Talking to the bank felt like the serious step, so I put it off and read the market first. Progres Real was where I started, mostly because the listings in our town were not telling me much. By the time I sat down with an adviser, I knew roughly what I was asking for and why.

For a few months I followed the same handful of streets. Every new listing, every price change, every one that sat there for ages and then disappeared. After a while you start to see which places sell quickly and which ones come back with a new photo and slightly different wording. That was more useful than any forecast.

Then I started noting what similar homes actually went for. I even knocked on the door of one that had just sold to ask, which felt cheeky and worked. Putting that next to the asking prices gave me a realistic range. Rough, but enough to know when something was priced oddly.

Working out our real budget was less fun. What we could pay each month and still live, rather than what the bank was willing to lend. We added in the things nobody mentions at the appointment: the roof, the gutters, the boiler and the fact that furniture costs money. It lowered our ceiling and I am glad it did.

The hardest part was not falling for the first house we loved. We did love it. It had a bay window, a garden and a kitchen I could picture us in. We waited a week, went back, noticed the damp patch by the back door, and let it go. Patience is boring advice and it was the advice that worked. The house we bought came along a month later and suited us better.