Before retiring, many people look forward to blissful years without work demands. But a huge job awaits retirees who wish to downsize and must declutter to sell their property.

Take the true story of a doctor who’d worked in an executive post at a large medical center. He and his wife, a structural engineer, both left their jobs at age 70, excited at the idea of foreign travel. But first they decided to sell their family home, a seven-bedroom Tudor.

That decision came two years ago, and the couple’s passports are still gathering dust. Why? Because they’re bogged down by the process of decluttering, and hence their house has yet to go on the market.

Mark Nash, a longtime real estate analyst and broker, doesn’t know this retired couple. But he’s assisted many retirees with large homes who must confront the challenging purging task before they can move.

Many older sellers “spend too much time on a process they could expedite,” says Nash, the author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home.”

Such people need a game plan, says Kristin Bertilson, the owner of “Queen B Organizing.” She’s helped dozens of sellers sift through their accumulations quickly.

To reduce the size of the task at hand, Bertilson suggests that her clients apply objective standards. For example, they might decide to keep all the pieces with their kids’ handprints but toss out craft projects that are falling apart or hard to store.

She also helps clients downsize by encouraging them to confront the true costs of shipping their belongings to the new location -- a sobering realization.

“When people get an estimate of $1,200 to move furniture, they find it easier to let go of all the excess pieces,” Bertilson says.

Nash urges home sellers to undertake the stuff-purging process as soon as they know they’ll be moving. That’s because a decluttered home is much more appealing to buyers.

Here are a few pointers for retired sellers:

-- Get a preliminary handle on your overall clutter situation.

Some downsizers try to grapple with the decluttering process without a plan. But those who do a preliminary inventory of their problem are more efficient, says Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors.

“Sellers who have a room-by-room picture of all their possessions can make faster decisions about how to streamline it all,” she says.

Your listing agent can assist in deciding which items should be removed to make your home show-worthy. These will likely include some bulky furnishings, like recliners.

“A house filled with furniture can look a lot smaller than it truly is,” Helfant says.

-- Formulate a plan of action.

Nash says those who are most efficient at decluttering follow a step-by-step action plan.

To begin, he recommends you plot the space in your new property before deciding on the volume of items you can take with you, assuming, of course, that you've already bought your new home.

A few years back, Nash left a 3,200-square-foot bungalow for a 760-square-foot condo, requiring him to drastically reduce his total belongings. To gain a more precise estimate, he bought graph paper and plotted the layout and storage space.

“The drawing allowed me to plan a place for everything I expected to take with me, down to my bike and favorite clothes. That made it clear which things would be impossible to keep in my new condo,” he says.

-- Sort your accumulations systematically.

During their years in a property, many homeowners unwittingly acquire a large array of similar items. Early in the purging process, Nash suggests that sellers sort like items to determine which they have in excess.

“I’m talking about all that stuff you went to the store to buy because you didn’t know you already owned it. After you see all the rampant duplication, it’s easier to cut out extras,” he says.

Once you have the like items in each room categorized, use what Nash calls the “three-box system” to cull through them efficiently. One box should be labeled “keep,” a second “give away or sell,” and a third, “I don’t know.”

To hasten the process, immediately make arrangements to have your “give away or sell” items carted off. This allows you to create more space to sort through possessions from the “I don’t know” box that will require more consideration.

“Decision making is what slows people down. But you’ll make decisions a lot faster if you have fewer items to look at,” Nash says.

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

Just last month, a meteorologist of 32 was excited by his promotion to a better-paying position with the National Weather Service. At long last, he figured he could afford to buy a modest single-family house in a middle-income suburb near his office.

But so far, his housing search has proved fruitless. Though his earnings have risen, so have home prices in his favorite suburb.

This true story doesn’t come as a surprise to Danielle Hale, managing director for research at the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org). As she notes about the affordability problem now facing countless buyers: “Price growth is outpacing income growth.”

But Hale expects wannabe buyers like the meteorologist to continue scouring the market despite the ongoing shortage of inventory.

“Buyers are very resilient,” she says.

What keeps so many would-be buyers in markets still largely dominated by sellers? Tom Early, a long-time real estate broker, says some are motivated by fear that mortgage rates, which continue to hover near historic lows, could rise due to economic changes.

Still, some prospective homeowners are willing to wait on the sidelines in hopes they could gain more leverage in the next few years. Their hopes are bolstered by predictions from such housing analysts as Svenja Gudell.

“As the number of homes for sale increases and home appreciation slows, we expect the market to meaningfully swing in favor of buyers within the next two to three years,” says Gudell, chief economist for Zillow, which tracks housing markets throughout the country.

But, as Early says, “Most people don’t want to put their lives on hold with the expectation that they might could get a better price if they wait.”

Here are a few pointers for those pondering a first-home purchase:

-- Search for eager sellers.

The loss of a job is one common reason homeowners must sell; divorce is another. Also, an increasing number of baby boomers -- now in their 50s to 70s -- would like to sell and downsize as they head into retirement.

As a potential first-time buyer, you might feel awkward seeking out owners who are under pressure to sell. But there’s nothing unethical about doing this, Early says.

“Owners whose houses have long been languishing on the market, usually due to overpricing, might be extremely ready to negotiate,” he says.

How can you identify those who are highly motivated to sell? Early suggests you ask your real estate agent to draw up a list of properties in your favored area that have been on the market for an extended period. Also, he recommends you go to the neighborhood where you’d like to buy and talk informally to residents.

