One of the great triggers in the property year is the beginning of the autumn school term. Once the children have gone back to school, there is more time for house hunting and just enough time to be in your new home by Christmas.
But, just as the children are learning new things, there are new things to be learnt in buying and selling property. Even to those who have bought and sold several times before, this is a new market. The property market is always in flux. Even experienced estate agents won't say that they have 'seen it all before'. But they have seen more than anyone else.
So, here are some lessons you may like to bear in mind should you be coming into the market this Autumn.
The media hype perpetuated throughout newspapers, TV, radio and online about a buying frenzy throughout the UK is actually rather far from reality. Certainly, hotspots like prime London areas and certain towns and cities have surged ahead rather quickly. But that is not to say there is a surge nationwide. In most locations values have not actually reached pre-2007 levels. This is the best indicator that the market actually remains price-sensitive.
In fact, many agents now actually believe that the heat is coming out of the market, even in the hotspot areas as buyers are beginning to resist what they believe are overblown prices.
Confidence is an absolutely crucial factor in the property and home-buying market, and while confidence in the economy itself is certainly better now than it has been for many years, certain factors do have an opposing effect.
The mortgage lenders are all working on far stricter and more restrictive lending criteria, very much affecting those buyers who are looking for any sort of funding or borrowing.
At the upper end of the market we are greeted with both uncertainty and fear about a possible Mansion Tax being levied in future. Elsewhere, in Scotland, many are waiting for the result of the referendum that will be held on the 18th of this month. In the rest of the UK, we will not be waiting very long before we are at the business end of a general election campaign, with all of its ensuing uncertainty.
So, some things about the market never remain the same. But some do; buyers always like to purchase well, and sellers always like to sell well - a recipe for conflict, perhaps. So, the biggest lesson for anyone entering the property market this Autumn is compromise. With compromise come deals. Without compromise there is little but frustration and no move before Christmas.
So it is imperative to talk to those who have seen a great deal before. Take advice from mature and experienced estate agents. They are not there to take advantage of you - despite what the media may say (and bear in mind this is not how long-term clients are made). They are there to get the best deal for you. Don't demand too much or accept too little. Be flexible. Understand the market conditions which apply today and not in the past - nor what you hope they may be in future. And there the lesson ends.
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