With the economic doldrums continuing to depress the market economy and individual taxpayer in equal measure, one of the first things many people have decided to do is forget about moving home.

It’s easy to understand, with finances being squeezed, bank lending drying up and increasing distrust about the security of jobs. Yet the property industry is one of the driving factors behind economic recovery, and currently overall growth across the UKL is extremely patchy. In London, of course, property prices remain at a recession-busting increase, and largely out of the financial grasp of most aspiring first time buyers. In other areas of the UK however, especially the North of England, prices have remained either static or continued to shrink.

Given that moving home at the best of times involves a certain degree of expense and time, not to mention the stress and hassle when things start to go wrong in the buying process, many people are afraid to take the risk in the current climate. Others too are quick to pull out when some problem occurs on the buyer chain, or the process of completion gets drawn out. This is perhaps one of the most frustrating parts as indecision or second thoughts by one seller can jeopardise the moving plans of several people in one go.

One of the key things to avoiding this type of situation is getting the right estate agent or property consultant involved on your side. To be fair, the previous decade’s property boom allowed some mainstream firms to get quite lazy in their approach: in return for a hefty percentage they would do little more than arrange a viewing, take a few details and get these sent off to Rightmove. There would be a few entries in the local property pages and often you would end up having to show prospective buyers around yourself as no agents would be available.

Given that there was an abundance of property and ever-increasing margins to be made, many agents felt they had to do very little in order to remain profitable, and the service that many sellers experienced wasn’t that great. On moving day communication between agents and solicitors often broke down, and it was a familiar sight to see someone waiting outside their home-to-be with a van-load of furniture and impatient removal men, waiting for funds to clear and the keys to be surrendered.

Jump forward to the global recession and the housing market definitely started feeling the pinch first. A lack of optimistic mortgage lending, reduction in government new build programmes and solvent building companies willing to create new homes, all helped stifle the market. With business becoming scarce, many of the one-profitable mainstream estate agencies found themselves laying off staff and closing branches.

Although it’s never nice to see companies in trouble, for estate agencies at least this has sifted out some of the chaff. Realising they had to work harder to secure their business, the better estate agents continued to turn a profit by chasing down deals and doing the best for their clients, and those who just relied on the customers to do the heavy lifting soon found that it didn’t take much to scare a potential sale off once problems arose.

The truth is that difficult times often create opportunities. Even in the last housing recession (when interest rates shot up to 15%) there were those so desperate to sell and facing negative equity issues, that some fantastic bargains could be had if you had some ready capital and were prepared for a long-term strategy.

So it is currently: good deals are out there, but it’s probably unrealistic to expect the first house you look at to be your dream home and right in your preferred budget. Finding the right property is going to take some time and involve having a range of criteria you are willing to consider in order to find a real deal. Of course – we’re all busy trying to earn the money required for the mortgage, so who has time on top of their other commitments to be spending their free moments house hunting?

Well again, here’s where the dedicated estate agent comes in. When considering any agency, ask about how they will inform you of new property that’s available and take any reply of “just check the website”, as a red warning flag. A good estate agent knows the market, knows the area you wish to live in and should have a good idea when something that fits your requirement becomes available. Frankly, if you have to search for everything yourself and make the arrangements, you might as well pay yourself the commission, or arrange to sell and market your own property. One of things that good agents recognise your percentage pays for is their expertise.

How do you recognise a good estate agent? Do a spot of due diligence and examine the company’s profit statements. Although the overall situation for property isn’t great there are still those who are turning a healthy property, seeing a percentage increase in the houses they sell, and are even expanding their operation to new branches across the country. These are the kind of people you want on your side when it comes to finding a new place to live.