Toss a few obstacles in front of Americans, and many will take up the challenge. That appears to be the way some wannabe homebuyers are facing today’s market conditions.

Despite a lack of houses for sale, rising mortgage rates, higher prices and strong competition from other would-be owners, not to mention investors, nearly two-thirds of the people responding to Gallup’s annual housing survey still say it’s a good time to buy.

This doesn’t exactly square with a couple of other recent studies. One, by secondary mortgage market giant Fannie Mae, found that the share of those who believe it’s a good time to buy dipped in April to less than 30 percent. The other, by credit reporting agency Experian, found that many potential buyers have dropped out of the market altogether.

For those of you still in the market despite the odds, perhaps your attitude can be best described by the immortal words of David Farragut, the first admiral of the U.S. Navy. His (likely paraphrased) order from the Civil War’s Battle of Mobile Bay: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”

Here’s what current home-shoppers are up against:

-- Competition. Of the people who told pollsters from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) that they will be buying within the next 12 months, more than 40 percent are out there house hunting right now. These folks know that the current market is “a tough nut to crack,” said NAHB research economist Rose Quint, “but they are not deterred.”

Indeed, of those who plan to continue looking, 60 percent will continue looking for the right home in the same preferred location, while less than half said they might have to expand their search area or change their search criteria.

Only 13 percent said they might have to give up the chase. That, says Quint, “suggests that despite the difficulties and delays, most prospective buyers will press ahead, undeterred.”

New research from Trulia found even more striking results among millennials: Nearly 90 percent of them plan to buy a home at some point, and of those, 35 percent plan to reach that goal within the next year.

-- Time. The NAHB survey also found that active buyers are spending a considerable amount of time stalking their prey. More than half have been trying to find the right home for three months or longer.

-- Cost. What’s taking so long? First and foremost, affordability. The No. 1 reason for homebuyers’ failure so far is they can’t find a place that meets their requirements and that they can afford.

-- Availability. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that there are now fewer homes on the market than any time since last December.

No one has a count of unsold new houses, though most builders won’t even start building until they have a firm contract. But the number of existing houses for sale at the end of March stood at 1.67 million, vs. 1.8 million a year earlier.

NAR says the inventory is starting to rise, which appears promising until you examine the “housing supply” numbers. Housing supply is a calculation of how many months it would take to exhaust the current inventory of available homes at the current sales pace. A normal supply is seven to eight months, but the current unsold inventory is at a 4.6-month supply.

Why so few houses? Builders are throwing up houses as quickly as they can, but most current homeowners are staying put, for any number of reasons. One is that they can’t find a new place that suits their needs. Another: They don’t want to let go of the lower-than-market interest rate on the mortgages they now carry. And like those buyers in the hunt, they, too, are put off by ever-higher prices.

In other words, current owners are constrained just like everybody else.

-- Hurried closings. If you do find the place of your dreams, be prepared to settle on your financing quickly. According to mortgage-software company Ellie Mae, millennials closed loans in March at a faster clip then ever: 39 days.

“As more millennials reach the prime homebuying age of 29 to 32 years old,” said Joe Tyrrell, an executive vice president at Ellie Mae, “they are finding a mortgage experience leveraging technology that is fast and engaging in ways that their parents couldn’t imagine when they bought their first home.”

-- Rates. Speaking of financing, it’s highly likely you’ll be paying higher mortgage rates over the coming months. HSH Associates, a mortgage reporting service, says the recent run-up in loan costs has paused for the time being, but it fully expects the Federal Reserve to “lift rates” at least a quarter-point more soon.

Such a move, of course, will give lenders an opportunity to boost their own rates, even though there is no correlation between mortgage rates and the central bank-controlled federal funds rate that banks charge each other.

-- Credit. Even though the typical credit score for borrowers in March was in the 721-723 range, it has become easier lately to qualify for financing. That’s partly due to the fact that the loan “pie” is shrinking, so lenders have to figure out how to stand out from the crowd. One way is to take on more risk and accept the fact that more of their loans will become delinquent.

Homeowners pay an average of nearly $3,400 in property taxes every year, according to new research. But if you live in the New York City area, you could be paying three times that.

The greater New York metropolitan area has the highest property taxes in the land, according to data collected from tax assessor offices by ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm.

Of the 1,414 counties in the United States with at least 10,000 single-family houses, residents of New York’s Westchester County pay the highest real estate tax, at an average of $17,179. Neighboring Rockland County residents pay an average of $12,924. In New Jersey, Essex County residents pay $11,878, while homeowners in Bergen County, pay $11,585.

Not every state has an income tax, but every one of the country’s 3,142 counties collects property taxes. So do some towns and municipalities. All told, these jurisdictions collected $293.4 billion from the owners of more than 88 million single-family houses last year.

Property taxes must be paid annually by anyone who owns a home or a commercial property. The money collected is used to cover the cost of schools, road construction/maintenance, salaries for police and firefighters, parks, recreation centers and programs, traffic and street lights, and public transportation.

Traditional neighborhood play areas often are not much fun for physically challenged children. But at Woodforest, a master-planned Houston property, kids of every ability will be able to play together.

The community will be the first in the United States to feature a 13-foot-high Sona Play Arch, an interactive structure that uses smart cameras to lead kids in music and dance games. The arch can also accommodate children in wheelchairs and those with mental and physical disabilities.

While this will be the first of the arches in the U.S., they have been installed in more than 300 locations worldwide.

Folks who have to place their belongings in storage between household moves have lots to take into account in choosing the right facility.

