A couple of retired U.S. Foreign Service officers recently turned 80. But until this month, they’d given little thought to selling the two-story colonial they own in a Washington, D.C., suburb. Indeed, as active seniors who still bike and canoe, they imagined living there to the end of their lives. But that was before the wife tripped and fell during a neighborhood walk.

“It wasn’t the worst-case scenario; my brain and body are still intact. But the fall was a big wake-up call. There’s no hurry, but the writing is on the wall. We know eventually we must move to a one-level condo or assisted-living place,” the wife says.

What’s confounding the couple now is they don’t know how urgently to move forward with their home sale, due to the rapidly changing real estate market. Higher mortgage rates have sidelined many would-be buyers. Meanwhile, fears of falling prices abound.

Joan McLellan Tayler, a longtime realty firm owner, doesn’t know the couple in this true story. But she advises those in similar circumstances to thoroughly investigate their local market before crafting their selling plans.

“When timing your sale and establishing your asking price, your best guidance always comes from full-time agents who have a depth of experience in your local area,” says Tayler, the author of several real estate books.

Here are a few pointers for those weighing a home sale:

-- Get real on pricing, but don’t freak out.

Obviously, selling a suburban house was much easier during the pandemic. Smart sellers acknowledge that and adapt, says Koby Sway, a Nebraska real estate broker.

“Sellers can no longer put a for-sale sign outside their home and expect the offers to pour in. They have to roll up their sleeves and make necessary repairs and home improvements before listing their home for sale,” Sway says.

Even so, in most areas, sellers need not worry about steep drops in home values, given that underlying housing demand remains strong among young adults in their 20s and 30s. Also, the overall shortage of inventory is a point in sellers’ favor.

Market trends vary widely from neighborhood to neighborhood. But, on a national level, price growth has slowed but not come to a full stop, says Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com, the home listing company.

Given the market dynamics, there’s no point in postponing your selling plans.

“If your selling plans are solid, it’s usually a mistake to try to play the timing game,” she says.

-- Seek a seasoned listing agent.

Tayler says too many people take a casual approach to picking an agent, noting that some make the mistake of hiring a relative, a friend or a young agent looking to get started.

Ideally, sellers should opt for an agent with experience in handling lots of different deals. Those with a track record, she adds, are most apt to identify problems before they happen.

If, for personal reasons, you’re determined to choose a newcomer, she suggests you ask that agent to share the listing with an established pro from the same office.

“With two agents on your side, you’ll benefit from both their strengths,” Tayler says.

-- Ask for financial details on prospective buyers.

Due to affordability concerns, many home buyers continue to rely on government-backed low-down-payment financing.

But to prevent a repeat of the mortgage crisis of more than a decade ago, lenders and their government regulators continue to hold would-be purchasers to stringent standards.

“Since the last big recession, we’ve never returned to the era of super-easy money,” says Eric Tyson, co-author of “Mortgages for Dummies.”

Wise sellers are careful to check the financial standing of would-be purchasers before ratifying any offer.

Before accepting an offer, sellers should insist on seeing a genuine “pre-approval” letter from a known lender. This should show that the prospective buyers have had their credit checked, their employment confirmed and their assets verified.

In addition, prospects can be asked to supply other details about their creditworthiness, such as their credit scores. The most common of these, known as FICO scores, range from 300 to 850.

“To be safe, look for buyers with a FICO score of at least around 700 or better,” Tyson says.

-- Anticipate issues that could arise in the home inspection phase.

These days, a majority of buyers exercise their right to a home inspection. And, if they can get away with it, many use the process to better their deal.

“Some buyers view their inspector’s report as a chance for a second round of negotiations. They see problems cited on the inspection report as an opportunity to cut their price for the property,” Tyson says.

During the pandemic, many buyers voluntarily waived their right to an inspection to make their offer more competitive. But it’s always unwise for sellers to try to talk buyers out of their own home inspection. In fact, smart sellers may wish to pay for their own inspection even before the property goes on the market.

“The sellers’ inspector probably won’t detect the same small problems that the buyers’ inspector will. But both should identify really serious issues,” Tyson says.

