By MARILYN KENNEDY MELIA, bankrate.com

Buying a home today takes a certain confidence -- in the market and in your own financial strength. A lot of single female homebuyers are taking that bold step in high heels, with no one at their side.

Today's buyer has a one-track mind when it comes to shopping for a home: price, but it might lead him in the wrong direction.

Home shoppers' overriding goal, according to real estate agents, is to scoop up a bargain.

Many home sellers are losing money ... precisely because they're determined not to lose money. So why won't your home sell?

One reason homes are languishing on the market is because owners are suffering from "sunk cost fallacy," observes Ohio State University economist John Kagel.

When we overindulged in real estate earlier this decade, we took generous helpings of seconds.
Now the problem for many with too much debt on their plate is how to deal with the mortgage on a second home.

Buy and hold. The traditional advice for stock investing now applies to home buying. With a long-term horizon, you can ride out cycles where prices are depressed.

You've finally reached someone at your mortgage company who has the authority to change your loan terms and offer relief from the payments you've been struggling to pay.
Congratulations.
If you've landed a second chance with your mortgage lender, you've already accomplished more than the thousands of other homeowners, who go straight into foreclosure.

Don't be surprised if your friendly lender, the one who invites you to sit down and apply for a mortgage, ushers you politely out the door empty-handed after you've chatted a bit.

Don't like the back-and-forth bickering involved in home buying? Maybe you'll buy your next home with just a quick back and forth wave.
More homes are being auctioned than ever, with some $16.9 billion sold by private auction houses last year. That's not counting the foreclosed properties sold at sheriff auctions.

So much for curb appeal. Sure, it takes a welcoming presence to lure homebuyers to your door. But in today's market, it often takes a fistful of cash to get them to the table.
When they come to the closing table, sellers are increasingly picking up the tab for all the ancillary costs buyers incur when purchasing a home.

Whether you're a home buyer, seller or an owner, you probably have one central question about this market: Where are prices headed from here?You can gain some insight into the pricing puzzle by focusing not just on home values, but on rental rates.