2 years ago when I bought my second property I crumbled to the seller’s demands. Back then it was a sellers market, in 4 out of 5 cases the buyer met the seller’s asking price instantly. I tried offering 3 thousand pounds less then the asking price but the buyer refused the offer point blank. Rather than argue over 3 thousand pounds and possibly loose the house I loved, my next offer, the full asking price, was accepted.

Since then mortgage interest rates have almost doubled, confidence in the property market has started to decline.

Demand from buyers is dropping more and more homeowners are looking to sell up. This means the property market is fast becoming a buyer's market, and so lots of sellers are forced to reduce the asking price of their property. Only a good thing if you are thinking of buying a house in the near future.

If you are selling a house there are a number of things you can do to make sure your property gets the best possible sale price.

Firstly you should always have a tidy house whenever there are viewings booked in. You have no excuses to be honest. De-clutter and clean everywhere, even before the photos are taken but especially and definitely before a potential buyer books a viewing.

On the subject of viewings you should really try to make yourself available 24/7. If you get picky about when potential buyers can view you could be turning down the opportunity of a quick sale or the possibility of selling at all. Remember most people work so you’ll be looking at evenings and weekends, possibly your only free time, but remember it will be worth it in the end. If it takes too long to sell your house you could end up loosing money.

Finish all outstanding DIY jobs. There’s nothing worse than looking round a house thinking ‘this needs a lot of work’, especially off-putting if similar fully re-decorated properties are available in the surrounding areas. It just looks like you don’t care about your house.

Be prepared. By this I mean all the legalities and paperwork. Get a solicitor lined up as soon as possible and make sure everything is in place to, hopefully, ensure a quick sale if you get the opportunity.

Don’t go crazy with your asking price. I’ve recently actually phoned an estate agent out of curiosity because a bog standard 3 bed house in my area was on the market for approximately ?80 thousand pounds more than the average price in the area. I know it had been recently re-furbished but ?80 thousand pounds worth?! I don’t think so…Get a valuation from a few estate agents and check out your local areas average price online, there are plenty of web sites that offer this as a free service.

Trying to sell your house right now is not going to be easy. It may be best to wait until the traditionally more buoyant market conditions of the spring. By early 2008 we should also have a clearer understanding of how the credit crunch or if the credit crunch is continuing to affect the UK property market.