“If your house is more than 10 or 15 years old, you need to be particularly careful to identify hidden problems,” he adds.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

For more than five years, a Minnesota couple in their 60s hoped to sell the architect-designed house they’d owned for more than two decades. Their fervent wish was to downsize to an active retirement community where friends already own units. But a single issue held them back: Their house was so crammed with accumulated possessions it wasn’t worthy of showings.

Fred Meyer, a veteran real estate broker, doesn’t know the couple in this true story. But he says any house crowded with clutter must be purged, or its sellers will be compelled to let it go for a sacrificial price.

“Unless you’re an architect or a designer, you can’t imagine the true scope and scale of a property that’s encumbered with excess furniture, books and other possessions. Buyers always devalue a house filled to the rafters,” says Meyer, an experienced property appraiser.

In the end, the Minnesota couple couldn’t summon the will to clear through the hundreds of possessions that crammed their closets, kitchen cabinets, bookcases and two-car garage. Nor could they part with their many pieces of furniture, including bulky recliners. So they decided to gift the house to an adult daughter on an “as is” basis rather than put it up for sale.

Of course, not everyone has the wherewithal to give a house away to a family member. Most homeowners must liquidate their real estate to generate sufficient funds to acquire their next home. They need coping strategies that allow them to sell their property for as much as possible.

Rather than make the tough decisions involved in sorting through their possessions in advance of a sale, some homeowners attempt to expedite the process by simply renting one or more storage units to indefinitely contain loads of unsorted items.

But not all would-be home sellers can afford the fees associated with rental units, which can add up quickly. Yet at the same time, they can’t face the daunting challenge of decluttering -- so they succumb to inaction.

A company called Storageunits.com, which helps consumers identify the best available storage units, recently surveyed 1,200 households that use storage units. Among the findings: 44% of those surveyed would move to a smaller property if they had less stuff.

Are you a homeowner of any age who wishes to sell and move? If so, here are a few pointers that could prove of value:

-- Ponder a party to gain momentum for your clutter-busting project.

Stephanie Calahan, a longtime professional organizer, says the decluttering process can be more tolerable if the agony is combined with occasional amusement.

“Some people feel so overwhelmed by the task that it keeps them from acting. But by adding fun, you can often break that paralysis and create an incentive to get the work done before your house goes on the market,” she says.

Calahan tells of one former client, an insurance company manager, whose many boxes of unsorted personal papers included countless old paid bills, medical statements and nearly every greeting card she’d ever received. After several weeks of tedious sorting, she announced a celebratory party to reward herself.

“Eight of my client’s friends came over for what we call a shredding party. She asked each friend to bring along a paper shredder. She served wine and brunch and then everyone helped shred her excess papers. It was so much fun that later all her friends had their own shredding parties,” Calahan recalls.

-- Speed your campaign with creative ideas.

Professional organizers routinely advise those involved in decluttering to take a break every few hours. That helps prevent the beleaguered feeling that comes from trying to take on an entire room all at once or, worse, the whole house.

Calahan recommends preparing a comprehensive written plan that spells out a step-by-step approach. Or you could start with a single part of one room, using a flashlight to define how large an area you’ll tackle at a given time.

“In the midst of a big decluttering project, the flashlight allows you to focus mentally on a single area,” she says.

Once your units of work have been defined, Calahan suggests you allocate a fixed amount of time to declutter each area and then, with the help of a stopwatch, see if you can “beat the clock.”

“Of course, what’s fun for one person may not be for another. Beat-the-clock might not work for you, but another game you invent could do the trick, so be creative,” Calahan says.

-- Contemplate a clutter-busting blitz if time is short.

If the home you’re planning to sell has bursting closets and disorder throughout, there’s no way a single person or couple can deal properly with the problem without devoting many days or even several weeks to the task, says Vicki Norris, a professional organizer who lectures nationally on the subject, and operator of the business Restoring Order.

But, as Norris says, one solution is to add extra hands to the task and then to conduct an all-out blitz. Many organizing firms can mobilize a team on short notice. You can find one in your area through the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (napo.net).

Alternatively, you may be able to recruit a team of friends or relatives to help create order from chaos in your property.

Whether you hire organizers or seek out volunteers, Norris says you should bring in no more than four to five people and designate a leader.

Obviously, if you’re energetic and have lots of time, you can handle the whole project yourself.

