“It’s amazing how quickly a small bump in rates affects buyers,” says Margaret Lebenson, a Brooklyn-based real estate agent who works with purchasers throughout the New York metro area.

Another long-standing issue facing buyers seeking ownership in popular neighborhoods has involved a scarcity of available properties. But that shortage is gradually shrinking as more owners, including many from the baby boom generation, feel pressure to sell due to changing life circumstances.

“The writing is on the wall when people reach their 60s or older. For some people, bad knees or a major health event can be the wake-up call making it clear they can’t stay in their house forever,” says Merrill Ottwein, a longtime real estate broker in Illinois.

Real estate pros encourage potential sellers to face the reality that they have somewhat less negotiating power than they did during the pandemic, when rates were lower and available properties were fewer in number.

“If you need to sell your house, I encourage you to be very realistic on pricing. At least in the New York area, we’re past the peak in values that happened a few years ago,” Levenson says.

Owners who intend to sell soon should be especially attentive to the presentation of their property. Here are a few pointers:

-- Address faulty front-door locks.

“When the lock doesn’t work, this conveys indifference on the part of the sellers and alerts buyers to the prospect of more serious problems within. But you can replace locks that are old for a small sum of money,” says Ottwein, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

Assuming you have two or more locks on your front door, he recommends you eliminate all but one deadbolt.

“Redundant locks drive a lot of people crazy. Any lock but the deadbolt is usually needless and annoying,” he says.

While you’re at it, double-check that your doorbell is working perfectly.

“Like a malfunctioning lock, an out-of-repair doorbell is a big turnoff,” Ottwein says.

-- Use attractive landscaping around your entrance.

For those wishing to make a powerful impression on potential buyers, good landscaping is vital.

“Subconsciously, I think a lot of buyers search for great curb appeal to impress their future guests,” Ottwein says.

One common error committed by sellers is to allow their bushes and other plants to grow too tall or too close to their front walls.

“This obscures the view of the house from the street. The place looks cramped, as if the greenery has been shoehorned in,” Ottwein says.

-- Recognize the primacy of your front door.

The front door of a home can either attract or repel visitors, yet its importance is often overlooked.

“It’s usually not expensive to greatly improve the look of your front door, unless you have a big mahogany door that needs replacing,” Ottwein says.

A thorough cleaning and removal of cobwebs in and around the front door is virtually free. And a door that merely suffers from peeling paint can usually be redone for a small amount of money.

-- Use pleasant aromas to welcome visitors into your property.

Ottwein, a former veterinarian turned real estate broker, is very favorable to pets. Still, he cautions that the smell of animals in a home can repel buyers as quickly as any other factor.

“Even people who love animals and have their own pets can’t bear the odor of your dogs and cats. Simply stated, this superficial element can be a major deal killer,” he says.

Homeowners with animals should get to the root of the problem of any pet odors rather than trying to hide them with air fresheners.

“Air fresheners can be overwhelming and create a very negative impression,” Ottwein says.

-- Better the appearance of your home with flowers.

There’s a good reason why flowers are the primary decor items used at weddings and other elegant events. They create a qualitative difference that no other design element can match -- not even the most remarkable furnishings or works of art.

Potted flowers add welcoming appeal when placed alongside the front door of a house. Also, bouquets of cut flowers can make an otherwise unremarkable home interior, including a front foyer, look extraordinary.

It can be pricy to keep your vases filled with fresh flowers throughout the period when your property is being shown for sale. But fresh flowers create so classy an impression that many sellers consider flowers their secret weapon.

“Why bother with fake flowers? This is the biggest sale of your life, so it’s foolhardy to shortchange yourself on this expense,” Ottwein says.

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

For more than nine months, a logistics specialist for a New York trucking company sought to buy a home in the coveted Chicago suburb of Park Ridge. The single 30-year-old hoped to return to that hamlet, where he’d previously lived. But amid rising prices and a shortage of available property, his plans were long delayed.

