Due to acute financial problems, an engineer and his wife called a real estate broker, Mark Minchew, about the pressing need to sell their house and use the proceeds to pay bills.

Minchew gave the couple a checklist of tasks to complete before their place could be ready for show time. But it took more than seven months for them to finish all the necessary repairs and cleaning chores -- putting them in a serious time bind at the end.

Minchew entered the real estate field in 1977 and since then has closed more than 1,700 home sales. With each year that passes, he says he encounters more homeowners who have trouble grappling with the process of prepping their homes for sale.

"Sometimes I have to guilt sellers into hiring help," says Minchew, who's affiliated with the Council of Residential Specialists (crs.com).

Of course, many busy sellers can't afford to delegate their tasks to stand-ins. That's why Lee Silber, a time management expert and the author of multiple books on the topic, suggests swapping services.

"There are people who love to de-clutter, organize, decorate and clean a house. Maybe you could cook or babysit for them in exchange for their help getting you ready to sell," Silber says.

Whether you're in the "must sell" or "want to sell" category, there are many ways to make the pre-sale process less onerous.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Get real about your time constraints by setting priorities.

"Nowadays, more people and their children are busy in a scheduled, programmed way," says Rita Emmett, a time management specialist and author of "The Procrastinator's Handbook."

Emmett suggests you make a list of discretionary activities that could be cut from your schedule, if only temporarily.

Beyond TV viewing -- which can digest a sizeable amount of time for most people -- there's time-consuming social media, including Facebook.

Surprisingly, many people can free time by cooking simple meals at home rather than eating out, says Emmett, noting that the drive back and forth to a restaurant takes more minutes than most people estimate. Plus there's the time you spend waiting to be served, even at fast food places.

"In terms of time, it's a wash to eat out rather than do basic food preparation at home. And restaurant meals suck up lots of money you could use to make your house look better, which could bring you better offers," she says.

-- Write down your strategic plan.

Silber, author of "Time Management For the Creative Person," says too few people embark on major projects with a written plan.

Many home sellers mistakenly believe they can proceed as efficiently with a mental plan as with a written one, according to Silber.

"In fact, what you have in your head is clutter unless you put it down on paper or into a computer document you can print out," he says.

Are you unsure which tasks need to be done to get your home ready for market? If so, Silber suggests you ask your agent for a step-by-step list. Then go down the checklist, circling steps with the highest impact.

For example, replacing a stained living room carpet could make a significant difference in the salability of your place. But fixing the stains on your concrete walkways may not.

-- Keep your "To-Do List" in a prominent place.

Not only do home sellers need a comprehensive list of tasks to prep their properties for market, Emmett says they should keep that list in full view.

"Type it in a large font and put it where you can study it when you're put on hold. Drawing from this list, work in one-hour increments. Each day, try to do at least three small tasks, such as going to the store for the cardboard boxes you'll use to de-clutter your home. And don't forget to give yourself a small treat when you finish each task," she says.

-- Incorporate fun into your home preparation process.

You'll gain more momentum in your quest to ready your home for market if you can make an otherwise boring project more interesting, Silber says.

For instance, he suggests you consider what he calls "the fishbowl game." Take a copy of your to-do list and cut the paper into pieces, one task per piece. Then, when you have a block of time to move forward, place all the pieces in a bowl and pick out one at random to start your day. After that task is done, reach into the bowl for the next one.

Another of Silber's ideas is to stage a "pre-sale party." Just as you're launching into home prep, send out invitations to friends for a fest scheduled to happen right before your home is listed.

"Knowing your friends will be over to see your place when it's done should help keep you on track to the finish line," he says.

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

Although divorce rates are down all over America, many children still live in a blended household with a step-parent, stepsibling or half-sibling. Indeed, the Pew Research Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, estimates that 16 percent of all children live in such households.

After a remarriage involving kids, a typical pattern is that everyone in the blended family moves into a property already owned by one of the parents. That commonly means all the kids will live together, at least part of the time. But real estate specialists say such an arrangement is often problematic, especially if the kids have to share bedrooms.

"This can cause a lot of tension," says Ashley Richardson, a long-time real estate agent affiliated with the Council of Residential Specialists (crs.com).

Through the years, Richardson says she's noticed a pattern among blended families who attempt to live together in too small a house.

"Once the kids start to grow up -- say by the time they reach 8 or 9 -- I'll get a call saying they need to buy a new house where every kid has their own bedroom," she says.

Michael Knight, a certified financial planner with the Garrett Planning Network (garrettplanningnetwork.com), says it's important for the parents in a blended family to debate the pros and cons of various housing scenarios.

Here are pointers for blended families:

-- Share your goals and priorities.

People who marry for the second time typically have years of independent living behind them, often as the head of a single-parent family. They've been free to make their own decisions without discussion. This makes it all the more vital that when facing a major housing choice, they talk it over.

"They need to take a clean piece of paper and list their own individual requirements, putting these in priority order. Then they should interview each other and ask why each item is important," Knight says.

If such a dialogue fails to yield answers, the couple might consider consulting a financial adviser for a few hours, he says. The adviser can serve as a catalyst, helping direct the conversation in a way that could yield workable answers.

"There's a benefit to third party objectivity," Knight says.

-- Rethink your preferences on location.

The parents in a blended family could opt for a neighborhood new to all involved. That could translate to new schools for all the kids, a potentially thorny issue.

