For a married couple of Milwaukee schoolteachers, turning 62 opened the gateway to retirement and to collecting Social Security. But true financial liberation will also require them to sell the Cape Cod home where they raised their four kids.

“Truth be told, we’re done with all that home upkeep and child-rearing. Our dream now is to hit the road as van lifers. For that, we’ve already picked out a Winnebago Travato we like,” the wife says.

At this point in the real estate cycle, an increasing number of older Americans wish to cash out their houses to fulfill their bucket lists. But unlike owners in many metro areas who are delisting their property because it’s failed to sell, the couple in Milwaukee face better odds. Home values there are still rising slightly.

“We got a great deal on our house that we bought 27 years ago. We’re hoping to get about twice the price we originally paid. But even then, our place would be quite affordable. Also, the house is in perfect condition, due to all our upgrades,” the wife says.

Indeed, the couple did extensive remodeling of their house. They added custom kitchen cabinets, quartzite countertops and an oversized refrigerator with French doors. For their backyard, they created a beautifully landscaped “outdoor room,” with ideal space for BBQs.

Still, the couple is uncertain about how their property should be priced and staged to maximize their proceeds. They’ve yet to identify the best possible agent to list their home.

Ron Phipps, a real estate broker and instructor in Rhode Island, doesn’t know the couple in this true story. But he recommends that those who are similarly situated search for an agent who knows their local area well.

“Conventional thinking on agent selection favors those who have extensive experience in your immediate region and therefore can offer expert advice on pricing—hitting the mark on the first try without going too high or low,” says Phipps, a former president of the National Association of Realtors.

-- Rule out faraway relatives and friends when choosing a listing agent.

With more than a million Americans involved in real estate sales, you might have a relative or friend working in the field. But should you consider hiring this person if their office is located a significant distance away from where you live?

Absolutely not, says Eric Tyson, co-author of “Selling Your House for Dummies.” He contends that a faraway agent is likely to be much less effective in marketing your property than one who knows your local turf well.

“As common sense implies, an agent based more than 30-minute ride away can’t be as responsive to prospects and their agents as someone close by. Geography can be a real barrier,” Tyson says.

It’s particularly 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 building.

“Nearby agents are much better at advising you about how to answer questions on your neighborhood when they come in,” Tyson says.

Realtors call the area where they most often sell homes their “farm.” Agents who say they farm your area should be able to show this with a list of transactions they’ve done there recently.

-- Conduct in-person interviews with at least two listing prospects.

Without interviewing other contenders, you may be tempted to hire an agent who comes highly recommended. But it’s still 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 suggests you should 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.

“It’s a short-sighted listing strategy,” says Phipps.

-- Seek information on honors obtained by agents on your short list.

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. That’s important, he says, because real estate is a cooperative profession, and a successful sale typically involves more than one agent.

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

During buoyant economic 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.

But in the current period, Phipps says many sellers are understandably nervous that complications along the way to closing might scotch their deal. That’s because nowadays, more purchasers must drop out because their mortgage financing has been turned down. Also, more bank appraisals are coming in below the price buyers have offered.

“Selling has become much more complicated. So 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.

Phipps uses this analogy: “Once a home sale was like an easy toboggan ride. Now there are trees in the way, and the ride is fraught with more risks.”

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

Two doctors met while serving in the trauma center at Utah State Hospital in Provo. Just a year later, they married and began growing what they hope will be a large family with four children. Now they also want their future house to have an expansive suite for the grandparents.

Large families are common in Utah, and so are spacious houses to accommodate them. Fortunately, the doctors have ample funds to buy a mega-home, and their top goal is moving from their snug three-bedroom split level to a place with loads of bedrooms.

“Of course, we want a kitchen with a huge island, a butler’s pantry and quartzite countertops. But more than that, we want a primary bedroom with a big bathroom plus an en suite room for every kid,” the wife says.

Prices continue to rise for such luxury homes in many parts of the country, says Sheharyar Bokhari, an economist for Redfin, a national real estate brokerage.

