The economic crisis caused by COVID has sparked two major housing trends. On the one hand, those who’ve lost jobs are struggling to keep homes they own or rent. On the other, many who’ve retained well-paying jobs are loading up on luxury real estate.

Take the true story of a married couple of executive-level lawyers. Both teleworked through 2020. As a result, they cut discretionary expenses and amassed savings. Hence, they built on down payment funds to buy a historic house in Washington, D.C. In 2021, they’ll also close on a vacation place in Maine.

Low mortgage rates have empowered homebuyers at every price level. But well-heeled buyers who’ve been working remotely during the pandemic have been most advantaged, says Dorcas Helfant, the broker-owner of several Coldwell Banker realty offices.

To a drastic degree, COVID cut the costs of upwardly mobile lifestyles. With so few parties, events and fancy vacations, upper-end families are stashing away lots of cash. That and low interest rates have greatly enhanced their buying power, says Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor).

Of course, extremely wealthy people have never relied on low mortgage rates or budget savings to actualize their real estate purchases. But for upper-middle-class people, low rates and personal savings have made all the difference.

Jeff Hyland, the founder and head of Forbes Global Properties, which caters to the luxury home market, says the trend toward upsizing has been driven by countless Americans feeling space-constrained during the pandemic.

“There’s been very strong demand for people looking for backyards and ‘walk streets.’ This has fueled our market at the high end,” says Hyland, who predicts that strong luxury home demand will push through to the end of 2021.

Of course, not everyone has the desire or wherewithal to move larger. Young families know their lives will change dramatically after the pandemic has cleared, which could lessen their craving for more space. And older people often hanker to simplify their lives by downsizing.

Even so, many wannabe-upsizers who’ve been waiting warily on the sidelines are now eager to move forward and they figure 2021 could be an ideal time to do so -- so long as low mortgage rates hold.

“The next home shopping season will be the hottest in recent memory, and it could be the last of its kind,” says Jeff Tucker, a senior economist for Zillow, the national real estate company.

Here are a few pointers for those weighing plans to upsize:

-- Consider your housing options in a holistic way.

Making a housing change inevitably involves trade-offs, says Michael Byrd, a California real estate broker.

“Every decision on housing is a lifestyle decision. You have to figure out which house and neighborhood features are vital for you and which you could sacrifice,” says Byrd, a former president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

To sketch out their priorities, Byrd recommends prospective buyers take out a legal pad and draw vertical lines to create three columns. In the first, list “must have” features; in the second, “really want to have”; and in the third, “nice to have.”

When it comes to married couples (or those living together), Byrd says it’s critically important both partners do the paper-and-pencil exercise separately and then compare the two lists.

Though financial planners can help with trade-offs, they can’t tell you which factors to weigh most heavily, says Eric Tyson, a personal finance expert and co-author of “Home Buying Kit for Dummies.” Buyers forget to take into account their other financial priorities at their own peril.

-- Factor retirement savings into your real estate plans.

Before deciding how much to spend on better housing, Tyson urges you to think through your retirement savings situation.

“You really should start saving for retirement as soon as you start earning money. This is especially important if you’re working for an employer who doesn’t offer a traditional pension plan, which is increasingly likely,” Tyson says.

To gauge how well prepared you are for retirement, he suggests you use the free planning calculators provided by such investment funds as Vanguard and T. Rowe Price.

-- Remember that ownership of a large home can be time-consuming.

Perhaps your ideal involves a much bigger property. If a financial analysis shows you can afford it, should you go ahead on that basis alone? Not without considering the time implications of owning a much larger property.

“Many people underestimate how much time it can take to own and manage a big property. This can be a huge commitment, even if you’re handy and can afford to hire help,” he says.

Tyson suggests people carefully review their personal priorities before taking on ownership of a property that will tax their time.

“Perhaps you’re comfortable with the idea of taking care of a big house. But also be sure to ask your better half what he or she thinks,” he says.

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

“Big house fatigue” is the phenomenon real estate pros cite to explain why some homeowners end up selling far sooner than expected, despite the pandemic.

