It’s been a half-decade since an engineer in suburban Minneapolis lost her husband to a fatal stroke. Until now, this widow couldn’t bear the thought of selling the cedar-sided contemporary she and her husband had custom-built back in the 1970s.

But now that she’s entered her 60s, the engineer feels a sense of urgency about items long on her bucket list.

Due to her elaborate plans, the engineer has reluctantly decided it’s time to let go of her house and move to a place with lower upkeep demands. However, her listing agent cautions against putting the property on the market until its dated decor has been upgraded to appeal to young buyers.

Ashley Richardson, a longtime real estate agent, doesn’t know the engineer in this true story. But she understands the rationale for updating an older home before attempting to market it. That’s because millennial buyers -- those born between 1981 and 1996 -- now make up the largest cohort of purchasers. And they’re very visual.

The good news is that many key updates are relatively inexpensive.

“Don’t be intimidated by the changes you need, because most are quite easy and cosmetically based,” says Richardson, who’s affiliated with the Residential Real Estate Council (crs.com).

Having an updated kitchen is one key to attracting young buyers. But it’s rarely necessary to do a major kitchen remodel. Still, it could pay you back to have dark wood cabinets repainted in white in order to brighten the space.

Many older homes have wall-to-wall carpet, another turnoff for young buyers, who vastly prefer hardwood flooring. Yet if you don’t want to spend what it costs for new hardwood, at least replace dark-colored carpeting with a lighter, neutral shade.

Before sellers decide where to invest in pre-sale home improvement, Richardson suggests they ask their agent for a checklist of cost-effective projects. Often, some of the least costly improvements -- such as painting -- can have the biggest impact.

“Look for guidance from real estate pros to make worthwhile decisions,” she says.

Here are a few other pointers for sellers:

-- Consider removing traditional furniture.

Though it’s unlikely you’ll sell your furnishings along with the house, it’s important to adapt your interior decor to the tastes of younger people, most of whom favor contemporary furnishings over traditional ones.

“They’re not revolting against tradition. But they don’t want to be reliant on tradition, either,” says Jeffrey Levine, an architect who works with both residential and commercial clients and heads his own Washington, D.C.-based firm, Levine Design Studio.

To get a feel for the sort of room layouts that typical young buyers like, Levine suggests you visit the website of IKEA, the Swedish home furniture retailer with a customer base heavily weighted toward young singles and families with school-age children.

At a minimum, you’ll want to remove bulky, old-fashioned pieces, such as large recliners, before your place goes up for sale.

-- Focus on your windows.

Levine recommends that sellers trying to appeal to young buyers, who like light, bright rooms, should remove all their heavy draperies. Often, the only rooms that need window coverings are bedrooms and bathrooms, and, even there, simple shades should suffice for privacy.

Another key step to bright, sparkling rooms is to thoroughly clean your windows, says Sid Davis, a real estate broker and author of “A Survival Guide to Selling a Home.”

“A dirty house, including one with dirty windows, is the kiss of death for anyone trying to sell,” Davis says.

-- Make your bathroom lighting more contemporary.

In their bathrooms, many older homes still feature Hollywood-style lighting with globes set on a chrome bar. But Davis says such fixtures seem dated to many young buyers, who typically want something more stylish and less cliched.

“Look for bathroom lighting with a fresher, more current look. It shouldn’t cost too much to replace bathroom lights. Often you can replace any bathroom fixture for under $100,” he says.

As to the look of bathrooms, Richardson advocates replacing the kind of pink tiling still present in many homes built in the 1950s. (Though the retro look of pink bathrooms appeals to some who relish mid-century modern architecture, it’s unlikely your young buyers will share this devotion.)

-- Freshen your home through repainting.

One sure bet for adding appeal to your interior is to repaint walls and trim throughout.

Yet Richardson says you’re much more likely to appeal to young buyers if you avoid repainting your rooms in the sort of bold paint tones that some agents call “commitment colors.” Instead, she urges you to pick paint colors that are muted, near-neutrals -- the sort of shades shown in the Pottery Barn catalog.

-- Remove family photos and other memorabilia.

There’s nothing that will date your place faster in the eyes of young buyers than personal photos.

Davis says any personal photos can make it psychologically difficult for young buyers to picture themselves living in your property.

“A fresh start is what people of any age want when they buy a house. They lose the concept of a blank canvas when they see all your memorabilia,” Davis says.

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

Demand for first-time homeownership is surging as many late-blooming millennials are finally seeking to settle down. But in some ways, their timing couldn’t be worse. That’s because entry-level homes are in severely short supply, and prices are still ascending.

Indeed, as of December a stunning 94% of U.S. metros experienced year-over-year price gains, according to statistics from the National Association of Realtors (realtor.org). In some areas, these gains even reached double digits.

At Seattle-based Zillow, the real estate data firm, economist Jeff Tucker is predicting a surge in home-buying interest as the spring selling season approaches.

“Buyers are already competing over near-record-low numbers of homes for sale. That is likely to mean more multiple offer situations and that buyers will have a harder time finding the perfect fit for their families,” Tucker says.

But such predictions haven’t weakened the resolve of many wannabe owners.

Take the case of Catherine Wood, a Washington, D.C.-based life coach. Now in their early 30s, she and her partner are extremely eager to own a place of their own.

Still, this couple, like many other aspiring owners in their age group, worries about the rising costs of real estate and whether their future mortgage payments would limit their ability to reach other costly goals, like traveling abroad or starting a family.

Here are a few other pointers for prospective first-time buyers:

-- Try to avoid taking so large a mortgage that you’ll be house-poor.

Many people assume lenders are now so cautious that even creditworthy homebuyers must struggle to get as big a mortgage as they desire.