Stronger demand from luxury buyers is pushing up prices for that segment of the market, according to a new analysis by Redfin. It notes that within the last year, luxury home sale prices rose 5.5% over the prior year to reach a median $1.28 million.

Given inflation and other economic factors, “lower income consumers (are) struggling a bit and higher income ones (are) having a better time of it of late,” says Keith Gumbinger, a vice president of HSH Associates, which tracks real estate markets across the United States.

The Utah doctors are confident they can cover payments on their forever house. Right now, they’re seriously considering a seven-bedroom brick property with a three-car garage in a popular Provo neighborhood.

Jon Boyd, a long-time real estate broker and past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org), says many buyers are now placing a high priority on homes with many bedrooms.

“Bedrooms aren’t just in demand as home offices. They’re also coveted for use as nanny rooms, playrooms, hobby rooms, grandparent rooms and spaces for grown children who move back home,” says Boyd, who’s based in Michigan.

Although affluent buyers also insist on large, well-equipped kitchens, most won’t surrender their quest for at least four bedrooms, reasoning that their property will appreciate more if it meets that test.

Here are a few pointers for homebuyers at all income levels:

-- Try to anticipate the future needs of your household.

Boyd, who heads his own independent real estate company, says it’s not unusual for young couples who plan to one day have children to fail to factor this in when choosing a home.

Maybe you’re expecting your first child in two or three years. In this case, he says that purchasing a place with a bedroom that could serve as a nursery is a better bet than changing houses after the baby arrives.

“No matter your salary, it’s wise to choose a home with at least four bedrooms, while also considering the energy efficiency of the property,” Boyd says.

Buyers with teenage children should also be aware they may need housing even beyond their date of graduation from college or another postsecondary education program.

-- Realize that room-sharing can be a viable option for large families.

By the time they reach kindergarten, if not before, most children yearn for a bedroom of their own. Yet if your family is large or you hanker to convert at least one bedroom to a home office, it may not be possible to furnish each child with a private bedroom.

Still, Boyd says buyers needn’t worry if the house they purchase has too few bedrooms to meet their children’s wishes. He sees some benefits to room-sharing, especially for preadolescent children.

“My two daughters shared rooms until they were 12 or so. That way they learned to make compromises and to get along,” Boyd says.

Despite the potential character-building benefits of room sharing, some parents of school-age kids prefer to not have their children share.

“They fear other parents will think they’re not good providers if they don’t have a room for every child in the family,” Boyd says.

-- Search for a first-floor master suite for an elder parent.

Boyd estimates that nearly 20% of all buyers “are now talking about an elder parent moving in with them at some point in the future.”

If this is a possibility in your case, he says you should consider buying a one-level, ranch-style home or a place with a first-floor suite, complete with a private bath.

Even if your parents can easily scale the stairs now, they might find it a lot harder later. Having easy access to a bedroom with a full bath can be especially important to those who are elderly or have a disability.

“Because of the aging population, a first-floor master suite can also be a plus for resale,” Boyd says.

-- Make certain that any room counted as a “bedroom” fits the definition.

Given the popularity of properties with plenty of bedrooms, Eric Tyson, the author of “Personal Finance for Dummies,” says it’s not unusual for occasional home sellers to stretch the definition as to what counts as a bedroom.

“Maybe they’ll place an IKEA wardrobe and a bed in a small windowless room and claim it’s a bedroom. Or they’ll count a sitting room off a master suite as a bedroom,” Tyson says.

He urges buyers seeking a property with multiple bedrooms to make sure that all such rooms are truly bedrooms.

“Otherwise, you could have issues selling the home when it’s your turn,” he says.

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

A mother of four teens never expected to become a single parent at age 42. But after her husband died in a motorcycle crash last year, that became her reality. With just one parent to cover the family’s hefty mortgage payment for their Minneapolis house, she has no alternative but to sell and move to cheaper quarters.

“Yes, we had life insurance. But that covered just a fraction of the payment on our expensive Victorian. So I plan to sell and buy a cheaper property,” says the woman, an architect.