“The only difference with a blitz is that you blast through the house faster,” Norris says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)

The real estate market is cooling, mortgage rates are jumping and home prices are staying relatively high in many metro areas. Yet in the wake of the pandemic, housing specialists say 2023 could present a genuine opportunity for some young families to buy a brand-new house in an outlying area.

Though many so-called workers” have been called back to their offices in metro centers, others still enjoy the freedom to reside in a dream setting in a small town or rural area far away from their employers’ offices.

Take the case of a 28-year-old medical researcher who works as a data analyst for a Philadelphia hospital. After COVID-19 struck, she and her consultant husband took a rental in rural Pennsylvania, where they can work from home and raise their baby boy in a bucolic valley. Now they aspire to own a new property in the same area.

“It’s like heaven living here. Luckily our bosses say we can keep working remotely for the indefinite future,” says the consultant, also 28.

Such untethered workers are among the most motivated would-be buyers, says Glenn Kelman, the CEO of Redfin, the Seattle-based real estate brokerage.

“Despite more expensive mortgage money, there are some reassuring elements for buyers in the current real estate landscape,” says Eric Tyson, a personal finance expert and co-author of “Home Buying For Dummies.”

One reassuring element is that homeowners are starting to moderate their asking prices more quickly than in past housing downturns.

“Sellers are getting realistic a lot faster than before,” says Ryan Gorman, CEO of Coldwell Banker, the national real estate franchise based in New Jersey.

With their aspiration to purchase a brand-new property, the Pennsylvania couple have reason to believe they will fare better in 2023 than they would have during the pandemic, when newly constructed properties were in exceptionally high demand.

“Builders continue to face lower buyer traffic due to declining affordability conditions,” says Jerry Konter, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (nahb.org).

Konter, a builder in Georgia, notes that across the country, new home sales are down 14.3% on a year-to-date basis compared to 2021.

To take full advantage of the positives in the current real estate market, housing specialists advise buyers to define their dreams before shopping for property.

“Think through carefully what’s truly important to you in a neighborhood and a house. Also, pin down your affordability range,” Tyson says.

Here are a few pointers for buyers:

-- Open your research with an early visit to a mortgage lender.

Realtors with experience are quick to identify those who claim they’re candidates for an upscale house yet can’t even afford a more modest place. Sometimes they decline to show them property of any sort.

Though very few would-be buyers are delusional, Richard Courtney, a Nashville-based real estate broker and author, says most need to see a mortgage lender to set a ceiling on what they can afford. That way, they won’t waste time looking at properties above their reach.

-- Think through your true preferences before starting your search.

Once you know how much you can afford, it’s time to reflect on your true wants and needs -- and to do so with a spouse or a partner if you’re part of a couple.

Tyson suggests you retreat to a tranquil space, shut off your phones and discuss your priorities in a focused way.

“All homebuyers -- except the ultra-rich -- face tough tradeoffs. They’ve got to compromise more than they’d like because property prices have outstripped their income gains,” he says.

Would you rather have a two-car garage or a fourth bedroom? Would you opt for a smaller house on a bigger lot or vice versa? These are questions no real estate agent can answer for you.

Of course, you may ultimately purchase something quite different than what you had in mind during your initial soul-searching session. But you’re less likely to make a huge mistake if you’ve thought through your goals from the outset.

-- Disclose your authentic reactions to the homes you visit.

“Unfortunately, some buyers are so fearful of offending their agents that they suppress their true reactions to property they’re shown,” Tyson says.

But to avoid taking you further off track, your agent needs to hear your negative reactions to properties you don’t like.

Do you feel cramped in a home with eight-foot ceilings? Does a townhouse development with a communal parking lot seem unpleasant to you? Then share these responses with your agent.

“Yes, agents can surmise some of your reactions by noticing your body language. But don’t expect them to read your mind,” Tyson says.

-- Allow a trusted agent some latitude to pre-screen properties for you.

Although you want your agent to be guided by your preferences, it’s also wise to allow the agent some leeway to occasionally add in a wild card. This is a home that your agent thinks you might like, even though it doesn’t meet all your search criteria.

Agents who are in sync with their clients’ reactions can sometimes guess when they’ll like a particular property -- even one that doesn’t sound right on paper.

“I’m not surprised anymore when people buy a place that bears little resemblance to what they first said they wanted. They didn’t lie. They just changed their minds,” Courtney says.

(To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)