In an average real estate market, people who must sell in a hurry due to a personal crisis may be compelled to accept a sacrificial price to unload quickly. But that’s not the case this year, at least not for those planning to sell an entry-level home.

A severe shortage of available properties in the starter home segment has created nearly ideal conditions for sellers in most areas, says Elizabeth Mendenhall, president of the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org).

“First-time buyers continue to make up an underperforming share of the market because there are simply not enough homes for sale in their price range,” says Mendenhall, the CEO of a Missouri realty firm.

Although current demand for homes is at an extremely high level, those who must sell in a hurry should still delay as long as possible to minimize stress, says Marcia Naomi Berger, a psychotherapist and author based in California.

“Moving is traumatic for everybody, so give yourself the maximum time possible,” says Berger, an expert in marriage and family issues.

Here are a few pointers for sellers in a hurry:

-- Locate an experienced listing agent to represent you.

“People often feel their lives are out of control when going through a personal crisis ... At times like that, a very competent and compassionate real estate agent can help enormously,” says Ashley Richardson, a seasoned agent.

She recommends you find someone with substantial experience selling properties in your immediate area.

“What you’re also looking for is an agent with a track record for recommending list prices that are neither too high nor too modest for current market conditions,” Richardson says.

Calling the managing broker of a local real estate office is one way to identify a sharp agent, though be sure to indicate you’re looking for one with substantial experience selling your type of housing in your price bracket.

“Asking a broker could be a good starting point. You might also wish to call references. But remember that agents won’t give you the names of people who didn’t like working with them,” Richardson says.

-- Review recent sales in your area prior to pricing your home.

Prior to accepting any pricing recommendation from an agent, all sellers, no matter how hurried, should do at least a nominal amount of research.

“What you should do is ask your agent to give you a list of nearby properties that have sold within the last year within your ZIP code -- along with the final amount they brought at closing. Then drive by these homes, noting how they compare with your own. This process should take no more than one hour,” Richardson says.

If your drive-by tour raises questions in your mind about the price suggested by your listing agent, request a justification.

“Final selling decisions, such as pricing, should always be reserved for the owners,” says Richardson, who’s affiliated with the Residential Real Estate Council (crs.com).

-- Attempt to compress the timetable to prep your home for sale.

Typical homeowners spend more than a month or two preparing their property for market. They clean, cull through belongings, prune their greenery and paint wherever needed.

But if you’re selling your home during a crisis phase of your life, chances are you have no more than a couple of weeks to get the home in showing condition.

“What’s important is to have a selling plan that’s compressed yet still covers all the basics,” Richardson says.

One obvious way to cut back on your home prep time is to hire contractors for work you might normally do yourself.

“Not everyone is willing to pay others to do work they could do themselves, particularly if they’re going through a financial crunch. But if time is short and skilled people are readily available in your area, chances are the work will go much faster if you hire help,” Richardson says.

Moreover, as she points out, home sellers with properties that are sparkling clean and freshly painted typically recoup more at closing than they invested in paid services.

“What’s important to know is that time is money if you must move promptly and can’t afford your house sitting on the market,” says.

-- Create 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 avert panic in this situation, Richardson suggests anyone attempting to sell in the midst of a life-changing situation should develop a “Plan B” for coping if the process takes longer than expected.

Maybe you’ll arrange for a trusted relative to take over responsibility for your home sale. Or perhaps you’ll want to buy time by putting your property up for rent for six months.

Arranging for a contingency plan helps keep you focused on the positives in your situation.

“No matter the strength of the market, having a default plan can help calm your nerves and let you sleep at night,” Richardson says.

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

Normally, house hunters view spring as an auspicious time to make a purchase. But this year, they’re less sunny than usual, due to rising home prices and higher mortgage rates. What’s more, there’s now a disconnect between the outlook of buyers and sellers.

While 76 percent of homeowners think now is a good time to buy, just 55 percent of renters concur, says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org). He says house hunters are “dispirited by the stiff competition for the short number of listings they can afford.”

Sellers can brighten their own odds of a successful sale by pricing accurately and presenting their property in an appealing way -- especially by clearing out excessive furniture and other possessions.

“There’s a strong visual component to a clutter-free home,” says Tisha Morris, a life coach who helps owners better stage their properties.

Through her work, Morris relies on the principles of “feng shui,” the ancient Chinese belief that how you build your house and arrange your possessions affects your health and happiness. Among other principles, it calls for simplicity in living.

But Morris, author of “Clutter Intervention: How Your Stuff Is Keeping You Stuck,” says it can be tough for sellers to sift through years of accumulations in advance of a sale, especially if they have a great deal of memorabilia.

Though there’s no simple solution to the clutter problem facing many sellers, Morris advises clients to begin by sorting through the items that have the weakest emotional ties. For instance, you might clear through kitchen utensils prior to tackling your children’s storybooks.

But before moving, there’s usually no reason to rid yourself of all your most valued possessions.

“Don’t think you have to become a fire-and-brimstone de-clutterer. If necessary, rent a temporary storage unit to keep your collectibles while your house is on the market,” Morris says.

Here are a few other pointers for sellers:

-- First, get a sense of the big picture.

Homeowners who do a thorough inventory of their clutter problem before attempting to solve it tend to be more efficient, says Mark Nash, a real estate analyst and author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home.”

“First get your arms around the issue,” he says.

He suggests you ask your listing agent to come over to offer guidance on the belongings that should be banished before your house is shown to visitors.

