A couple in their 60s -- a social worker married to a coffee shop owner -- vowed to never let go of the brick ranch house in suburban Maryland that they’d owned for 39 years. Indeed, they joked with friends that the “starter house” they bought soon after their wedding would one day become their “terminal house.”

But that was before the social worker was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s disease. The couple decided she’d be better off if they sold the house and moved near their grown daughter in North Carolina. The medical need wasn’t urgent. Still, they reasoned that from a financial perspective, 2020 was the best year to sell.

As it turned out, the couple’s decision to hasten their property sale proved advantageous. The day their place went on the market in late November, it attracted four offers -- all well above the asking price. The one they chose was all cash with zero contingencies. Their deal closes in mid-December.

Of course, no one knows for sure how the currently robust housing market will play out in the coming year. With the new administration in Washington, D.C., mortgage rates are likely to remain low. Yet economists are fearful an increasing number of would-be buyers are getting priced out of the market.

“The housing market is still hot, but we may be starting to see rising home prices hurting affordability,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor). He notes that pending home sales slid slightly in October, which could be a sign of a cooling real estate market.

Many potential home sellers are now raising questions with their listing agents about timing their sale. Should they rush to list in the immediate future, or perhaps wait until the traditional springtime home-selling season? Opinions vary.

Fred Meyer, an independent real estate broker and appraiser in Massachusetts, acknowledges that current conditions are favorable to sellers. Even so, he advises that sellers with ample time to wait might benefit from delaying their sale until the post-pandemic period.

“My guess is that six months from now, home prices will be a heck of a lot higher -- especially in well-valued suburban communities. Americans will be a lot more cheerful. Many who’ve lost jobs will regain them and qualify to own a property,” Meyer says.

But he expects that in 2021 -- as usual -- there will be wide variations in real estate markets on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Monitor neighborhood inventory levels before targeting a sale date.

In most desirable neighborhoods, a shortage of available homes is a strong signal that many prospective sellers are holding off in hopes of an uptick in property values later on.

“In nearly all cases, you can count on low inventory as a sure sign that the community is coveted and owners can command excellent prices,” says Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors.

You may also be observing other indications of pent-up demand for property in a community, such as people driving through trying to spot “For Sale” signs and letters left for residents from wannabe buyers.

If you’re anticipating a springtime surge in nearby listings, don’t wait until the floodgates have opened for sellers.

“Too few sellers consider inventory levels before timing their sale,” Helfant says.

-- Wait until repairs are done to put your place up for sale.

Are painters laboring to finish their work at your home? Are your bathroom renovations still incomplete? Have you yet to finalize the sorting and boxing of books in your huge collection?

If so, make sure all this work is done before giving the listing agent a green light to market your home. Home shoppers often show little interest in a place where renovation work is only half done.

Likewise, a cluttered house can be hard to market to prospects, who often have difficulty picturing the space free of excess furniture and cardboard boxes.

-- Choose a midweek day to launch your listing.

“No one should obsess about the day of the week their home goes on the market. But I favor a Wednesday or a Thursday if possible,” Helfant says.

When a property appears on the Multiple Listing Service by Thursday, agents representing buyers have ample time to schedule a visit to the place during the popular weekend home-shopping hours.

“People who wait until Friday to list typically get little attention until the following Monday. But rest assured that buyers in a popular area with scarce inventory will discover your home no matter when it’s listed,” Helfant says.

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

After the COVID crisis hit last spring, Bernadette Joy and her husband began plotting their move to the popular mountain retreat of Asheville, North Carolina, from their cramped city place two hours away, in Charlotte. By September, they’d topped off a 20% down payment and bought a spacious condo in their dream location.

Joy, an influential blogger who heads her own financial education firm, says many in her millennial age group could also achieve homeownership if they approached their debt reduction and savings goals more systematically.

“There’s so much guilt and shame about money and budgeting for our generation. This causes people to avoid facing financial issues squarely,” says Joy, who provides personal finance pointers through virtual courses and her website: crushyourmoneygoals.com

Obviously, not all would-be homeowners are now in a position to consider a purchase, let alone contemplate a large down payment, says George Ratiu, a senior economist for Realtor.com, the real estate listing service.

“There are still over 20 million Americans receiving unemployment benefits across all programs. And, worryingly, about 12 million of them are scheduled to run out of benefits in December, unless Congress takes action,” Ratiu says.

Even those currently able to contemplate a home purchase are facing headwinds, with property prices continuing to ascend in the majority of metro areas. Year-over-year price gains are now exceeding 6%.

On the other hand, the pandemic has helped keep mortgage rates temptingly low. This has worked to the advantage of wannabe buyers who’ve retained their jobs and can telework, thereby helping them build down payment funds.

“With COVID, people are saving a lot by reducing commuting costs, travel and restaurant meals,” Joy says. “There are fewer opportunities to spend and more chances to cut back debt and save.”

Joy has long been a saver. For instance, she managed to pay off more than $70,000 in student debt for her MBA program in just two years. Together with her husband, the couple also zeroed out their credit card balances. In addition, they accelerated their down payment program by scaling back from two cars to one, thereby scoring significant savings on lease payments, car insurance, gas and repairs.

“Having just one car felt awkward at first. But we soon became comfortable with the change, which is far easier now that we’re both working from home,” she says.

As Joy points out, not all millennials are motivated to save for a property purchase. But many who are find it less demanding than they imagine. Here are a few pointers for buyers:

-- Adjust your attitudes about spending.

Shawn Koch, a planner affiliated with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (napfa.org), says many homebuying aspirants “come to financial planners hoping for a miracle. But we’re not miracle workers.”

Though many young buyers face financial constraints -- including student debt and salary limitations -- many also confront bad money habits, such as impulse spending on designer clothing or other luxuries.