After weeks spent looking in her former neighborhood, the woman gave up her search for an affordable five-bedroom place there. Instead, she widened her search to include exurban properties in semi-rural areas. Her latest focus is on the historic country town of Faribault, Minnesota, an hour commute from her downtown Minneapolis office.

“I hate the idea of a long daily drive. But I absolutely don’t want monster housing payments. What if there’s a recession and my salary drops? That would be very stressful,” she says.

Alan Pisarski, a veteran transportation analyst, doesn’t know the architect in this true story. But for years he’s tracked ever longer “killer commutes” for buyers like her who face affordability challenges.

As he explains, many people able to telework during the pandemic moved to rural or semi-rural areas. Now that they’ve been called back to the office, they must commute even longer distances.

Nuno Mota, an economist at Fannie Mae, the national mortgage company, documents this trend from high density ZIP codes to lower density ones.

Even during the pandemic, the architect rarely worked from home. But she’s willing to accept a long commute to buy in an outlying town like Faribault, where she figures she’d get double the square footage for the same price in her posh Minneapolis neighborhood.

“Who cares about living in a high-status area? I just want big bedrooms for all my kids, but without wrecking my budget,” she says.

Here are pointers for buyers weighing the purchase of a semi-rural property:

-- Road test a potential commute.

Pisarski, author of a series of books called “Commuting in America,” has done extensive work documenting the time Americans spend on the road getting to and from work. As his research shows, average commuting times have increased nearly every year since 2004.

In high-cost areas especially, more people now face what Pisarski terms a “killer commute,” which means it’s lengthy and grueling. They do this because they can’t afford a large home that’s closer to their jobs.

Pisarski encourages any buyer considering a move to the hinterlands to do a trial of the prospective commute during the rush hour periods when they’d be making the drive. As he says, you’ll get a false picture if you attempt the test drive on a Saturday or a Sunday.

-- Keep in mind the major differences in floor plans between old and new.

Many large houses in towns like Faribault are decades old and were built during the big construction bulge of the 1950s and 1960s.

The contrast is most evident in the primary areas of such houses. Many newly constructed homes often feature an oversized “great room” that flows into the kitchen.

“The vast majority of houses built more than 40 years ago have smaller, boxier kitchens and self-contained living and dining rooms,” says Tom Early, a past president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (naeba.org).

-- Track down an exceptionally skilled home inspector.

Are you seriously considering an older place located many miles away from your office? In that case, you’ll want to be especially careful in the selection of a home inspector to go over the property, Early says.

“Older houses are more likely to have defects: plumbing, electrical, structural, roofing, anything. You need to know what you’re getting yourself into before you buy any house, but especially an old one,” he says.

Early suggests you look beyond the names of inspectors given you by your real estate agent. Another source of referrals that he recommends is the American Society of Home Inspectors (homeinspector.org).

“After you develop of short list of inspectors, make sure you check references by calling and asking past clients whether the inspector they used actually uncovered the flaws in the house. Most people are very open and truthful about such things,” he says.

-- Acknowledge the full costs of a “teardown” project.

People who have a tough time deciding between an old house in a convenient, close-in neighborhood and a larger, more luxurious place in an outlying suburb often ponder a third option: building a new home in an older part of town.

But given that empty lots are rare in desirable and well-established neighborhoods, this plan usually requires that you tear down a home to get the yard you need for your new house. Teardowns are occurring with increasing frequency in many areas where land values are high.

If you have no budget constraints, and local zoning regulations allow you to do a teardown project, this option could offer you the best of both worlds: a new house with extraordinary city access.

Still, as Early cautions, the teardown scenario can prove far more expensive than many people contemplate. Not only must you pay for the original house and lot, demolition expenses and your homebuilder’s charges. But you can also face unexpected expenses.

“The hidden costs can be huge. For example, suppose you discover hazardous materials, like asbestos, that require extensive disposal procedures before you’re allowed to rebuild. This could be a big Pandora’s box,” Early says. (To contact Ellen James Martin, email her at ellenjamesmartin@gmail.com.)