Seasoned real estate pros know that the older people become, the tougher it is for them to move.

Take the case of a couple of 82-year-old retirees who’ve lived in their midsized colonial for 37 years.

Throughout the pandemic, they resisted selling, fearing exposure to the virus. They even hired an architect to design a small addition to their property in hopes of remaining there indefinitely. But their architect died of COVID, and the addition proved untenable. Meanwhile, the couple’s increasing health problems made it obvious they would eventually need to move into an assisted-living facility. Now they’re facing reality squarely and planning ahead for a sale in 2024.

Dana Rice, an executive vice president for Compass, a national realty firm, doesn’t know the married couple in this true story. But she credits them for allowing months of lead time in advance of their sale.

“Not uncommonly, older seniors procrastinate for several years before confronting the need to move. Then they face a health crisis, and it’s urgent,” says Rice, who’s sold homes since 2013.

Like younger homeowners, elderly people often try to time the market based on fluctuations in supply and demand, as well as mortgage rates. But the health concerns of older people often dictate their timing.

Here are a few pointers for those over 60 facing a necessary home sale:

-- Engage a listing agent as early as possible.

“I get into a lot of panicky situations with 11th-hour home sellers,” says Sid Davis, who heads an independent real estate firm in Utah.

When he first entered the real estate field several decades ago, he recalls how clients would typically call for help at least three months before they needed to sell. Now he says many wait until just a few weeks before they must move.

“Ideally, we need a minimum of 90 days or longer --though this is widely variable depending on the specific neighborhood and the level of local inventory,” Davis says.

Once you know you’re definitely going to move, Davis says it’s prudent to begin interviewing prospective listing agents and then to promptly select the one you want to represent you.

“The longer you have to get all your ducks in a row, the better. There are many advantages to picking your agent early -- even if you do so a year before you intend to move,” says Davis, the author of “A Survival Guide to Selling a Home.”

An agent with ample notice of your selling plans can better determine the steps you should take to achieve the best possible outcome, whether this means replacing your kitchen appliances or painting your shutters. The agent can also exercise more care in selecting the right listing date.

“Arranging for contractors on a nonemergency basis can save you cash, and careful pricing can mean more proceeds at the bottom line,” Davis says.

-- Seek out data on selling times in your area.

For more than 30 weeks, homes on average have been for sale longer than was typical one year ago, according to Sabrina Speianu, economic data manager for Realtor.com, the home listing service.

But such national averages have little meaning for typical home sellers.

“Is your micromarket still steamy hot with a severe shortage of available properties? Or is it cooling off due to falling prices and excess inventory? Those are the only truly meaningful numbers for your area,” says Dorcas Helfant, a past president of the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor).

Ask your listing agent to take these numbers -- known as “days on market” -- and chart them over a six-month period. If selling times are lengthening, this could indicate a cooling of demand and should signal caution to prospective sellers.

“Assuming the market is chillier than before, you’ll want to allow yourself at least one extra month beyond the average selling time to ensure a smooth transition,” Helfant says.

-- Realize it’s never too early to start packing.

Though he has no scientific basis for the statement, Davis contends that 99% of home sellers procrastinate on the property preparation process.

Besides painting and repairs, nearly all homes need a thorough decluttering to show well. Your first step, Davis says, should be to remove any excess furnishings that crowd your interior space. Then box up smaller items and place them in your garage or a rented storage unit.

“By beginning as early as possible to clear out clothes, furniture and other items that you rarely use, you enhance your chances of fully completing this task before your place goes up for sale,” Davis says.

-- Give yourself extra time when moving to a brand-new place.

These days, it’s not uncommon for seniors to compete for units in brand-new retirement communities that offer a so-called continuum of care. But buying into such a community could be dependent on first selling your present property.

“People can get so completely dazzled by a model home in a new development that they’ll sign a contract before they’ve unloaded their old place,” Davis says.

A contract conditional on the sale of your present property may not obligate you to go through with the purchase. But if you can’t sell your house on time, you could lose the house, and your deposits could also go down the drain.

Because it’s not unusual for builders to take longer than they expect, some buyers of brand-new homes wait longer than they should before trying to sell their present property, according to Davis.

