An engineer in her late 60s is keen to sell her house. In fact, she’s already put down a deposit on a condo in a nearby retirement community. But she feels overwhelmed by all the repairs and upgrades her place needs to sell well.

What’s holding the engineer back? Her organizational issues are attributable to attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Linda Anderson, an ADD specialist and coach for those with the disorder, doesn’t know the engineer in this true story. But she’s worked with many clients who’ve also been troubled by the complex details involved in the home sale process.

“The challenges of moving can be monumental for people with attention and organizational issues,” says Anderson, a past president of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (add.org), a professional group focused mainly on adults with ADD.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Search for a support person to assist.

The to-do list is long for homeowners who want to sell their property. Choosing the right listing agent is just the first step. Sellers must also decide how much to ask for the home and complete the often-arduous process of decluttering the place and ensuring it’s in good repair. Plus, there’s the move itself.

“When they move, those with ADD face a tough road unless they connect with people who can keep them on track,” says Anderson, who has coached adults with ADD since 1995.

A well-trained coach can help those charting a major move to develop a game plan and then to break the plan down into a sequence of small and manageable pieces.

“Without a realistic plan, a big project, like preparing for a move, can seem so overwhelming to the ADD brain that it will shut down due to the stress,” Anderson says.

Terry Matlen, a Michigan-based social worker who assists clients with ADD all over the country, recommends that sellers facing organizational problems consider hiring a professional organizer to help keep them on track. One place to search for local assistance is through the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (napo.net).

Other places to search for help? You could use an online source to place an ad to hire someone who is naturally organized -- perhaps a retired person or a college student. This person could help you both outline your game plan and provide hands-on assistance with the process of decluttering your property and pre-packing for your move.

-- Work from your strengths.

Those with ADD are often intelligent, creative people who can draw on these positive attributes.

“A lot of my clients have tremendous energy, which typically comes in spurts,” Anderson says.

She’s developed several time- and attention-management techniques that work for people with ADD as they face the tasks involved in a lengthy project.

Even after the project is broken down into small pieces, people with ADD must beware of time-consuming digressions. One way to do this is to turn off your phone and shut down your email, at least until you’ve completed the task at hand.

Anderson suggests you take frequent breaks during a laborious task. To help avoid burnout, use a kitchen timer and give yourself a brief break when it goes off.

“To keep on track, you need to pat yourself on the back every time you make progress toward your goal. Also, give yourself rewards along the way,” she says.

-- Seek to jump-start your work on an off-day.

Despite the best of plans, people with ADD sometimes have trouble gaining the momentum to launch into a new task.

If you find yourself in this situation, Anderson recommends you consider starting your day with aerobic exercise, such as a fast-paced walk through your neighborhood.

“This helps stimulate the brain into action, as does the use of rhythmic music,” Anderson says.

If you’re working alone and find yourself unable to concentrate, consider asking a friend or neighbor to step in, at least until you can get your work started.

“People with ADD need to connect and reconnect with other people throughout the project,” Anderson says.

-- Allow yourself sufficient time.

Due to their propensity for distraction, those with ADD must often allow more time to complete work than do others with razor-sharp concentration skills.

In setting a schedule for the tasks involved in your housing transition, Anderson advises that you set rational, reasonable deadlines and not try to fit too much into any given day.

Besides the customary to-do list, one tool Anderson likes is an accompanying not-to-do list. By reducing the expectations you set for yourself, you could also reduce your anxiety level and accomplish more.

On a day when you have to prune plants throughout your yard, for instance, you’d be wise to place unrelated tasks -- like shopping for groceries or cleaning the car -- on your not-to-do list.

Even those who are normally very focused can find a housing transition problematic. This is especially so if they’ve lived in the same home for a long time and are downsizing to a smaller place.

“Remember that we live in a hugely cluttered society and that this poses problems for nearly everyone involved in a move,” Anderson says.

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

Every day in America some 10,000 people turn 65 -- a reality that will have intensifying consequences for the nation’s housing markets going forward as more boomers let go of their properties.

Take the case of an empty nester in her 60s who’d been living in an oversized Oregon house for 44 years. A combination of health issues and recent weather challenges convinced her that she could no longer handle solo living in her place.

The woman’s transition to a 700-square-foot apartment in a retirement community led to a surprisingly positive outcome, says Mary Spann, the founder of Upside of Downsizing, a firm helping seniors reduce their belongings to transition to smaller quarters.

Living a simpler life with fewer homeownership responsibilities is proving a fulfilling experience for the Oregon woman, who relishes the sociability of her retirement community.

“The night I first moved in, I did a little happy dance to celebrate,” she says.

Spann says it’s remarkably common for many people who must downsize to experience a sense of liberation after scaling back their material lives.

Of course, the actual process of sorting through one’s worldly possessions can be tremendously laborious. In many cases, downsizers must make hard choices among items they genuinely wish to keep but can’t accommodate in their new space, such as book collections, sports trophies or mementoes from family vacations.

“When you’re going to a smaller house, you must decide which things have the most meaning for you,” says Beverly Coggins, the author of “Three Steps to Downsizing to a Smaller Residence.”

A professional organizer since 1995, she says she’s learned it’s best for those downsizing to break the work into chunks rather than to attempt marathon sessions.

To avoid excessive fatigue, she encourages downsizers to focus their work on the times of day they have peak energy. Also, she recommends they spend no more than four or five hours on these tasks at any given session.

Here are a few tips for those who must move to a smaller domain:

-- Eliminate excess furniture early in the process.

For most people, one major step toward downsizing involves dispensing with large pieces of furniture. Beyond family heirlooms and precious antiques, many find this process relatively easy because they don’t have sentimental attachments to most furniture.

