If you – like many others - are thinking of putting your home up for sale or let in the new year, property specialist Leaders has some valuable advice to put you one giant leap ahead of the competition before the property market hots up in January.

Kevin Shaw, Leaders’ national sales director, said: “The simplest and most effective thing you can do is instruct an agent a few weeks before Christmas so your property is listed on the major portals before the new year rush.

“January is an exceptionally busy time for the property market, when a flood of homes tends to become available and buyers are looking in their droves. With so many properties being listed at this time, there is more intense competition and it can be harder to make your home stand out from the crowd.

“But if you instruct a good agent before Christmas your property will appear online over the festive period, when there is usually a smaller number of homes listed but a huge number of people looking. Although you might assume Christmas would be a major distraction from house-hunting, the opposite is in fact the case, as peoples’ thoughts turn to making a fresh start in the new year and they take advantage of time off work to start their search.”

Every year the property portals report a surge in traffic from Christmas Day through to New Year’s Day, with millions of online property searches carried out during this period. Last year Rightmove’s website saw more than 12 million visits between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve as more people made use of their holiday to house-hunt.

“So making sure your property is listed in time to capture this surge of interest is a must for those sellers looking to put themselves in a strong position,” says Kevin. “With fewer properties competing for attention at this busy time you can secure more interest, viewings and hopefully offers early in January, when many others are only just beginning to get the process underway.”

Leaders ensures that all properties for sale appear on the major UK property portals as well as its own popular website which receives around 215,000 visits every month. Professional photography, engaging descriptions, glossy brochures, floor plans and premium listings are just some of the tools used to put together a first-class presentation of your property and grab the attention of buyers.

For advice you can trust on successfully selling or to receive a free, no-obligation valuation to ensure you get the best price for your property, please contact your local Leaders branch or visit www.leaders.co.uk