“But remember, this is a one-way street. The builder can be late, but you can’t, or you’ll be thrown in a risky situation financially,” he says.

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

Every year, the real estate industry cranks out countless statistics on market trends. But one new report showing that boomers now outstrip millennials as buyers is attracting special interest.

“Baby boomers have the upper hand in the homebuying market,” says Jessica Lautz, vice president of research for the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor), which issued the report.

The share of home purchases made by boomers -- age 58 to 76 --reached 39% in 2022. That compares with the share of millennials -- age 24 to 42 -- that fell to 28% of all buyers.

The new numbers are surprising because millennials are in their prime buying years, when household formations and marriages most often occur.

It’s no secret that many young adults are cash- and income-strapped. Not only do they face inflationary pressures for food and rent, but they also struggle with steep student loan payments and rising child-care costs.

Numerous boomers are also financially challenged by higher food and health care expenses. Making ends meet is especially hard for older people who rely on Social Security. But others from the boomer generation have amassed strong retirement portfolios and substantial home equity, allowing them to consider buying a different place more to their liking.

“Dreaming of that ‘forever home’ isn’t strictly limited to the young. It’s a real goal for older people with plump bucket lists and the cash to fulfill their fantasies,” says Mark Nash, author of “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home.”

Two common elements of boomer housing fantasies -- even for those with discretionary funds to spare -- involve downsizing and simplification. But before they can move anywhere and start anew, many affluent boomers must free themselves from large collections of possessions.

“Hundreds of books, valuable antiques, that grand piano and that grandfather clock all stand in the way of the great housing finale many boomers have in mind,” says Nash, a longtime real estate broker in the Chicago area.

Here are a few pointers for boomers planning to reinvent their housing who hope to sell their home soon:

-- Write out your organizing plan.

Lee Silber, author of “Time Management for the Creative Person,” says too few people embark on projects with a written plan in hand.

“Most people wing it when they’re getting a house ready for market. They zigzag around, starting with whatever task looks interesting,” Silber says.

Many home sellers mistakenly believe they can proceed as efficiently with a mental plan as with a written one, according to Silber.

“In fact, what you have in your head is clutter unless you put it down on paper,” he says.

Are you unsure which tasks need to be done to get your home ready for market? If so, Silber suggests you ask your listing agent to draft a step-by-step list. Then go down the list, circling steps with the highest impact.

“People short on time -- and that’s most of us -- need to concentrate first on activities with the greatest potential return for the time spent,” he says. For instance, replacing a stained living room carpet could make a significant difference in the salability of your place, but fixing the stains on your concrete walkways may not.

-- Place your to-do list in a highly visible place.

Not only do sellers need to make a comprehensive list of tasks, but they should keep that list in full view, says Eric Tyson, co-author of “Personal Finance After 50 for Dummies.”

“Break down the tasks into a systematic list and place this list in a prominent position where you’ll see it all the time. Then chunk these tasks into one-hour increments. Each day, attempt to do multiple tasks from your list,” Tyson says.

-- Hire others to hasten your purging plan.

It may seem obvious, but many busy people with the means to hire help to prepare their homes for sale decline to do so.

“Some well-to-do people are emotionally resistant to letting professional organizers touch their things. ... But this rigidity can hold them back from moving, because no real estate agent wants to market their property in a cluttered condition,” Tyson says.

-- Incorporate some fun into your home-sale prep work.

You’ll gain more momentum in your quest to ready your home for market if you can make an otherwise boring project more interesting.

For instance, Silber suggests you consider what he calls “the fishbowl game.” Take a copy of your to-do list and cut the paper into pieces, one task per piece. Then, when you have a block of time to move forward, place all the pieces in a bowl and pick out one at random to start your day. After that task is done, reach into the bowl for the next one.

Another of Silber’s ideas is to stage a “presale party.” Just as you’re launching into home prep, send out invitations to friends for a fest scheduled to occur right before your home is listed.

“Knowing your friends will be coming over and seeing your house when it’s ready will give you a stronger drive to get going. You’ll get more done in a shorter period of time if you can visualize your friends coming in to celebrate the completion of your work,” he says.