Take the case of a single mom -- a scientist -- who bought a spacious stone colonial in a popular suburban neighborhood. She made the move from a small townhouse to give her 11-year-old son extra rooms for homework and video gaming. She also wanted space for a home gym.

But soon after buying the house, she realized that caring for the place plus its large yard was much more work than she had envisioned. What’s more, her son was no happier in larger quarters. Hence, the pair made the sudden decision to move back to their former townhouse community.

“Against my recommendation, we put the house on the market in ‘as is’ condition and vacant. This despite scuff marks on the walls, pine needles in the gutters and dead bugs in the basement,” says Ashley Richardson, who handled the listing.

Richardson, who sells property through the Long & Foster realty firm, says that given the extreme shortage of available homes, some sellers have become careless about how they present their place to the public.

“Some people resist spending the money needed for a successful sale. Selling a vacant house is especially problematic, because it feels to buyers like a commercial building rather than a home,” says Richardson, who’s affiliated with the Residential Real Estate Council (crs.com).

Granted, even vacant “fixer-uppers” will eventually sell, so long as they’re located in coveted areas where supply is tight. But these sellers must typically wait longer and earn less than if their place had been improved and staged.

The scientist in this true story learned her lesson the hard way. Though homes in her neighborhood now typically sell in a couple of days and for above asking price, her colonial sat unsold for more than a month without a reasonable offer. It was only after she took a price cut and made cosmetic improvements that she attracted a buyer who still paid less than the list price.

One problem facing those who attempt to sell an empty house is that it often shows poorly online.

“Nearly all real estate agents now use professional photographers. Their high-resolution images show all the detail in a vacant house, which can leave a very bad impression,” Richardson says.

Visual eyesores aren’t the only problem that comes with trying to sell an empty place.

“Vacant houses often have a stale smell because the windows and doors are rarely open. And odors can be a huge barrier to getting a house sold,” says Kurt Albers, a broker in the real estate field since 1994.

He says a vacant house that lingers unsold raises buyers’ suspicions and can encourage below-market offers from those who believe the sellers are under pressure to move.

“People who walk into a vacant house wonder where the people went and why they had to move. They want to know if the sellers lost their home to foreclosure and whether something is wrong with it,” Albers says.

Here are a few pointers for sellers:

-- Address the cosmetic flaws in your vacant home.

Sid Davis, the author of “A Survival Guide for Selling a Home,” says the sellers of a vacant property can’t afford to present their place in anything but pristine condition.

To maximize a sale, Davis contends it’s essential that vacant homes be freshly painted on the interior, in a light, neutral tone.

He also urges the owners of vacant homes to replace worn carpet and refinish (or replace) hardwood floors that need work. In addition, fix any unsightly area visitors might encounter, such as scratch marks in a cast iron kitchen sink.

-- Look into hiring a professional stager.

Eric Tyson, co-author of “House Selling for Dummies,” says a vacant property needs a few well-chosen items of furniture so would-be buyers can see the scale of its rooms.

Of course, you can always rent or buy furniture to outfit a vacant home. But Tyson says a better solution is to hire a professional home stager to lend you the “props” you need to stage your place thoughtfully.

Your listing agent may be trained to provide staging services. Or you can turn to professional stagers’ organizations for leads. One such group is the Real Estate Staging Association (realestatestagingassociation.com).

-- Keep your vacant home in show-worthy condition.

As agents know, one advantage of marketing a home that’s vacant is that it’s convenient to show, without the need for complex arrangements with those living there.

But things can still go wrong. For instance, newspapers and litter can pile up on the front lawn. Lightbulbs can burn out. A leak might develop in a bathroom faucet. Dust and cobwebs are a given.

You can always hire a neighborhood teenager to pick up newspapers and do routine yard work. But Davis says it’s also important to ensure that your listing agent keep a close eye on the property, stopping by at least twice each week.

“Looking after your vacant home is part of your agent’s professional responsibility, and it’s not that much of a burden,” he says.

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

The pandemic is challenging families financially in every state of the union. Yet there’s one sector of the consumer economy that’s enjoying unprecedented demand: homebuilding.

