Like with any professional, there are tools and techniques available to help with particular situations.  They might be more popular at certain times and might even be put aside or forgotten at others. For real estate professionals, one of those is the backup offer. 

Inflation devalues the purchasing power of money and the interest earned on savings is almost always less than inflation.  Tangible assets like your home consistently become more valuable over time.  In inflationary periods, a home is a good investment and a hedge against inflation.

Credit scores are used to assess risk and determine whether a borrower is approved or declined for a mortgage, credit card or some other type of credit.  The score is a numerical value ranging from a low of zero to a high of 850 or 900 depending on the credit bureau.

The higher the score, the more likely the lender will be repaid in a timely manner.

Waiting for the mortgage rates to come down before you buy a home may not be a good decision.

If you are correct, and the rates do come down by two percent, the savings you benefit from a lower rate will most likely be devoured by the appreciated price increase.

Based on the current competition due to lower than normal inventories, it is possible for a seller to find themselves on the beneficiary side of a multiple offers.  Two or more parties may be trying to buy your home at the same time and because of the competition, they increase the purchase price, possibly, remove unnecessary contingencies and try to make their offer as attractive as possible.

The question is "financially speaking, are you better off owning than renting in the long term?"

Renting a home has advantages.  It is usually a short-term commitment from year to year and the landlord is responsible for the repairs.

A home warranty is a service contract that protects your home's appliances and some systems from repairs or possible replacements.  A convenient benefit of a home warranty is that when you report an item, they will assign a service provider to evaluate whether it should be repaired or replaced without the owner having to act like a middleman.