“Tell the local residents how much you appreciate their neighborhood and they’ll be more likely to open up with you as to which houses could soon hit the Multiple Listing Service,” Early says.

-- Spend time researching any neighborhood you’re considering.

One way to help you search for motivated sellers is to crunch numbers. Ask your real estate agent to determine the average “days on market,” (from list to sale), for properties in the area you’ve chosen. Then look for homes in that price range that have been sitting unsold for a longer-than-average period.

Before crafting an offer on the home of your choice, Early suggests you also examine another set of numbers: the average list-to-sale price differential. If you note that most properties have recently fetched 90 percent of their list price, you might consider a first bid 10 percent lower than asking, assuming your research shows this is warranted, he says.

-- Avoid harsh critiques of a property you’re considering.

Suppose you’re seriously considering a house that would easily accommodate you. However, you’ve noticed a few minor shortcomings in the floor plan, such as an inconveniently located laundry room and the absence of a powder room for guests on the first floor.

In an attempt to strengthen your bargaining position, should you write a letter highlighting these drawbacks and also pointing out the owners’ poor taste in choosing to paint their kitchen dark blue? Absolutely not, Davis says.

“It’s almost universally true that homeowners have pride in their properties and are hurt by a strong critique,” Davis says.

Of course, you and your home inspector should be forthright in itemizing repairs that need to be taken to bring the property up to standard, such as roof repairs or the replacement of a nonfunctional water heater. But the inspector should do so in a courteous manner that doesn’t insult the owners.

“It’s always better to be assertive without being obnoxious,” Davis says.

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

The latest home sale statistics tell a tale of woe for those trying to break into the housing market for the first time. Prices continue to climb in popular areas, particularly for starter homes, yet available properties remain in very short supply.

“Demand is easily outstripping supply in most of the country, and it’s stymieing many prospective buyers from finding a home to purchase,” says Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org).

Properties at the lower end of the price range are so hard to find, Yun says, “that when one is listed for sale, interest is immediate and multiple offers are nudging the eventual sales prices higher.”

Given the current market dynamics, what’s a buyer to do?

Sid Davis, a longtime real estate broker and author of “A Survival Guide for Buying a Home,” recommends that cost-conscious buyers consider what he calls “stigmatized properties.”

You might be repulsed at the idea of purchasing a place where a murder or suicide happened -- though Davis says he’s worked with some clients who were perfectly comfortable buying such a property. But what about a vacant house that’s developed a bad reputation simply because it’s been sitting unsold for a lengthy period?

“You probably won’t have to scramble with rivals the way you would for a well-staged home that’s not vacant,” Davis says.

Still, he cautions that buyers considering ownership of a long-vacant house should seriously investigate why it’s been sitting unsold.

“Your risk, though small, is that there could be something gravely wrong with that house, like a badly leaking roof or a big radon problem,” Davis says.

Yet in the overwhelming majority of cases, he says the most common reason a property sits unsold for a lengthy period is that it was significantly overpriced when it first hit the market and its owners have been slow to face reality with price cuts.

A property that’s become stigmatized due to overpricing could present purchasers with an opportunity to negotiate a decent deal, even in an area where homes are in short supply. This is especially likely if the place has gone vacant because the owners already had to move.

“Often, a vacant house is a money drain for the sellers. After they’ve moved, most people become tremendously motivated,” Davis says.

Here are a few pointers for buyers pondering the purchase of a vacant home:

-- Search for information on the home’s former occupants.

It’s tough to gain details on a house that’s been vacant for months if its owners have already moved away.

To learn the unvarnished truth about a vacant property, your best sources are often neighbors, says Dorcas Helfant, the broker-owner of several realty firms.

“Neighbors often have an irresistible urge to tell everything they know about a vacant house on their block --even if it’s against their personal interest to do so,” says Helfant, a former National Association of Realtors’ president.

-- Consider doing a “pre-inspection” of a vacant place.

Perhaps the property you like has gone unsold for so long that you’re nervous about hidden defects. In such cases, Merrill Ottwein, a veteran broker who specializes in finding property for those in the military, suggests you have a pre-inspection.

He tells the true story of one of his clients, an Air Force colonel who wanted to learn more about a handsome rambler that had gone vacant nine months before he spotted it. The house was listed at $50,000 below other comparable homes in the same neighborhood and he wanted to know why.

At Ottwein’s recommendation, the colonel spent $200 for a brief home inspection. This revealed that the house had a serious crack in its foundation. As a result, he walked away from the property and bought a two-story place in the same neighborhood that proved a better choice, even though it was marked $30,000 higher.

Why is it sometimes wise to hire a home inspector to check a property before (rather than after) you’ve submitted your bid?

“If you decide to go through with the purchase, a pre-inspection will let you bid based on findings from the inspection. Otherwise, you can back out without complications,” Ottwein says.

-- Review local sales data before making a final offer on a vacant home.

“Don’t put in a bid until you and your agent take a good look at the recent sales history of the area. It’s always smart to be vigilant to avoid overpaying,” Helfant says.

To get a handle on values, you and your agent should examine at least three similar properties that have sold in the immediate area in the past three to six months, adjusting for differences, such as a larger kitchen or a second fireplace.

But Helfant cautions against seeking out-of-proportion discounts to make up for minor shortcomings in a vacant house.

“So long as sellers are in the driver's seat, you don’t want to get picky about little issues like a spot on the carpet or a bathroom painted a color you find objectionable. These days, buyers who let their emotions get the best of them can easily become losers,” she says.

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