Rental rates are rising ever higher, especially in popular metro areas where young adults wish to live. That’s tempting more boomers on the verge of retirement to postpone the sale of their home in favor of renting it out.

At CoreLogic, a think tank that tracks housing markets nationwide, principal economist Mary Boesel says rents are ascending most quickly for entry-level properties.

“Low rental supply coupled with ongoing demand is pushing up rents compared with a year ago,” Boesel says.

Mark Nash, a longtime real estate broker and analyst and author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home,” says boomers who are uncertain where they’ll wish to settle after retirement are sometimes well advised to delay liquidating a family home. That way they could try out a new locale with a short-term rental of their own.

Another reason some boomers are postponing a home sale is that the real estate market -- always slower in winter -- looks more uncertain than usual for 2020.

Todd Teta, a senior official at Attom Data Solutions, says that despite low mortgage rates, the pace of home price increases could slow next year due to fears of a possible recession and political uncertainties.

But real estate specialists caution that converting your family home into a rental can bring unpredictable complications. Here are a few pointers:

-- Take into account all the expenses associated with a rental.

Most homeowners want to ensure they would make money on their rental. They want to be certain their rental income will more than cover their monthly mortgage payments, taking into account their property tax and insurance charges.

When assessing the financial impact of converting your place to a rental, even a temporary one, Nash says you should be sure to factor in the expense of home upkeep.

“Remember that if the bathroom plumbing develops problems, you’ll probably need to pay a plumber rather than fixing it yourself as you might have done when you lived in the house,” he says.

As Nash says, you’ll also want to consider the tax implications of a rental. To do so, he recommends you call or visit an accountant for advice.

-- Realize you’ll likely need to empty your place of tenants before you sell.

As real estate agents attest, it can be tough to sell a home while tenants are living there.

“As a rule, tenants don’t care if you sell. They might even become annoyed and block showings. Or they could deliberately leave the house like a pig pen -- with dirty dishes in the sink and unmade beds -- so you won’t be able to sell and they won’t have to move,” Nash says.

To avoid this potential problem, he recommends you plan to have the property vacated of tenants for at least a month before it goes up for sale and while the place is being shown. With the tenants gone, you can ensure that any cosmetic or repair issues are resolved.

“Among other things, you’ll probably want to do some interior painting and get your carpeting thoroughly cleaned,” Nash says.

-- Consider hiring a professional manager to handle your rental.

Perhaps you’ve decided it’s a smart choice to rent out your place for a year or so before selling it. Yet you don’t want all the headaches of dealing with landlord issues on a day-to-day basis.

In such cases, Nash says it’s sensible to consider hiring a professional manager to deal with tenants, sparing you the need for direct contact. You’ll still have to pay the repair bills, of course. But you won’t need to take those late-night calls from irate renters.

“You’re faced with demands you can’t push off onto someone else, unless you have a property manager,” says Nash, who’s long owned rental property.

-- Attempt to damage-proof your place before tenants move in.

When they sell their home, most people cut the emotional cord and move on psychologically. Not so when the owners are merely renting out the property.

“So long as they continue to own a place, most people are still territorial about it,” Nash says.

There are no guarantees your home won’t sustain serious damage while it’s rented. But Nash advises you to take several steps to minimize your risks. Repaint walls covered with flat latex paint with an easy-to-clean semi-gloss finish. Seal your hardwood floors with two or more coats of protective coating. And replace valuable light fixtures with inexpensive ones purchased at a home center store.

“Keep your eye on the ball. With a short-term rental, your goal is not to become a professional landlord. The idea is to keep your options open until the timing and circumstances are right for you to move back in or sell,” Nash says.

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

As a potential first-time homebuyer, Daryl Fairweather had every reason to feel confident. She had a solid job, a Ph.D. in economics from the prestigious University of Chicago, and a mother with a background in real estate to help her navigate through the buying process.

But when it came time to close on her purchase of the small Spanish-style house she’d selected in San Diego, she felt the gravity of her decision.

“Taking out a 30-year mortgage felt like a huge step toward adulthood and a very big decision, like getting married,” says Fairweather, who now serves as chief economist for Redfin (redfin.com), a national real estate company.

Fairweather ultimately made the leap. But her hesitations are shared by many of her generational cohort.

Art Godi, the broker-owner of a realty firm in California, says that unlike Fairweather, a surprising number of longtime renters who are motivated to buy a home remain stuck in their rental units because of fears about moving forward. Here are a few common homebuying fears and how to address them:

-- Fear of embarrassment about your credit history.

“Going to the lender’s office for preapproval can be a big breakthrough. People are often pleasantly surprised by what the lender tells them,” says Godi, a former president of the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org).

Of course, many prospective homeowners have flaws on their credit reports that must be fixed before mortgage approval is possible. Still, as Godi says, mortgage brokers and lenders often prove much more supportive than loan applicants anticipate.

“Call it jaded, but mortgage lenders have seen it all when it comes to credit reports. They aren’t going to be shocked or surprised no matter what your credit history reveals,” he says.

Some would-be mortgage applicants, especially those with modest incomes, worry they’ll feel shame when lenders look at their pay stubs or federal tax returns.

But most mortgage lenders rely on commissions and don’t get paid unless their clients get approved. This gives them a strong incentive to take the time and effort required to help rectify their clients’ problems.

-- Fear of selecting a property without the support of your family.

Many would-be first-time buyers are in their 20s or 30s. On financial matters, they still look to their elders for direction and, not infrequently, for cash subsidies as well.

“I can’t tell you how many times buyers crave the support of wise family members when it comes to buying their first home. It’s a new experience that can feel exciting yet incredibly scary,” says Merrill Ottwein, an Illinois-based real estate broker and past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

There’s nothing inherently wrong with seeking help from relatives. But Ottwein says you should request their involvement early on, not when you’re about to sign the papers to buy a place.