“Buyers like this are very frustrated. But there are several solid strategies to help them break through to a purchase, even in high-demand areas,” says Rich Harty, the real estate broker who represented the buyer.

How did the man win the townhouse in his favored market? He used what Harty calls an “early-bird-gets-the-worm” approach. Once the place hit the Multiple Listing Service, he immediately crafted a full-price offer with few conditions. That way he beat out other potential bidders.

“He was absolutely thrilled to acquire this small townhouse with a backyard terrace and a one-car garage. He was also glad he didn’t have to face any rival buyers in a bidding war,” Harty says.

It’s not always true that sellers favor those who are the first to bid on a desirable property. But in this case, it worked to convince the sellers to move forward with what proved an easy transaction. It helped that the buyer had been fully preapproved for the purchase by a mortgage lender and that his agent called the listing agent to vouch for the man.

“Sometimes you’re rolling the dice if you wait to venture an offer in an area where demand exceeds supply,” says Tom Early, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyers Agents (naeba.org).

“But never go way over the realistic market value of a house just to get in before your deadline. But at the same time, don’t quibble about small differences in price --particularly if you intend to stay in the home for many years,” Early says.

Here are a few pointers for buyers:

-- Inform yourself on local property values before you bid.

Eve Alexander, a longtime real estate broker who works solely with buyers, says they need context on prevailing values to make certain they don’t bid too much.

“For comparisons, try to identify five to 10 comparable properties that have sold recently in the area where you’re looking,” Alexander says.

If you’re seeking to buy in a neighborhood with widely varied properties, it’s helpful to compare the homes on your list on a price-per-square-foot basis. Then adjust for differences in size and home features.

After estimating the current market value of the home you seek to buy, it’s time to decide how aggressive an offer you wish to make. Alexander says that will depend on how enamored you are with the home.

“You won’t want to push the limits if you’ve fallen in love with the property and feel it’s a do-or -die situation,” she says.

On the other hand, you might choose to make a lower offer if there are other available homes in the area that would meet your needs equally well.

Once you’ve made a firm decision on your bid, she recommends you attach a brief but friendly letter that draws on comparable sales data to support the offer.

-- Reject comparables from “market testers.”

Eric Tyson, co-author of “Home Buying for Dummies,” says that in every market there are a few sellers who won’t budge from an unrealistically high price.

“It’s a given that some supposed sellers aren’t really motivated to make a fair deal,” he says.

How can you tell which sellers are merely testing the market and will never negotiate seriously with anyone who bids less than their lofty list price?

Tyson recommends you ask your agent to find out if previous offers have come in on the property you want. If the owners have already rebuffed one or more decent offers without so much as a counterbid, this indicates they’ll probably resist reason with you, too.

The good news for buyers is that information on past offers is often readily available through the listing agent.

“Agents are inherently outgoing people. Some have very loose lips and will talk candidly about their clients’ negotiating position and whether it’s worth your while to do a low bid,” he says.

While there’s no harm in trying to reason with market testers, Tyson says you can waste a lot of time and energy trying to budge people who won’t even entertain a fair offer. Better to look for someone truly anxious to sell --perhaps because they’re making an out-of-state job move.

“Locating a really willing seller is the key to finding a fairly priced house,” Tyson says.

-- Try to determine the seller’s equity position.

Are you seriously interested in a home but have yet to submit an offer on it? If so, Alexander says it’s wise to inform yourself on the sellers’ ownership stake before you bid. Those with more equity have more potential room for compromise.

“What you’re looking for are insights into the mindset of the sellers,” Alexander says.

One source of clues on the owners’ equity position can be found by searching local government land records. At the minimum, these records (usually available online) should tell you when the current owners purchased the property and the original price they paid.

“If the sellers bought the house a couple of decades ago and haven’t refinanced, they should have a lot more equity,” Alexander says.

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