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

Richard Harty, a single man of 57, lives in a 3,600-square-foot midcentury modern house on a half-acre in a coveted close-in Chicago suburb. The four-bedroom place has vastly more space than he needs. Yet he’s torn about selling.

As a real estate broker himself, Harty is convinced his house would sell “overnight” for at least twice what he paid for it in 2001.

Even so, he’s reluctant to let the place go. That’s because his current mortgage rate is locked in at 2.65%, which keeps his monthly payments affordable. Given the steep rise in rates recently, any different property he bought would inevitably come with a more costly home loan.

Harty is not alone in his ambivalence about whether to sell or hold. Many owners are struggling with the same issues. This can be a problem for buyers in the current market when they encounter equivocal owners.

“Especially in markets that are still strong this spring, some owners may simply be testing the market to see how high they could go. They overprice and don’t want to negotiate,” says Harty, who heads an independent realty firm with his brother.

How can buyers avoid the needless aggravation of trying to deal with indifferent sellers? Eve Alexander, a longtime Florida real estate broker, says they should look out for red flags that can help identify these sellers from the outset.

“I’ve seen sellers demanding to keep all their light fixtures, ceiling fans, window treatments, rosebushes and pool accessories. This greedy attitude tells me they could care less about negotiating a fair deal with buyers,” she says.

Why do some ambivalent owners put their property on the market if they’re not serious about selling? Alexander says one explanation is that they own the property free and clear and have no financial urgency to let go. This includes retirees who have mixed feelings about moving.

“People who’ve lived in a house for many years and raised their kids there can have powerful emotional ties to the place. It’s extremely hard for them to turn it over to strangers. In fact, they might even unconsciously resent people who put in a bid,” she says.

Another category of ambivalent sellers includes people who are easily able to rent out their place to either short- or long-term tenants. They know they can still keep up a strong cash flow if they don’t receive an offer to their liking.

“These people might try a ridiculously high list price and then bail out if they don’t get all the money they’re seeking,” says Alexander, who’s affiliated with the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

Though a few owners lack serious motivation to sell, many others are eager -- perhaps because they’re getting divorced, have gotten a job in a distant area or need to trade up because of a growing family. Here are a few pointers on finding truly motivated sellers:

-- Strike from your list properties offered by “market testers.”

Eric Tyson, co-author of “Home Buying for Dummies,” says that even in neighborhoods with a number of properties up for sale, there are still sellers who won’t budge from an unrealistically high price.

“Believe it or not, you can still find unmotivated sellers out there,” he says.

How can you identify sellers who are merely testing the market and will never negotiate seriously with anyone who bids even a dollar under their lofty list price?

Tyson recommends you ask your agent to find out if previous offers have come in on the property you want. If the owners have already rebuffed one or more decent offers without so much as a counterbid, this indicates they’ll probably resist reason with you, too.

-- Attempt to learn about the sellers’ equity position.

If you’re zeroing in on a particular property, Alexander says it’s wise to inform yourself on the sellers’ ownership stake before you bid. As she says, those with more equity have more potential room for compromise.

One source of clues on the owners’ equity position can be found by searching local government land records. At the minimum, these records (usually available online) should tell you when the current owners purchased the property and the original price they paid.

“If the sellers bought the house 25 years ago and haven’t refinanced, they should have a lot more equity than if they bought it at the height of the market and maybe still have an underwater mortgage,” Alexander says.

-- Ask your agent to question the owners’ listing agent.

When owners have an urgent need to sell, it’s normally against their interest for that information to be broadcast to the world, which could weaken their bargaining position. Even so, Alexander says many listing agents will readily disclose such client information in response to questions.

“You’d be amazed how much listing agents will divulge to a buyer’s agent. For example, they might blab about how the seller must move due to divorce or a job transfer,” she says.

Another way prospective buyers can gauge the sellers’ level of motivation is to ask nearby neighbors. Alexander recommends that the buyers pick a Saturday to walk through the community, chatting with a few residents about the pros and cons of living there.

“The neighbors usually know everything, like why the owners of a house want to leave or have to do so. This info is golden when it comes time to shaping your offer,” Alexander says.

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