“Your family could be caught off-guard by a late-stage request for guidance. They might be needlessly negative and counsel you against a particular purchase in an attempt to shield you from an error,” Ottwein says.

If you’re afraid to go forward without your relatives’ guidance, but don’t want them to mess up your plans, he suggests you bring them along on all your house-hunting trips. That way they can compare various alternatives and are likely to give you more objective advice.

-- Fear you will suffer from “buyer’s remorse.”

Given the stakes, many prospective first-time buyers become highly risk-averse, worrying they’ll select the wrong home.

“For beginners, there’s a strong tendency to over-research the market; to gather more and more facts before making a commitment,” Godi says. “Psychologically, it’s an easier, safer course to keep searching for additional information than to make a decision.”

But waiting for absolute certainty can have its penalties. Even in a market where buyers have the upper hand, purchasers can forfeit the chance to buy the home of their dreams simply because they obsess too long over the details.

“Through the years, I’ve seen many offers by first-time buyers turned down by sellers because they procrastinated on a decision,” Godi says.

Second- and third-time homebuyers don’t agonize as much over the fine points, he says. “You soon realize there’s no such thing as a perfect house, even if you have it custom-built.”

-- Fear of coming up short on the funds to close a home deal.

Granted, it can be costly to make a housing change at any stage of your life. But many first-time buyers overestimate their need for cash to go through the transition. They fail to take into account the reality that there are a multitude of low- to no-down-payment mortgage programs available to them.

Ottwein says first-time buyers are well advised to explore these options as soon as they decide to make a purchase, rather than waiting until their savings accounts are brimming with funds.

“Before you head into a huge savings campaign, call an experienced mortgage lender. It’s possible that you may not need as large a down payment as you imagine,” he says.

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

In the years before the housing market tanked around 2008, homebuyers were far less risk-averse than they are now. Nowadays, many buyers, especially young adults, are undershooting their affordability range.

Take the case of a couple in their mid-30s who recently purchased a trade-up property in suburban Maryland. In doing so, they spent less than half what their mortgage lender said they could afford.

“They were shocked at how big a mortgage the lender would have given them. They didn’t want to go anywhere near that high,” says Ashley Richardson, the real estate agent who represented the couple.

Richardson, who’s affiliated with the Long & Foster realty firm in the Baltimore area, says many young adults are conservative in their financial habits because of vivid memories of the Great Recession.

There are other factors affecting the reluctance of many young adults to max out their real estate spending. Going forward, many believe home value appreciation will slow. Yet they anticipate higher living costs, especially for utility expenses, medical care and other services.

“My clients are paying as much as $2,000 a month per child for preschool care,” Richardson says.

All this is not to say young adults are any less motivated than were their parents to buy property. But they want to be sure any home they buy will be affordable for years to come.

Here are a few pointers for buyers:

-- Don’t underestimate your upkeep expenses.

James W. Hughes, a housing expert at Rutgers University, says one strategy for containing homeownership expenses is to buy a place from a builder with high construction standards. That way you can expect relatively low repair and appliance-replacement costs for a period of five to 10 years, as opposed to the often high upkeep costs of older homes.

He also recommends you think twice about the upkeep costs of owning a house with a lot of wood trim and siding, which will probably need extensive repainting every few years.

One way to gain help in approximating future upkeep costs is to be sure your home inspection is done by a well-trained inspector. One source of referrals: the American Society of Home Inspectors (ashi.org).

Are you contemplating a property with a large yard and expecting to hire a landscaping company to keep up the grounds? In that case, Hughes says you can assume the cost of yard work will increase in coming years.

-- Chart the trend for homeowner association fees.

Whether you’re planning to move to a gated community in the suburbs or a condo in an urban setting, the odds are you’ll be subject to a monthly fee to cover the costs of maintenance, security and other common expenses.

Before you commit to any property with a monthly management charge, Hughes says you should get detailed information on these charges, going back multiple years. Then examine the numbers carefully to see if inflation has been a major factor pushing up these costs. If so, he says you should assume this trend will continue in coming years.

“When you’re buying a home, you really need to become an amateur accountant, calculating not only your monthly mortgage payment, but also all the other costs of living there,” Hughes says.

-- Calculate your affordability range with commuting costs in mind.

In recent years, gas costs for commuting have been relatively moderate. But Christopher Leinberger, a professor and housing expert at George Washington University, says energy costs could well increase in the future, as the country grapples with the impact of climate change.

Too few prospective buyers anticipate their commuting costs down the road, Leinberger says.

He estimates that the average vehicle used for commuting now costs more than $7,000 a year to operate, when all the associated expenses are taken into account. And he projects these costs could rise dramatically in the future, particularly for those living in outlying suburbs. That means that finding a cheaper residence in an outer-tier suburb could be false economy.

If possible, Leinberger encourages buyers from a dual-income household to look for a property from which at least one spouse could walk to work or commute by public transit. That way, the household could slim down to a single vehicle, saving lots of cash in the process.

-- Think ahead about utility costs for your property.

“Anyone who hasn’t noticed rising utility costs has been sleepwalking through the last decade,” says Hughes, the Rutgers professor.

Perhaps you’re smitten with a brand-new Tudor with five bedrooms and a home theater equipped with an oversized TV. Or maybe you fancy a big old Victorian with lots of architectural flourishes.

Either way, Hughes urges you to take into account the future costs of heating and cooling any place you plan to buy.

“Be sure to ask the current owners to give you two to three years' worth of utility bills for the property. Notice the trend, keeping in mind that energy costs will undoubtedly keep rising,” he says.

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