One approach to helping overcome emotional barriers to saving is by reading up on the topic. “Money Harmony” and other books on financial psychology co-authored by therapists Olivia Mellan and Sherry Christie are good places to start.

“The reality is that most people have to get into ‘hunker down’ mode before they can become serious savers and that means an adjustment in attitudes,” Koch says.

-- Start with an inventory of your current spending.

A major impediment to saving is uncontrolled everyday spending. But before you can decide how to reallocate your funds, Koch says you need to review where all your money has gone for at least one to three months. This can be done either with pen and paper or with such online personal finance tools as Mint or Quicken.

Doing an inventory of spending is laborious because you must sift through both credit card and checking account statements. And for cash expenditures, you’ll probably need to make estimates, an arduous exercise. Though the entire process can take the better part of a weekend, Koch says it’s an essential element in your search for potential areas of savings.

-- Consider cutting your core expenses, including phone costs.

Koch says phone charges “are among the fastest growing items in the budgets of many young people. Many think they need the newest phone upgrade as soon as it comes out.”

Creating a working budget that saves on such routine expenses isn’t an intellectually demanding exercise. But for those who could use guidance, Koch recommends the latest edition of “The Budget Kit: The Common Cents Money Management Workbook” by Judy Lawrence.

-- Make sure to enroll in an automatic savings plan.

Are you one of the millions of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck? If so, you might think it impossible to get by if a chunk of money is taken out every time you get paid.

But financial planners say automatic withdrawals are the answer for many who aren’t methodical savers. And surprisingly, they say those who have direct debits taken from their pay rarely miss the money. Meanwhile, their savings accounts grow quickly.

“The idea of an automatic savings plan is that the money rolls in without any proactive steps on your part. That’s a huge advantage for anyone trying to save for a house,” Koch says.

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

For 30 years, Kate Lister has been a big advocate for telecommuting. For just as long, she’s worked from a spacious home office overlooking the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. She even embellished her workspace with a hot tub.

“It’s a great gig working from home. Because you spare yourself commuting and office politics, it’s a wonderful way to save your sanity and comfort,” says Lister, the president of Global Workplace Analytics (globalworkplaceanalytics.com), a think tank that tracks telework trends.

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has dramatically increased the population of telecommuters. Lister predicts that even after the pandemic clears and children are back in school, many employees will continue to work from home, if only part-time.

“Finally, bosses realize people working from home can be trusted and productive. In fact, our research shows teleworkers give back to their companies at least half the extra time they would have spent commuting,” she says.

The quest for a property with ample and attractive space for at least one home office is a major force driving the current housing market and pushing up prices, according to Danielle Hale, the chief economist at Realtor.com, the home listing company.

These days, home offices are so important to buyers that owners wishing to sell should do all they can to emphasize the desirability of their telework space.

What features do buyers most covet in a home office? Lister says many hanker for a private room with a door they can close, sparing them intrusions that could impair their concentration while working.

“The open-floor plan concept is good in theory. But it’s hard to work in an area with no separation from the rest of the household,” she says.

If the home you’re selling offers a room with a view suitable for home office use, it’s wise to stress this in your marketing materials.

“The reality is that people who telework spend more time in their home office than in their bedroom, so it makes sense to work in a space that feels open to the outside world,” Lister says.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Streamline your office operation.

Of course, many home sellers already use an extra room as a dedicated home office and wish to continue doing so until their place is sold. In that case, real estate specialists say it’s crucial the room be kept clean and clutter-free while the place is on the market.

“Nowadays, buyers want perfection in every part of the house. For the home office, that means no shelves bulging with books, no file cabinets, and certainly none of those clunky old desktop computers,” says Ashley Richardson, who sells homes through the Long & Foster realty company.

The problem is that many who work from their home on a regular basis tolerate a degree of chaos unacceptable to potential buyers. For instance, they accept a space with piles of papers, files and binders sitting on various surfaces around the office.

“Before your house goes on the market, you have to clean up the home office so buyers can envision themselves working comfortably there. This can take many hours of decluttering,” says Richardson, who’s affiliated with the Residential Real Estate Council (crs.com).

Professional organizers, such as Susan Pinsky, author of “The Fast and Furious 5 Step Organizing Solution,” say many sellers who operate a home-based business find the chore of decluttering intimidating.

“They have to figure out how to keep the company running while the house is on the market, which is extremely hard,” she says.

Pinsky points to a paradox: At a time when vast quantities of information are instantly accessible online, many people still save more papers, magazines and books than they need. They also hang on to lots of obsolete technology.

-- Make paper culling to a high priority.

Many people who have home offices are plagued with boxes and bags filled with unsorted papers. These include business reports, computer printouts, junk mail, utility bills, credit card statements and clippings from magazines and newspapers.

Ironically, very few of the papers that people keep have value to their careers, says Pierrette Ashcroft, a productivity consultant who operates her own home-based firm.

“More than 80% of the papers people save are never referred to again,” she says.

The problem for home sellers is that any kind of clutter, including papers, makes a home look untidy. That can cause visitors to conclude that the house has more problems than meet the eye, says Mark Nash, a real estate analyst and author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home.”

“Less is always more when it comes to selling your home,” Nash says.

-- Employ a scanner to store papers, rather than filing cabinets.

Many teleworkers struggle to stay organized with extensive filing systems. But Ashcroft says that filing all but the most important papers is usually a waste of time and energy.

She urges those trying to declutter a home office to scan many of their documents into their computer rather than trying to store them in filing cabinets.

“I’m practically paper-free in my own home office. I use a rapid scanner and can scan up to 200 papers in two minutes,” Ashcroft says.

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