A couple in their late 30s knew they were headed for divorce. But not long after the husband moved out, he shocked his ex by announcing he'd hired a real estate agent to sell their colonial house and that she'd have to prep the place for showings within a week.

"This created one of the most stressful situations in her life," says Abigail Wurf, the life coach who helped the woman navigate the crisis.

In this case, the move was all the more challenging because the couple's large, expensive home was packed with excess belongings that the homemaker and her two young children had stockpiled. The decluttering process alone which wound up taking a month.

"It took a lot of friends, a big Dumpster and a rented storage unit to clear out that place," Wurf says.

A life coach since 2009, Wurf specializes in helping clients, including those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to work their way through crisis situations. But she says many of the same tips that help her ADHD clients handle a sudden move are generally applicable.

"Setting priorities and writing down all the steps, so you don't forget the details, helps everyone who has to move," says Wurf, the author of "Forget Perfect: How to Succeed in Your Profession and Personal Life Even in You Have ADHD."

Here a few other pointers for hurry-up home sellers:

-- Locate an assertive listing agent to represent you.

Wurf recommends you search for an agent with extensive experience selling properties in your particular community. Another key is to rely heavily on referrals from family members and friends who've sold in the same area.

Don't know anyone from whom to seek referrals? Another approach is to call the managing broker of a major real estate office in your area. Ask the broker to refer you to a veteran agent with a substantial track record selling homes similar to yours in your price bracket.

-- Survey the competition before pricing your property.

Before your home is listed and available to the public, your agent will undoubtedly suggest an asking price. But Eric Tyson, a personal finance expert and co-author of "House Selling For Dummies" says that prior to accepting any pricing recommendation, all sellers should do at least a nominal amount of research.

"Ask your agent for a list of properties near your home that have sold recently. Then get in your car and drive by these homes, noticing how they compare with your own," Tyson says.

If your drive-by tour raises questions in your mind about your agent's recommended listing price for your house, request a justification for it.

"At the end of the day, it's the owners, not the agent, who have the final say on pricing," Tyson says.

-- Ponder the idea of pricing a tad below rival properties.

Surprisingly, sellers in a desirable area can often receive more for their property if they price it just slightly below its apparent market value.

"Pricing a little lower than the competition can generate excitement. More people are likely to bid if they perceive the property to be a good value. And this can create an auction effect that could help you at the bottom line," Tyson says.

-- Seek to delegate much of the work of preparing your home for sale.

If you're selling during a crisis time of your life, chances are you'll have no more than a few weeks to get the home in showing condition.

One obvious way to cut back on your home preparation time is to hire contractors for work you might normally do yourself. Tyson says that sellers working against a tight deadline can get a lot more accomplished in a shorter time if they delegate.

"If you're short on money, it's understandable you'd resist paying people to do work you could do yourself, like painting and cleaning carpets. But if you're in a rush and your place must be sold quickly, it still makes a lot of financial sense," Tyson says.

-- Develop a contingency plan for your property's sale.

Sometimes even a home that's in good condition and correctly priced will fail to sell quickly for reasons hard to determine.

To avoid panic in this situation, Tyson recommends that people who must sell in a hurry due to a personal crisis develop a "Plan B" if they must move before their place is sold.

Perhaps you'll arrange for a trusted sibling to take responsibility for your home sale. Or maybe you'll want to "buy time" by renting out the house for six months or so.

Tyson says that developing a backup plan can help you avoid worst-case scenarios and let you focus more attention on the crisis you're facing.

"You've got to look at the big picture. What matters is not only your financial well-being, but also your emotional health," he says.

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

A car salesman and his homemaker wife had long aspired to ownership of their first home near the Catholic school their daughter attends. After a short search, they were thrilled to find a freshly renovated ranch-style house that met their needs, and quickly obtained mortgage approval.

But just days before closing, the transaction came to an abrupt end, recalls Sid Davis, the real estate broker who represented the couple.

"As far as we knew, everything was going smoothly with the car salesman and his wife up until the very last minute, when they breached the sale and lost their deposit," he says.

The lesson is that when it comes to real estate, there are never any guarantees. Even sellers who follow all their listing agent's suggestions to the letter can run into problems, says Joan McLellan Tayler, the author of several real estate books and a former realty company owner.

Still, real estate specialists say there are several strategies that can help homeowners increase their odds of a successful sale. Here are a few pointers:

-- Pick a veteran as your listing agent.

Tayler says too many sellers take a casual approach to selecting an agent.

According to Tayler, sellers should opt for an agent with experience in handling lots of different kinds of deals. Those with a track record, she adds, are most apt to sniff out 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.

-- Educate yourself on the finances of prospective buyers.

In the aftermath of the real estate downturn, regulators have become exceedingly strict in their oversight of mortgage lenders, resulting in far tighter standards for borrowers.

Smart sellers are careful to check the financial standing of would-be purchasers before they accept any bid.

