According to data from the firm Property Solvers, homes in Scotland sell 28 per cent faster than those on the market in England and Wales.

On average, it takes 12.57 weeks for a residence in Scotland to sell from the moment it is listed to completion, compared to 16.11 weeks elsewhere.

Mostly, this is due to the different conveyancing process north of the Border, where necessary documents need to be in place before marketing.

House sellers could be in for a long wait in a slowing market

But even within Scotland it varies –Paisley homes are quick to shift, with an average of eight weeks, whereas Glasgow’s average is 13 weeks and Edinburgh’s is 14 weeks.

While market forces will affect the time taken, the most important factors are the challenges of specific homes, which sellers can sometimes be blind to.

A friend recently tried to sell her parents’ modest end-terrace on the outskirts of Edinburgh. A huge electricity pylon in the garden – used to tie up the washing line, but otherwise largely ignored – apparently wasn’t the most desirable feature, something the elderly owners hadn’t even considered might be a problem.

And then there are homes which have nothing obviously wrong with them. A bungalow in my village was on the market for years, despite being very well priced, with fantastic views.

However, it has a steeply sloping garden and 20-odd steps up to the front door. Not a concern for a young family, but inside there’s only two bedrooms, so the sort of downsizer who would love the house might baulk at the ongoing effort needed to take in the shopping.

Some things that put buyers off can be unfixable, like an undesirable location, while others can be problems too costly for sellers to remedy, such as structural defects or missing planning permission.

But common hold-ups are legal wranglings – over a mistake on the title deeds or a complication in the terms of a will or a divorce settlement.

I’ve sold a house previously where the breadth of the pen used to mark a boundary created a problem. The thick marker line seemed to cut off an access point and had to be clarified. There was no dispute from the neighbours, but by the time it was fixed by the solicitors the initial bidders had lost interest and we eventually had to re-market and accept a lower price.

The lesson learned is that selling a house starts with refining the minor details first, as any ongoing questions can make a place unattractive – no matter how well-appointed.

Other than that, it all comes down to price. Properties at the top end of the market will only have a handful of potential buyers able to afford them, so finding one will take time.

For the rest of us, asking prices have to be realistic. It is a hard lesson that buying a property for £X and spending £Y on it does not guarantee that it’s now worth £X+£Y.

But the other advantage of the Scottish system over the rest of the UK is that we market at offers over.

Better to start low and attract competing bids, than to go high and sit alone in your immaculate home while viewers give you a swerve.

Kirsty McLuckie is the property editor of The Scotsman

Kirsty McLuckie on selling your home in a slow market