Choose the place before the property chooses it for you

It is easy to begin a move with a property portal. Set the budget, choose the number of bedrooms, draw a radius and see what appears.

The problem is that a property can be very convincing. A beautiful house can persuade you to compromise on a location that will shape every ordinary day long after the excitement of completion has faded.

Start with the life behind the move

Before looking at individual homes, write down what the move is supposed to improve. It may be more space, easier access to countryside, a better journey to work, proximity to family, walkable restaurants, a station, privacy, coast, culture or simply a different pace of life.

Then separate the requirements into things that are genuinely fixed and things you would trade. That creates a location brief rather than a wish list.

Compare places on ordinary days

A destination that is wonderful for a weekend is not automatically the right place to live. Think about a wet Tuesday in February as well as a sunny Saturday in June. Where will you shop, eat, exercise, travel, meet people and deal with the practical parts of life?

Only then search the property market

Once the location logic is sound, the property search becomes much more disciplined. You are less likely to waste weekends travelling to homes in places that were never going to work and less likely to buy the wrong lifestyle because the right kitchen happened to be attached to it.