Take the case of LGI Homes, which builds in 18 states and ranks 10th in size among U.S. homebuilders.

“The demand for affordable entry-level homes has never been stronger. That’s why we’re positive about the long-term outlook for homeownership in all our markets,” says Eric Lipar, the company’s CEO.

What accounts for the surge in demand for new homes? Ivy Zelman, a veteran investment analyst who tracks homebuilder stocks, says the key factor is demographic.

“Many more millennials are now aging into single-family shelters and starting families,” according to Zelman. She also cites low mortgage rates and a severe shortage of available properties as leading reasons for the imbalance between home supply and demand.

“The market is starved for inventory, causing prices to keep rising,“ says Danielle Hale, the chief economist at Realtor.com, the home listing company.

Of course, countless families are struggling to pay their bills and won’t be in a position to buy their first property or a trade-up place anytime soon. But among those who remain fully employed, a number are now actively seeking larger and better outfitted houses, according to research from Zillow, the national real estate company.

Zillow surveys show that numerous home purchasers are eager for more square footage and sizable, enclosed yards.

The desire for many luxury home features is growing out of the experience of families during the pandemic, says Katie Detwiler, the chief experience officer for Berks Homes, a Pennsylvania-based builder.

In 2021, many new home buyers wish to break out of their old cooking habits and start new adventures in the kitchen.

“We’ve seen an increase in requests for gourmet kitchens. This includes bigger cabinets and island additions, so homeowners have the space they need to cook their gourmet meals,” Detwiler says.

Those shopping for new homes also desire smart home technology, including touchless appliances and self-cleaning toilets. In addition, they want dedicated spaces for one or two home offices -- what builders call “Zoom rooms.”

Yet personal finance specialists strongly advise new home buyers to ensure they balance their desires for extra space and fancy features against the need to live in a convenient location.

“OK, so maybe your employer has given its blessing to a full-time work-from-home schedule until the pandemic is over. But after that, the company might insist you go into the office at least a couple of days each week. If that happens, you’ll regret living 200 miles from work,” says Eric Tyson, the co-author of “Homebuying for Dummies.”

Here are a few pointers for new home buyers:

-- Look for a locale where property values will likely rise.

James W. Hughes, an expert on housing demographics, isn’t predicting a drop in real estate values anytime soon. But in the aftermath of such a decline, he says the recovery would come earliest in areas long popular with families who have school-age children, a large segment of the suburban home-buying market.

The first neighborhoods to bounce back from the downturn of 2008 were those that remained popular throughout the recessionary period, says Hughes, a professor at Rutgers University.

-- Choose a community with an excellent elementary school.

“Even more than the middle or high school, an excellent elementary is something families seek out when they’re moving,” he says.

How can you be sure the house you purchase will be served by a high-performing elementary? Real estate agents are reluctant to characterize schools with descriptive adjectives. But they can quickly assemble reams of statistics, such as test scores, that will let you compare one school to another. Or you can find these data yourself by going to the local school system’s website.

-- Make sure the new home you buy is solidly built.

Abraham Tieh, a longtime Texas real estate broker, notes that the homebuilding industry is dominated by many small to mid-sized entrepreneurial companies. And these firms vary widely in the quality of their workmanship.

There’s no reason to accept second-class construction when you choose your new suburban house. But how can you identify subdivisions where the builders take extra care? One way is to closely examine the interior detailing in a house as one indication of its construction quality.

“You can’t see behind the walls of a house that’s already built. However, you can see if the cabinetry and wood trim were well finished. Also, you can judge whether the builder used long-lasting roofing materials or the cheapest available shingles,” says Tieh, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

“People already living in the neighborhood will tell you straight out if there have been lots of problems with the builder or if major construction flaws have surfaced,” Tieh says.

While you’re at it, he says you should survey the neighbors on the energy efficiency of their homes. For instance, ask them how much they typically pay monthly for gas and electric service and whether their homes were outfitted with airtight, energy-efficient windows.

“Utility costs should be of critical concern to anyone moving into a very large home,” Tieh says.

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