Selling your home and buying a new one can be both exciting and satisfying - but as anyone who has been through the process knows, it can also be fraught with difficulties and very hard on the nerves. If you ask an estate agent to identify the biggest single pitfall, he or she may well say that the most important thing stem’s from many people’s failure to manage their own expectations – which means, in short, being honest with yourself and realistic about what can and cannot be achieved. It also involves being prepared to travel down a potentially rocky road.

Our homes are so important to us that we sometimes seem to lose the ability to stand slightly apart and really view them objectively. Also, most of us are naturally optimistic, which is a good thing in many ways, but can blind us to the realities of buying and selling property.

As Mark Rimell of property specialists Strutt & Parker says, ‘One problem all estate agents face is managing the expectations of some vendors. There are people who think that their property will buck the market trend, no matter what, and sell in record time. Sometimes they are right, of course, and the very best homes can sell very quickly. This may involve sheer good luck; the right person looking for exactly that sort of house at that point in time.

Another group of sellers are often surprised by what can be achieved in the current market. Prices beyond the wildest dreams of some home-owners have been achieved, as not everyone is aware of the substantial price increases that have taken place in recent years.

‘More often than not an over-optimistic approach to the process of selling a house will lead to disappointment. Hard-headed realism can result in a faster, better sale.

’Similarly, purchasers can be equally unrealistic. A prospective purchaser will often show interest in a house for sale, or even put in an offer, without having even put their home on the market – but are convinced that it will sell in no time at all.’

Although buying and selling a property is one of the biggest transactions most people will ever undertake, many of us take the decision to move on little more than a whim. Home-owners often simply see their dream home in the local paper, or spot something while browsing internet property sites, and decide to move. Or they might be spurred to put their house on the market by something seen on television, or by a chance remark by a friend. That shouldn’t matter, but whatever the reasons for wanting to sell up and move, the process is best approached in a cool and thoroughly dispassionate frame of mind.

‘There really are two sorts of seller’, Mark adds, ‘Those who look ahead, plan their home move and have a complete strategy in place, and those who make an instant decision to move house, and want to action it immediately. Almost invariably it is the former group who achieve a sale more quickly, and often achieve a better price.

‘We can put a house on the market very quickly these days. We can have the outline details and photographs added to our internet site in a matter of hours. We can do it, but are the vendors really ready to sell?’

Is it very important that you prepare a house to go on the market. You wouldn’t sell a car without cleaning it thoroughly, inside and out, but people often forget that they need to look at their homes really objectively before they put them up for sale. It is crucial that a property is presented as well as possible. The notion that first impressions are all important is never so true as it is when applied to homes!

Mark Rimell – who is based at Strutt & Parker’s London office - points out that an agent really needs time to put a solid marketing campaign together and create the right feel for a home being offered for sale. A good agent can move very quickly when required to do so, but taking some time and marketing a home correctly will pay dividends. ‘Its never too early to call in an estate agent’, he says; ‘People might be considering moving in twelve months time and think that it’s too early to speak to an agent now, but forming a relationship with the right agent very early on in the process is nothing but a good thing’.

There are considerable variations in different parts of the country, but nationally it takes an average four months for a home to find a buyer. To get from exchanging contracts to getting the keys will take about one month – though it can vary according to circumstances.

From the summer 2007 anyone putting a house on the market will need to supply a Home Information Pack, which the government says will streamline the sales process. Today’s vendors can and should anticipate these delays and act early to avoid problems occurring later on – even though they are not yet required by law. Anyone thinking of moving should brief a solicitor early on, and not wait until you’ve seen the house you want to buy; there’s a lot of preparatory work that can be done early on which will save time later. These may involve a modest cost but it is an investment which will pay off later. If you can remove hurdles from the buying process your purchaser will have fewer reasons to change his or her mind. These are the details that can cause buyers to get cold feet, and ironing them out will save you time and money – and maybe the sale itself.

Anyone selling their home only needs to find one person - one purchaser – but the skill lies in finding the right person at the right time. That is why employing an experienced and professional estate agent is so important; one who knows the local property market inside out, and knows how to pitch the marketing of any particular home at exactly the right level. An experienced agent will be able to pre-empt some pitfalls, and will be well placed to assist in overcoming those that arise unexpectedly. Finding a buyer is only the first part of the exercise. A proactive agent can avoid the need for costly renegotiations by finding innovative solutions.

Aside from those very lucky few who sell their home over a dinner party conversation, achieving a sale at the right price and within a sensible timetable can only be achieved by market knowledge, hard work and experience.