But in reality, many buyers with solid jobs and decent credit scores can still obtain a home loan so large they’re at risk of financial peril, says Keith Gumbinger, a vice president at HSH Associates (hsh.com), which tracks mortgage rates throughout the country.

One reason many buyers can qualify for too large a mortgage has to do with the way lenders evaluate applicants. Though household expenses have risen dramatically in many categories, including for health and education, lenders still rely heavily on applicants’ gross income as the main gauge of their borrowing capacity.

“Lenders don’t know how much money you have left over after you’ve met all your other obligations,” Gumbinger says.

Before taking out any mortgage that could make you house-poor, he encourages you to do a thorough inventory of both your financial priorities and expenses.

-- Take a close look at your pay stubs.

It’s not only income taxes and Social Security contributions that come out of typical paychecks. Many people also have their net pay reduced for health insurance premiums, as well as group life insurance and retirement savings contributions.

Though lenders focus primarily on your gross income, you should look closely at your net pay before deciding how much to borrow for a home, says Mark Nash, a real estate analyst and author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home.”

“When it comes to income, what matters most is the bottom line on your pay stub, not the top one,” Nash says.

-- Consider basic expenses in your calculations.

Nash says many first-time buyers are especially vulnerable to rising commuting costs when they leave an in-town apartment to obtain a house in the suburbs.

“People who depend on a car to get to work have to allow space in their budget for an increase of 5% or more per year in the cost of commuting,” he says.

-- Leave latitude in your budget for raising children if that’s your plan.

Are you a newly married couple embarking on your first home purchase? Do you also hope to have children within the next few years?

If so, you’ll want to factor the costs of child rearing into your calculations on how large a mortgage to carry, Nash says.

“It’s amazing how many people can’t afford kids because their mortgage payments are too high. The shame of it is they didn’t think through the trade-offs before buying that big house,” he says.

As Nash notes, the cost of day care in urban areas can easily top the $600-a-week mark, causing some mortgage-strapped families to forgo their family plans.

“It’s sad to think you could give up your dreams of having a first or second child just to get a bigger house with more bells and whistles,” Nash says.

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

He was an IT specialist and she a nurse-practitioner. Through their 30s to 50s, this couple lived contentedly in their brick ranch in a wooded suburb with highly rated schools. But after they hit their 60s and their kids cleared college, the pair entered a period of great indecision -- as well as marital conflict -- about where to live in their later years.

As a retiree, he dreamed of relinquishing ownership of their big place with all its obligations and proposed moving to a trendy city hamlet where they could run a cozy coffee shop. But his wife, also retired, had mixed feelings about leaving their 3,000-square-foot home, which was so filled with happy family memories -- a place perfectly decorated to her taste.

It took nearly a decade for this couple to decide whether and where to move. Ultimately, they sold their handsome rancher and found a smaller loft to their liking in a semi-suburban town where they now teach yoga classes rather than run a coffee shop.

Mark Nash, a longtime real estate broker and analyst, doesn’t know the couple in this true story. But he’s not surprised that as retirees, they went through such an agonizing ordeal before charting their final housing path.

“A lot of Americans have so much of their identity tied up in their house -- and letting go is all the harder the older you get. Downsizing has plenty of benefits. But waiting too many years makes it very difficult,” Nash says.

Of course, many retirees -- including those who rely heavily on Social Security checks that currently average less than $1,500 monthly -- have limited housing options. Many in this category must either remain in a modest house they own free and clear or sell and move to an inexpensive rental unit. Still others who face significant health issues must move to assisted living.

But couples like the retired nurse and her husband, who are healthy and have ample retirement savings -- as well as substantial home equity -- have many housing choices open to them.

“Ironically, seniors who are financially secure often have so many real estate opportunities they can suffer from over-choice. This can cause great discomfort and discord in their personal lives,” says Nash, the author of “1001 Tips for Buying & Selling a Home.”

After weighing the pros and cons of scaling back their housing, an increasing number of people are now interested in smaller living, says Lauri Ward, author of “Downsizing Your Home With Style.”

“More people now want to live a calmer, simpler life. In a smaller place, you not only cut expenses but you reduce your carbon footprint. It’s like going from a big luxury car to a Prius,” Ward says.

Here are a few pointers for seniors debating between downsizing and aging in place:

-- Actualize your alternatives through in-person visits. A major factor in your decision on whether to sell your big house and downsize comes down to your comfort level with a smaller property. You can ruminate endlessly about your options, but there’s no substitute for onsite visits.

“Get out of that armchair and go see the smaller properties. Once inside, you’ll have an easier time imagining if you’d be comfortable with a more condensed lifestyle or whether you absolutely can’t part with your current house,” Nash says.

-- Make sure you and your partner are in agreement. “If you’re making a big housing move, there’s always a relationship dynamic for couples. You can’t ignore this reality,” Nash says. “You never want to pressure the other person into selling if they’re not really on board with the plan. That could backfire when resentment builds later,” he says.

-- Consider a few sessions with a life coach. Obviously, there are many financial implications to a major real estate move. And that’s all the more so now, given that homes continue to gain value in many neighborhoods.

“In any market, it can take quite a while to reverse a real estate mistake. So you don’t want to make a mistake in the first place,” Nash says.

Some people consult a financial planner or accountant before deciding to sell a long-held home. That’s fine, says Nash, but he adds, “A good life coach will help you think through the meaning of your real estate decisions for your life as a whole -- not just your financial life.”

In choosing a life coach, he recommends that seniors select someone who has reached their age or is older.

“If you’re 60, someone who’s 40 isn’t going to grasp your situation,” he says.

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