Sid Davis, a longtime real estate broker and author of “A Survival Guide to Selling a Home,” suggests one way to clear space and furniture quickly is to put it up for sale. He says many of his home-selling clients find it relatively easy to sell superfluous items through the websites of local newspapers. However, you’ll likely want to sell antiques through a reputable dealer.

-- Try to avoid renting a storage unit if possible.

Many downsizers succumb to the temptation to place their belongings in a storage unit before they move. But Coggins strongly advises against this course if you can avoid it.

“Storage units are expensive. And for most people, they’re just an excuse to postpone making decisions on stuff they need to eliminate,” she says.

She says many people feel especially anxious about letting go of things given them as gifts from relatives or close friends. But she says such feelings are needless.

“It doesn’t mean you love the person any less because you can’t keep everything they give you,” she says.

To be sure, you’ll not want to cast off items with unusual meaning to you -- like family pictures and love letters. But unfortunately, you may not be able to take everything you value to your new, smaller place. In such cases, Coggins suggests you take photos of the treasured items, like a grand piano passed down in the family. These can be framed and hung up in your new domain.

-- Look to charity organizations for pickup services.

Many downsizers find it easier to let go of extra belongings if they know they’ll go to good use. That’s why Coggins and other professional organizers often advocate contacting nonprofit organizations interested in collecting serviceable items.

Very often, charity groups will pick up items from your home, a convenient way to eliminate excess belongings. Also, with a pickup appointment, you’ll have a definite deadline for your work, which can serve as a motivating factor.

The Salvation Army, for example, offers pickup services in many areas. To learn more or schedule a pickup, visit the organization’s website, salvationarmyusa.org, or contact its toll-free number: 800-728-7825.

-- Attempt to stay focused on the positives in your future.

In reality, many seniors must downsize to cut expenses, whether to reduce utility bills, upkeep costs, property taxes or an outstanding mortgage balance. Yet many who must move to a smaller home find that doing so has its favorable points, including less financial stress.

Coggins also notes another benefit of downsizing. With fewer home upkeep demands, you’ll have more time to focus on the people most important to you.

“When they downsize, many people realize more fully that it’s relationships, not stuff, that bring happiness,” she says.

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

As the housing market rolls into the first quarter of 2020, buyers searching for a brand-new home have cause for celebration. Finally, builders are stepping up production.

After the Great Recession, residential construction -- especially for affordable single-family homes -- took a steep drop. Nervous about whether the economic recovery was sustainable, many builders backed off for years. Until now.

Tom Early, a longtime real estate broker, says an increase in new construction not only helps buyers. It also motivates potential move-up sellers who’ve outgrown their homes. For several years, many would-be sellers have been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for more new construction in their price range to become available.

“Lots of people with growing families are thrilled at the prospect of an exciting new place with the bells and whistles they see on the TV home shows. They crave high ceilings and a big eat-in kitchen that flows into a spacious great room. They also want extra bedrooms for home offices,” says Early, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyers Agents (naeba.org).

Early, who works solely with buyers and takes no listing contracts, says it’s critically important that all sellers find a highly professional agent to represent them.

“Who you pick is hardly a trivial matter. Just as you spend time finding a good lawyer, accountant or doctor, you should do likewise when you’re trying to locate an excellent listing agent for your sale. This is just basic due diligence,” he says.

As Early points out, finding the best available listing agent can be harder than it seems -- despite the fact that more than 1 million Americans are licensed to sell real estate. Here are a few pointers:

-- Search for an agent who knows your locale well.

Your uncle or someone you know from your church or synagogue might be an excellent real estate agent. But should you consider hiring this person if their office is located a significant distance away from where you live?

Absolutely not, says Early, who contends that a faraway agent is likely to be much less effective in marketing your property than one who knows your local turf well.

“No matter how sharp he is, you really don’t want that agent across town who doesn’t have an intimate knowledge of your neighborhood,” Early says.

It’s especially wise to have an agent close by if you’re trying to sell a property in an urban setting -- such as a condo in a high-rise building. In such a case, the ideal agent is often someone with proven experience selling units in your same building.

“For one thing, the pros in your immediate area know the nuances of pricing much better. For another, they’ll know other local agents with clients who are searching for the exact type of property you’re putting up for sale,” Early says.

-- Schedule an in-home visit with at least two to three listing prospects.

Without interviewing other contenders, you may be tempted to simply hire the first agent who comes highly recommended. But Ronald Phipps, the broker-owner of a family-owned real estate brokerage, says it’s wise to interview at least one to two other candidates.

“When you talk to several people, you’ll get different perspectives on your sale,” Phipps says. Several opinions on pricing can be especially helpful.

He says you should be wary of any agent who recommends you list your place for more than 10% above what others say is its fair market value.

“Find out how they arrived at that higher price,” says Phipps, noting that occasionally some agents may suggest an above-market list price as a way to flatter you into hiring them. This practice is known as “buying the listing.”

-- Request information on the candidates’ professional accomplishments.

How can you identify agents who have achieved an unusual level of expertise? Phipps says one way to distinguish among agents is to ask if they’ve been elected to positions of leadership within their professional groups.

“This shows they have a reputation for collaborating with other real estate people,” Phipps says.

-- Select a seasoned listing agent with a proven deal-closing record.

During boom times, most sellers feel home free once they’ve obtained a ratified contract -- meaning their deal has been agreed upon by both sides of the transaction.

The economy is strong now. Still, Phipps says many sellers remain understandably nervous that complications along the way to closing could scotch their deal. That’s because these days, more purchasers have to drop out because their mortgage financing has been turned down.

“Selling has become much more complicated. That’s why it’s smart to find an agent with experience handling many different kinds of transactions. Look for their record of closing deals, not just taking listings,” Phipps says.

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