According to Rightmove, houses in the capital are taking on overage 87 days to sell, in other words the best part of three months.

Unlike the last year or so, when a seller could practically name his price and in many cases end up with a sealed bidding situation - the market has dramatically changed and the buyers are getting more demanding.

87 Days - that’s a substantial amount of time.

So what can the seller do to decrease this selling period?

1. Put a realistic price on the property. Despite the doom sayers there are still plenty of buyers out there - but they want a more realistic price. By selling privately you could consider chopping part of the agent’s fee off the price of your house - thus making your proposition much more attractive to potential buyers.

2. Sell privately. Back on the 15th June we reported that an Alliance And Leicester survey had shown that selling privately wasn’t just easier - it is faster too. Click http://www.buyitprivately.com/blog/?m=200706  to read the full article.

Remember - houses are still selling - and a realistically priced property in a good location is attractive as it ever was - you may just have to work a little harder to secure the sale.