At some stage in our lives we will all move house and the complexities of the process will either glide smoothly to a happy conclusion, or cause stress and anxiety. The single main cause of any stressful move comes when a chain is involved: a who is moving to b, who is moving to c and so on. Because of the number of simultaneous transactions involved, the finances to arrange, the surveys to satisfy, the glitches in title, covenant or contract and the completion dates that need to tie in, there is the much greater chance that the whole pile will collapse and all parties will have to start again.

In any market avoiding a chain is the ideal. The simplest transaction of willing buyer and willing seller is just what the doctor ordered, but the seller will always need a property to move to and the buyer will often rely on a property to sell.

Which brings us to the chicken and the egg. Which comes first? If you are considering a move, do you wait for your perfect house to become available to buy before selling yours, or do you put yours on the market first in the hope that the perfect house will become available. In both cases you will have to rely on a great deal of luck to tie in both the sale and the purchase in the same time period and, of course, the dreaded chain is always lurking to scupper the whole deal.

In any market conditions this is always a quandary. Now especially, however, it is more so. It is not an easy market to see sales through, moving house is expensive so people want to get it right and there is still a big unknown in the larger picture.

There has been a general lack of quality property available, so the chances of your tying in an immediate onward purchase is slim. The reasons for the lack of supply are plenty, but the main one is that folks are holding back from putting their properties on the market until they see one that they want to move to – and so the catch 22 is born. If properties aren’t coming to the market, they won’t be seen as available and their potential buyers won’t put their properties on the market either. This isn’t a new climate, it has been going on for a long time and it has always restricted movement.

So what is the answer? If you are a truly motivate seller, put your house on the market before finding your next home and be prepared to break the chain by renting for the short term. This will free you from the stress of a fragile chain and put you in a perfect position to jump as soon as your perfect house becomes available to buy. Yes, it means a double move, yes it means an unsettled period, yes it means paying out in rent what you could be saving, but put these against a successful outcome, far less trauma and the significant extra costs of collapsing chains and you can start to see the reasoning. Some attempts at moving house go on for months or even years and chains are frequently to blame, while those who decide to break have already moved on and put the stress well and truly behind them.

The forecast for the 2013 UK housing market is that it will not be much different to 2012 in terms of property transaction levels and most commentators agree that that it is unlikely that we will see house prices recovering this coming year. Low interest rates are supporting a fragile market and while they remain low, prices will be hold up to some extent, but it certainly won’t be a bumper twelve months and indeed sellers will have to take a pragmatic approach in order to attract buyers.

Despite the gloom of low growth and increasing austerity, there is however, resilience in the local housing market and if you are considering a move this year it is wise to take heed of some sensible advice.

1. If you live in a good, uncompromised location, be happy because your property should sell. If it does not then there it is probably because something is wrong with either the price or the marketing strategy.
2. If your house is for instance affected by a busy road, overlooked by a close neighbour or has too small a garden, be realistic about the price.
3. Have a few agents out to appraise your property and don’t necessarily go with the highest estimated value.
4. Selling houses in this market is all about effort, so be prepared to put effort in yourself and choose an agent who you believe will give it everything.
5. Trust your agent. Most experienced ones have been have been through good times and bad, so understand the present conditions. Someone offering a truly personal service will guide you through the mire to achieve the best possible price for you.
6. It is never too early in the year to get going and putting your ducks in a row now can mean you hit the road running when you are ready to do so, so consider taking advice sooner rather than later.

Taking note of these points will provide you with the best chance of a strong and successful sale campaign, so good luck if you are going to take the plunge in 2013 and Happy New Year!

Beyond the baked bread, fresh coffee and gentle Mozart drifting in the background, there is a myriad of emotional, practical and sensitive issues that need to be tackled if you are to sell your house successfully. And here are just some of them:

Take advice from your estate agent

The best Agents are there to help, acting in the best interests of their clients rather than concentrating on their balance sheets, and you should accept the advice that they give you. Any business is as good as its reputation and referrals would soon dry up if an Agent kept getting it wrong, so trust what you are told and be prepared to act upon it.

Iron out property problems early on

You should know your property well enough to know where any problems lie, so share these with your Agent before you begin marketing, after all, everybody suffers if a last minute glitch emerges causing the collapse of a deal.  Areas to mention include restrictive covenants, rights of way, structural issues, boundary disputes and building regulations. Early knowledge and the chance to put things right will save heartache later on.

Step back emotionally

This is often easier said than done, especially if your home has years of happy memories, or you take great pride in what you have created there. Wherever your emotions lie, you have to detach yourself and treat the sale as that of a commodity. One man’s meat is another man’s gravy and a buyer may look at your property from a completely different perspective. I’ve often heard clients say that they want to sell their house to a family they like. Sadly, we don’t have that luxury anymore, so as long as the buyer can complete a purchase at an acceptable level, then that is the person to sell to.

Let the Agent do the Viewings

Agents are very good at showing people around houses because they are salespeople . Not in the sense of the hard sell, but more in knowing which buttons to press and when. Viewers also need to relax and take their time and it is very difficult to do so if the owner is there and the feeling is one of intrusion, so take the dog for a walk or pop to the shops. Try also to always insist that the negotiator dealing with your house is the one to show it, rather than viewing staff. They know it best and can talk turkey if it comes down to on-the-spot negotiations.

Accept market conditions

The property boom is over and we are in a fragile market. If you want to sell your house and move on you have to accept the economic conditions and position the marketing of your property accordingly. Buyers are buying and will continue to buy, but they are reluctant to pay what they consider to be over the odds. Take your Agent’s advice, find the right buyer at the right price for the prevailing conditions and move on. You will be able to negotiate just as hard on a purchase, and if you rent and wait for the right house to come up, you could be quids in.

Winter is just around the corner and in a few weeks’ time the trees will be bare, bringing to an end the traditional Autumn property market. There has been a spate of transactions over the last month or two, but those Vendors who have not sold need to decide where to go from here. The winter months are not the most attractive to show off any house at its best and, while there continues to be a market with some strong and committed buyers, many houses will still suffer.

So here are some options to weigh and measure:

If you have to sell, then there is little choice but to keep your house on the market. The finer points of strategy are for discussion between you and your Agent and effective tactics need to be thrashed out that will give your property the best possible chance of selling over the Winter months. Think about having it re-evaluated, look at the marketing presentation, try to iron out glitches that have emerged from any feedback. There are often things that can be done to refresh the house and show it in a completely different light so now is the time to think laterally.

If you have to move, but don’t need the equity from a sale just yet, you should consider letting your house. This is a whole new ball game and you need advice on preparing the house for letting, not to mention legislation, tax, insurance etc. It needn’t be too complicated and the letting can be fully managed to save you the headache, but you may have to put in some initial effort yourself to secure a good tenant in the long run. You can let the property for six months or longer and then make a decision to sell again when the time is right.

You may be the executor of an estate and debating whether you should be waiting for a stronger market to sell a probate property. In this case the best option may be to attempt a simultaneous sale or let and go with whichever comes first. If you manage to sell the property then you will have fulfilled your responsibilities, and if not, a letting will keep the house occupied over the chillier months and you can attempt a sale once the daffodils are out.

If you are in no hurry to sell, however, there is little point in keeping your property on the market because it could start to look very stale. The obvious advice is to withdraw it until the Spring and enjoy it yourself. In the meantime keep a close eye on which comparable houses have been selling, so that you can make realistic and informed decisions when the time comes around for marketing again.

Selling your house under any circumstance can be a stressful experience.