Security, of course, is paramount. But there are other considerations, says Rick Runnels, who owns the River Road Mini Storage in Paso Robles, California. Those include cost, location and the size of the space you are renting.

Cost depends on the size of the unit, so don’t rent more space than you need. Most facilities offer units from about the size of a walk-in closet to ones as large as a one-car garage. Some even have secure parking for vehicles and boats.

Look for specials such as “first month free,” and ask about discounts for members of the local chamber of commerce, or for seniors and veterans.

For long-term storage with infrequent visits, location may not be as critical. But consider if convenience is important.

When it comes to security, look for code-controlled gate access, fenced and well-lit yard areas, on-site security cameras and wide driveways between storage sheds.

Another thing to consider is insurance. Most places don’t insure personal property, according to Runnels, but you might be able to purchase coverage for stored items from your own carrier.

Big wedding or starter house? It’s a question some brides and grooms don’t even consider. But perhaps they should.

According to Canadian company RateSupermarket, young lovers spend more than $72,000 from the first date to “I do.” But most of that -- around $46,400 -- is eaten up by a wedding and honeymoon. That’s one heck of a down payment.

The company asked if respondents would rather spend that money on something other than their nuptials, and a surprising 45 percent said they’d use it to buy a house. Only 6 percent said they’d go ahead and have a wedding.

Foreigners hold more land in Maine than in any other state, according to the latest government figures.

Noncitizens own 2.97 million acres of mostly forest in the Pine Tree State. That’s a tad more than 1/6th of the state’s total forest land.

Texas is a close second when it comes to land held by foreigners, at 2.93 million acres. Rounding out the top five are Alabama, Washington and Florida.

According to new research from the U.K., home is where the heart is -- and our hearts belong to the houses in which we grew up, not where we currently live.

Four in 10 respondents said the place they grew up in was special because they were able to spend more time together with their family, and 56 percent said they felt safer there. One in 10 said they have taken steps to make their current dwellings more like their childhood homes, including replicating decor and furnishings.

The poll found that 38 percent think their current home lacks the “magic” of their childhood home.

Seniors who are house-rich but cash-poor, or who fear running out of money in their retirement years, have several options to save the day.

One, of course, is the much-ballyhooed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, otherwise known as a reverse mortgage. But elder owners have other choices, including the financial ones described here last week. There are also a number of other alternatives:

-- Deferred payment loans (DPLs). Unlike the state-sponsored and local grant programs mentioned previously, in DPLs, a lien is placed against your house and the money must be repaid when you sell (or when you convert the property to a rental or refinance your first mortgage). But no payments are required and no interest is charged.

These loans, which are “probably more common than true grant programs,” ventures Rob Chrane of downpaymentresources.com, usually come from state housing finance agencies and nonprofits.

-- Refinancing. If you have plenty of equity and a first mortgage with a low balance, you can refinance your house, pay off your old loan and put the remaining proceeds into your pocket to pay your bills. Of course, you have to pay back your new first mortgage, month after month, and the new payment may be more than you can legitimately afford.

-- Lines of credit. This option involves lines of credit that you place against your house, as well as home equity loans. Both are essentially second mortgages that must also be repaid monthly.

With a line of credit, you can remove your equity as needed to pay your utilities, taxes, medical bills and other living expenses. With a home equity loan, you borrow a percentage of your equity; lenders usually won’t let you have more than 80 percent.

-- Sell and downsize. Your place is probably too big for you and your spouse -- not just in size, but in your ability to maintain it, and in monthly expenses such as utility bills -- so consider selling it and downsizing to a smaller, less costly house or market-rate apartment.

Also worth a look-see is an apartment in a senior living center. It’s not a retirement home, per se, although you can live out your years there if you like. Rather, it’s a unit in an assisted living community where you share amenities, dining rooms and medical help as needed with other seniors.

These apartments come with full, though small, kitchens, so you can cook and eat in. But you also have the option of taking up to three meals a day in the dining hall -- no muss, no fuss.

-- Sell to your offspring. If you are bent on passing your family home on to your children when you die, how about selling it to them now and letting them rent the house back to you at a fair market price?

This sale-leaseback arrangement allows your children to have some rental income, perhaps just enough to cover the cost of the mortgage they had to take out to buy the house from you. After all, they may not want to profit from your need for cash.

But at the same time, they may get to write off depreciation, property taxes and maintenance costs. And you get to stay in your house at a reasonable rent with a landlord you know well and love, and who will treat you right.

-- Rent a room. If you have the space, say an extra bedroom or a basement you never use, consider renting the space to augment your monthly income. But be careful: Choosing a tenant or roommate is tricky business. You don’t want to get stuck with the wrong person. Check out thoroughly any people you are considering, and make them sign a lease that gives you the right to evict them if they don’t fulfill lease requirements (such as keeping the place clean and limiting noise).

-- ECHO cottages. ECHO stands for Elder Cottage Housing Opportunity. If you have room in your yard -- and if local zoning rules permit it -- weigh the possibility of building a small accessory unit separate from your house. There are many so-called “tiny” houses on the market that include a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living space. Put one in your backyard and rent it out.

If your adult child has room in his or her own home’s yard, think about putting your ECHO cottage there. If the law says it’s OK, you can sell your house, move into the cottage and live near -- but not with -- your daughter or son.

Many zoning ordinances do not allow these kinds of outbuildings, so you might have to seek a variance for occupants age 55 or older. Contact your local zoning office to see what’s possible. If you get nowhere, try applying for a special-use permit, and solicit the aid of your local agencies on aging, senior centers or other groups with an interest in older folks.