Prior to downsizing a few years ago, Nash did such an inventory. Among his surplus items: flower vases; gift boxes; back copies of Architectural Digest; old bed linens; a lifetime supply of coffee filters; shoes purchased on impulse; half-used gallons of paint; and surplus telephones. His kitchen was also crammed with extra things -- from odd coffee mugs to flan cups he hasn’t used since the 1980s.

-- Use an illustration of your new space.

As another beginning step, Nash recommends you plot the space in your new property before deciding on the volume of items you can move. This assumes, of course, that you’ve already selected your next habitat.

It’s not only downsizers who can benefit from an illustration showing their new space, Nash says. Anyone planning a move should become more focused once they know what will and won’t fit in their next home.

-- Sort systematically.

When preparing for a move, Nash advocates that you sort like items together.

“Collect all those pesky things you continue to buy because you can’t find the first, second or third one you bought or because at the store you can’t remember if you have any. After you discover the rampant duplication, it’s easy to edit,” he says.

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

To increase your momentum, immediately make arrangements to have your “give away or sell” items carted off. This allows you more room to cull through the possessions from the “I don’t know” box that will require more scrutiny.

“It’s the decision-making element of decluttering that gets people paralyzed. But making decisions is easier if you have fewer things to look at,” Nash says.

-- Free yourself of old clothes and technology.

When picking through piles of clothing, one rule of thumb is “If you haven’t worn it in a year, get rid of it,” says Nash, who also urges sellers to liberate themselves of many old gadgets.

“Obsolete technology is worth even less than people imagine. You probably can’t sell that old computer or printer. The sooner you donate or recycle them, the better off you’ll be. ‘Out of sight and out of mind’ is a great mantra when you’re moving,” he says.

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

America is suffering a severe shortage of quality homes for first-time buyers. So, when an experienced real estate broker put her modest Cape Cod up for sale, she was surprised it languished unsold for two months without a single bite.

To address the problem, the broker, Julie Tuggle, swung into action. She replaced worn carpet with dark hickory flooring throughout the house. Also, she upgraded the kitchen with new appliances and granite countertops.

All told, Tuggle spent $6,000 on improvements before raising the list price for the property by $10,000. Despite the price increase, once back on the market the place sold immediately.

“It was amazing. I had people fighting over the house,” she says.

A broker since 1985, Tuggle knows which improvements can hasten the sale of a property and which offer a poor return on investment. For sellers, she says the best bets are cosmetic improvements that can transform the look of a home for a relatively small sum. These include fresh paint, new flooring and kitchen upgrades.

What’s important for sellers, she says, is to distinguish between presale improvements that are worth the cost and those that are overkill and a waste of money.

“To get a house sold, I wouldn’t go beyond neighborhood standards. In most cases, that means it wouldn’t be advisable to replace windows, build on an addition or add a swimming pool,” Tuggle says.

Mark Nash, a real estate analyst and author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home,” urges sellers to make sure they spend the money for necessary repairs to a property, even if they’re in a strong seller’s market.

Here are a few additional pointers for sellers:

-- Ask three real estate pros for guidance.

Nash says that before they commit to any remodeling projects, it’s wise for sellers to discuss the work they’re considering with real estate people who know their area.

He recommends you contact three local agents for advice on which home improvement projects are truly worth the expense. Most well-established agents will visit your house and advise you. even if you don’t intend to sell for another three to five years.

“Good agents are in their field for the long term. They’re not just looking for a quick sale,” Nash says.

As an added benefit, he notes that many agents maintain a database of reliable contractors.

-- Determine neighborhood norms for your area.

Tom Early, a longtime real estate broker and past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org), says current buyers won’t pick up the tab for any renovation work that raises a property above neighborhood standards.

“These days everyone, including those buying in hot neighborhoods, are savvy shoppers who know what homes in your area are going for. You can’t fool them into paying a premium for an over-improved home,” Early says.

What sort of upgrades constitute “over-improvement”? For example, you wouldn’t want to install high-end, designer light fixtures in a neighborhood of starter homes. By the same token, you wouldn’t want to construct a three-car garage in a neighborhood where most houses have no garage at all.

-- Cancel projects that prove too expensive.

If you think your contractors are going over the top, Nash says it’s better to stop projects before they’re finished than to overspend on work that will cost much more than expected.

“For example, most buyers don’t care if they get super appliances in the kitchen or laundry room. It’s the basic house and floor plan they’re looking for and not high-end elements in every room,” Nash says.

As he points out, real estate agents often recommend the use of less expensive products than are suggested by contractors. For example, you don’t need to spend your money on top-of-the-line carpeting when a mid-level grade will do just as well. Or you might wish to opt for generic hardware in your kitchen and bathrooms.

“It’s true that bailing out of work with a contractor can cost you a penalty. But doing so might still be the wise course if a project has become too ambitious,” Nash says.

-- Slow the renovation process to avoid costly mistakes.

As Nash notes, many home sellers realize too late that a thoughtlessly executed remodeling program can hit their wallet hard. That’s why he recommends you write on an index card the basic elements of a well-thought-out plan. Then have that index card handy as a reference guide when contractors come over to do estimates.

“Sure, you want to sell your house quickly and for the maximum amount of money. But haste can mean wasted dollars. It’s far better to proceed thoughtfully than to rush headlong into changes that could push you over your budget,” Nash says.

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