"You don't want your deal to fall apart because the buyers couldn't get a mortgage," Davis says.

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

Also, 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. The higher that number, the more likely it is that borrowers will get the loan they need to close the deal.

Buyers can obtain reports on their credit scores from this website: www.myfico.com.

-- Head off issues that could arise during an inspection of your home.

Nowadays, most purchasers exercise their right to a home inspection. And, as Davis observes, many use the findings of their inspector as leverage to renegotiate the deal.

"If the inspector finds anything seriously wrong, the buyers see that as an opportunity to cut you down on price," he says.

Homeowners should never try to talk buyers out of a home inspection. But smart sellers will consider paying for their own inspection even before the property goes on the market.

"The reality is that no two inspectors are likely to find the same minor problems. But both should discover the really huge issues, like water leaks that are undermining the structural integrity of the house," Davis says.

"You're far better off if you can anticipate the big issues with your property before your buyers find them and feel stunned and betrayed that they didn't know about them before they made their bid," he says.

-- Seek to avoid difficult people when doing a deal.

Not all home sellers can be choosy about the offer they select. But if you're reasonably certain you'll have more than one bid from which to pick, Davis says you could seek to avoid cutting a deal with someone who's made nasty comments about your property.

You may not have any direct dealings with your prospective bidders. But your listing agent or others can observe them when they visit your place. And their behavior can be very telling.

"Remember that you can't judge buyers by their superficial behavior and that the sale of a home is a business transaction. It's in your interest to be objective and not subjective. Even so, if you've received multiple bids with essentially the same terms and want to avoid unpleasant people, that's your right as sellers," he says.

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

As a homeowner facing the need to sell your place in 2016, your trepidation could be palpable. After all, the direction of the economy is uncertain and the future is all the more confusing in the year of a presidential contest.

Even so, this could be an excellent year to sell, says Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org).

But Helfant, the co-owner of several realty offices, cautions that the strength and speed of your sale could be heavily dependent on whether you select a seasoned agent who knows your local market and is a highly responsive communicator.

As it happens, some listing agents who tout the high volume of their sales are less responsive to their clients than they should be, says Michael J. Connerly, the author of "How to Win With Real Estate," who addresses sellers on his website: usahomebuyerguide.com.

"Although most agents are good, some are playing a numbers game. They take lots of listings, but don't give each one the attention it deserves," says Connerly, who sold property for 20 years and limited himself to no more than 10 listings at a time.

Here are a few pointers for sellers on agent selection:

-- Take a close look at the agent's track record.

Perhaps the agent you're planning to hire touts an impressive record of annual sales. Still, this agent might not be the ideal one for you, says Eric Tyson, a personal finance expert and co-author of "House Selling For Dummies."

Tyson urges prospective sellers to obtain an "activity list" from any agent they're considering. This should itemize all sales closed in the prior 12 months and should include the property location, as well as the list and sale prices.

Why is this roster more revealing than information on an agent's aggregate sales volumes? Because, as Tyson says, an activity list tells you if the agent is routinely selling homes of a similar type and with a similar market value as your property.

"Suppose you're selling a small condo in a nondescript location and the agent is making most of his commissions from classy waterfront houses worth at least $1 million. In that case, your transaction could easily get overlooked by the agent," Tyson says.

Conversely, if your property is at the higher end, you should steer clear of agents who deal mostly with starter-level properties.

"Like professionals in any other field, people in real estate develop a specialty and skills to match," Tyson says.

-- Find out about an agent's vacation and travel plans.

Like everybody else, real estate agents enjoy getting away now and then. But it could be unwise to hire an agent who plans a break during the first two to four weeks after your place goes up for sale -- when buyer excitement should be at its peak.

Some agents rely on backups when they're away. But Tyson says this isn't the ideal option for clients, especially if the agent will be gone for more than two to three days.

It's unreasonable to expect listing agents to reveal their travel plans for a full year ahead. But Tyson says you should expect full disclosure about any lengthy absence that would occur within the initial weeks of your listing.

-- Avoid an agent who's unresponsive to you.

From the moment your home goes on the market, you'll need your listing agent to keep you in the loop on your sale.

If your agent stages an open house for real estate professionals in your area -- known as a "broker's open" --you'll want to receive their comments about the price and condition of your property. Likewise, you'll want timely feedback from prospective buyers who tour your place.

Why is feedback vital to a successful sale? Because it permits you to make course corrections quickly, even after your property hits the market. For instance, it would let you drop your asking price by a notch before your home gets branded as "overpriced."

Your listing agent should be the one giving you feedback on a regular basis. To ensure this happens, you need someone who is conscientious about gathering comments about your place and passing them on.

Helfant says one way to help identify a responsive agent is to ask the person's references if they received regular feedback. Also, before signing a listing agreement, make sure it stipulates how often and under what circumstances your agent will call, email or text you with updates.

"For strong agents, good communication is the lifeblood of their work," she says.

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