Wanted: buyer who'll take good care of my first-time baby

Dublin 7: €420,000 Selling your first home feels like you've betrayed a good friend. You struggle so hard to get together the deposit, secure a mortgage and find a house within your price bracket that you feel the relationship should last forever.

Then something else catches your fancy. You decide it's time to avail of the tax-free profits possible from the sale and reinvest the monies in a new project. It's not you, it's me. With one Judas kiss, the roof over your head is facing the selling squad, being measured and photographed for mugshots. She, because I've always seen my home as female, has to endure endless footfall from prospective buyers and intimate inspection of all her areas.

Maybe I'm being too soft and sentimental but for me finding the right estate agent for her was crucial. Maybe it was guilt but like the surrogate mother of an attractive-but-doesn't-know-it-yet teenage girl, I inspected all sorts of suitors for her. I asked estate agents about their backgrounds, what their intentions were, what they had previously sold in the area and what they would value my house at. I liked to take the agents outside to discuss details outside of earshot lest my walls really had ears.

You need an estate agent who understands the market in your area and is genuinely interested in your property, not just the commission. I wanted an estate agent I could trust my baby with. I saw several and dismissed outright any that sent spotty young fellas in bad suits - I know I hate viewing properties where the estate agent doesn't know basics such as square footage, aspect and age of the property, so I assume everybody else does. I wanted someone with authority, a chaperone of sorts.

This mentor-cum-minder should be asked about any cosmetic changes that might open the property up to a wider ranger of interested parties. Thanks to a plethora of property programmes we all know that you paint the place, declutter and scrub the place spotless. But we don't always know how to go about this.

If hiring professionals, don't leave anything to chance and don't pay until you're satisfied with the job. Do not underestimate the declutter rule. No one is interested in your ornament or shoe collections - they do not lend the place character - they just make it look down at heel

Lastly, when you've reconciled yourself to the fact that you're flying the nest and won't be staying in touch, let the neighbours know - it's rude not to. Do not underestimate their contribution to your property's value either.

Alanna Gallagher's first home, a three-bedroom house at 14 Arbour Hill, D7, is on the market through The Property Shop, Stoneybatter at €420,000