One way to approach the topic of where to live, says Dorcas Helfant, a real estate broker and past president of the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org), is to visualize what your family would enjoy doing in your free time, whether that's raising puppies, planting a big garden or attending lots of movies.

By listing your favorite activities, you'll get a feel for the sort of location that would best suit you and others in your blended household.

-- Factor in your financial future along with your present needs.

It's no secret that many adults are short on retirement savings. By the same token, it's hardly a surprise that financial planners such as Knight would caution against maxing out on a mortgage until you've put away enough to fund your retirement.

How do you know if you and your partner are amassing enough money to someday retire comfortably? Answering this question requires thorough analysis, Knight says. You'll need to estimate your expected life span, the years you plan to spend in retirement and how much you'll need each year. For example, a couple who intends to travel abroad will likely need more money than one whose hobbies stick closer to home.

"Your core spending rate per year is driven by your lifestyle. Without doing the numbers, it's hard to know if you'll need $4,000 a month or $10,000," he says.

To help get a handle on your financial needs in retirement, you can use the free retirement planning calculators now widely available on the internet.

-- Consider buying a new place for your blended household.

Many children in blended families feel awkward moving into a space their stepbrothers and stepsisters have long called home. For similar reasons, a newly remarrying parent could be unhappy sharing space in a home once inhabited by a former spouse.

For many remarrying adults launching into a new relationship, the idea of moving into a place where no one in their blended family has lived before has tremendous appeal, Richardson says.

"Even if you can't afford a space that's bigger, you could still feel a lot more comfortable in a third property where you can start your family life anew," she says.

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

Since 1986, real estate broker John Rygiol has focused his business solely on homebuyers, never taking a single listing for sellers. That's given him a unique perspective on how first impressions can sway purchasers in a powerful way.

"A lot of people are overwhelmed by the lipstick on the pig," Rygiol says.

Rationally, buyers know that fresh flowers and stunning furnishings don't come with a house deal. Yet when presented as part of a well-staged home, he says such superficial elements can cause buyers to become so enamored of a place that they'll fail to consider its potentially serious flaws.

The observations of experienced buyers' brokers can help inform people intent on selling a home. No reputable real estate pro will suggest you try to sell without repairing, or at least disclosing, your home's defects. But neither should you ignore the cosmetic look of your place when seeking to sell to obtain the best possible price and outcome.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Pay extra attention to your front door.

Merrill Ottwein, another broker who works solely with buyers, says the entrance to a property can either make or break a home sale.

Often, the owners of homes that are well kept on the interior are scarcely aware that their front doors look dingy, he says, because they habitually enter through a garage or back door. But those considering the purchase of your home will undoubtedly enter through the front.

"It's really cost-effective to improve the appearance of your front door. And it's usually an inexpensive fix," says Ottwein, a former president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents.

A thorough cleaning and removal of cobwebs in and around the front door is virtually free, but for the cost of a few cleaning supplies. And a door that merely suffers from peeling paint can usually be redone for no more than $100.

-- Make sure you address malfunctioning door locks.

"It's ridiculous to force prospective buyers and their agent to have to struggle to enter your place for a showing," Rygiol says. "When your locks don't work, that conveys poor upkeep and causes buyers to fear that serious problems are hidden within the house."

Replacing broken or hard-to-open locks is usually inexpensive for sellers and worth every dime of the cost. And while they're at it, Rygiol recommends sellers also remove redundant locks.

Meanwhile, double-check that your doorbell is working perfectly.

"Like a malfunctioning lock, an out-of-repair doorbell is a huge no-no for sellers," Rygiol says.

-- Focus on fine-looking landscaping for your property.

For those wishing to make a powerful impression on potential buyers, good landscaping is a must.

One common error committed by homeowners is to let their bushes and other plants grow too tall and too close to the front walls of their property.

"This obscures the view of the house from the street. The place looks cramped, as if the greenery has been shoehorned in," Ottwein says.

Creating the right landscaping for your property doesn't require an expensive designer. But it may require the removal of trees that are positioned anywhere in the front yard so as to hide the home.

-- Replace bad odors with nice aromas.

As a former veterinarian, Ottwein has a soft spot for both dogs and cats. Yet he observes that pet odors can easily drive away buyers.

Homeowners with animals should get to the root of the problem of any pet odors via a thorough cleaning rather than trying to hide them with air fresheners.

"A lot of people try to use spray fresheners to cover over animal smells, cigarette smoke, or other bad odors. But air fresheners can be overwhelming and create a very negative impression, like a woman wearing too much perfume," Ottwein says.

-- Enhance your residence with flowers.

There's a good reason why flowers are the primary decor items used at weddings and other classy events. That's because flowers create a qualitative difference that no other design element can match, not even the most remarkable furnishings or works of art, Rygiol says.

Potted flowers add welcoming appeal when placed alongside the front door of a home. And bouquets of cut flowers can make an otherwise unremarkable home interior look extraordinary.

It can be pricey to keep your vases filled with fresh flowers throughout the period when your property is being shown for sale. But as Rygiol says, this can help create so positive an impression that many home sellers consider flowers their secret weapon.

"People can absolutely tell the difference between fresh-cut flowers and fakes. Given human nature, most buyers will touch flowers to confirm their impression. If the flowers are real, that speaks volumes about the desirability of the house they're visiting," he says.

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