A step-by-step guide to selling your home ¦ Property Guides on Times Online

1. Your property is only worth what a buyer is prepared to pay for it. Make sure you get the valuation right. You will have trouble selling a property that is priced too high.

2. Research the market. The prices on estate agents windows are not what buyers actually pay. Many buyers are offering 10 per cent below the asking price. For £3 per search, The Land Registry website will tell you exactly what the house down the road actually sold for.

3. Pick the best estate agent for your type of property - not the one who offers the highest valuation of your home. Look at their books to check that they have sold lots of property similar to yours in the area.

Related Internet Links

• Property guides

A guide to househunting on the web

Househunting goes high-tech: technology is transforming the way we search for our next home. Our buyers test-drive top property websites

• A step-by-step guide to selling your home

• Gumtree founder, Simon Crookall, puts his £1.5m home for sale online

Background

• Why can’t we sell our home?

• ‘I didn’t want a profit; I just wanted out’

• How to sell your home in a hurry

Background

• Overseas property: where, how and what to buy

• How to get onto the property ladder

• Guide to buying above a shop

Background

• How to sell your home

• Buying a property at auction

• Home improvement

• Eco homes

• Step-by-step guide to buying your first property

Related Links

• A step-by-step guide to selling your home

4. Check how your agent will market your property. Most sellers start their searches online. Make sure your home appears in the main property search portals such as Rightmove, globrix, Propertyfinder, Findaproperty and Primelocation.

5. Have patience. Properties are taking longer to sell. Hometrack figures show that most properties sit on the market for an average of eight weeks before a buyer is found.

6. Get your Home Information Pack (Hip) ready. All properties for sale require them now. Hips take seven to 10 days to prepare and cost between £300 and £350. It includes evidence of title, the standard searches and an Energy Performance Certificate. Click here for news and comment on Hips.

7. Be flexible. If you really need to sell but haven’t found somewhere to buy, consider renting. Long chains are more fragile than ever in the current climate.

8. De-clutter, tidy up and mend. You may not get any more money by sprucing up the house but clear surfaces, freshly painted walls and professionally cleaned carpets will make it easier to sell. Finish off those odd jobs now.

9. Sentiment is key in a slow market and first impressions count more than ever. Enhance your home’s curb appeal and pay special attention to the front of the house. Clean windows, neat curtains and window boxes can make all the difference.

10. Property Tax: If you're selling your main home you will not have to pay tax on it. But if the property is not your main home, then you might have to pay Capital Gains Tax. For the lowdown, go to www.direct.gov.uk.

Times recommends

• Analysis: frustration for everyone - except investors
• Spanish property: why it's crunch time on the Costa del Sol
• Buy-to-let: professional investors cash in on the credit crunch