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The real estate market does not move in one direction nationwide. It never has. What is happening in Austin is not what is happening in Cleveland. What is true for a three-bedroom in the suburbs of Dallas has almost nothing to do with a two-bedroom in San Francisco. Before you do anything else, narrow your focus to the specific market you are shopping in and stop reading national headlines as if they apply to you personally.

Home prices at the national level have held close to their peaks despite a sharp rise in mortgage rates. The reason is supply. The locked-in effect has kept available inventory at historically low levels in most markets, which means the correction that many analysts were expecting simply did not materialize the way the data suggested it should.

Affordability, by the standard measure of what share of median household income goes toward the monthly payment on a median-priced home, is near its worst level since the early 1980s. That is a real problem, and it is not going away quickly. A market can stay unaffordable for longer than most buyers expect to wait. What it means, practically, is that the buyer who can close confidently has more leverage than the headline numbers suggest.

Your credit score affects your rate more directly than most buyers realize. The difference between a 680 score and a 760 score can mean a half-point or more in rate. If your score has room to improve, give yourself three to six months to work on it before you begin in earnest.

The inspection is where the marketing copy meets reality. Schedule it and attend in person if at all possible. A good home inspector will walk you through what they are finding as they go, and those few hours will shape your understanding of the home for as long as you own it.

Price matters, but terms matter too. The buyer who calls the listing agent before submitting, asks what matters to the seller, and builds the offer around that information wins more often than the buyer who simply goes the highest.

For buyers with the financial cushion to handle a repair bill without panic, this market is workable, even if it is not cheap or easy. The homes that are right for a specific buyer’s actual needs are still moving. They are going to the buyers who treated the process like the major financial decision it is.

Real estate rewards preparation more than it rewards timing. Nobody consistently calls the top or the bottom of a market, but buyers who show up informed and financially ready close deals in every cycle. Start by browsing current homes for sale and market resources to build a realistic picture of your options.