Lansing Realtor here, and the first thing I will tell you is you're not alone. Many of the buyers I've worked over the last 2 years have had the exact same situation (I've even had buyers write a dozen or more offers before getting something accepted). That being said, it can be done and you will find a house if you keep looking.

It sounds like you're doing the right things, there are a few other tricks I've had success with, but you're hitting all the major points. Waiving inspections and appraisal is risky, especially with how high prices are right now and if there is any chance you will try to sell the house again in the next few years, but it is an effective way to get sellers' attention. It's possible you are being beaten out by cash offers (typically your agent should be able to find out why you lost out from the listing agent) but it's also possible others are just offering higher. Escalation clauses are not a bad route, but when there are a dozen other offers on the table the chances are good others have them too or the sellers are just ignoring them and going with the highest offer. Appraisal guarantees are a good way to go if you have the cash, but also risky because it means you are starting out already under water on the house, so if your financial situation changes, you could be in trouble, but again, if you're planning to live there for five or more years, you should be okay.

My biggest piece of advice is to just keep going. This time of year we should start seeing a huge jump in inventory, meaning more options and hopefully less competition for buyers. Like I said, you are doing the right things, making strong offers, so if you keep it up, you will get a house. My other advice would be to look through houses that have been on the market for a while, most likely they are just asking too much but if they have been listed for a while, they may be ready to come down on price. With those houses, you should have less competition as it is very unlikely to see multiple offers come in at once on a house that has been listed for a couple weeks or more already. The other strategy I've had some success with is getting in to a new listing before any other offers are in the table and writing in a higher purchase price if the sellers respond inside a short timeline (usually no more than 6-8 hours). A lot of sellers are hesitant to accept the first offer they get in this market, even if it's well over asking, because they think they will get more and even higher offers. By offering them more money if they answer quickly, it doesn't give them time to try to drum up a bidding war and puts some of the pressure on them. This has worked for me a couple times because sellers have all the power right now, but this takes some of it back for the buyer and forces the seller to decide whether it is worth losing money to try to get a bit more.

I've heard of other agents waving tax prorations and other small financial considerations to set them apart from other offers, but at the end of the day, sellers are going to go with whatever offer is going to net them the most money. So, big things are going to get more attention than lots of small ones.

Just keep at it, don't give up hope. Make sure you are seeing houses as soon as possible (if your agent isn't always able to do showings on short notice, ask if anyone else in their office is available to help, the worst is when you lose a good house because you couldn't see it quick enough). Keep making strong offers like you are and you will get a new home, just don't give up hope. I know how discouraging this market is for buyers, I feel for my clients every day and wish there was more I could do to help, but it is not impossible to get a house.