It is said that moving house is the third most stressful experience after bereavement and divorce.  Although I have not suffered the second, I have suffered the first and while moving house cannot be compared to the loss of a loved one, it is an extremely stressful experience. As a solicitor having been in practice for more decades than I care to remember and having helped literally hundreds of clients through this process, one would imagine for me it would be a fairly straightforward process – not at all.  The last time my family moved house 33 years ago, my husband did everything but on this occasion I had to be client as well as solicitor – perhaps not a sensible idea.

Preparing the Home Report was fairly painless with the patient assistance of the very able Kevin Angus of Shepherds but then came the brochure.  Although my colleagues would suggest I can talk for Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland – not true - I am firmly of the view that images tell the story rather than adjectives and superlatives that have one scurrying to the dictionary to see what they mean.  After pondering this task over many evenings into the wee small hours, it was taken over by my very able and helpful colleague Gregor Sim who, along with our Estate Agency Department, produced sale particulars to present my home at its very best without transporting a prospective viewer into fantasy land.  Then came the viewers, many of them out of curiosity as our family home was one of those rare houses in Aberdeen which had been owned by very few families since its construction in the mid 1800’s and was tucked out of sight behind mature trees and shrubbery.  I remembered my husband, who had also been a solicitor, telling clients to ignore the viewers who claim to be rushing off to see their solicitors to put in an offer the very next day.  He used to maintain that the likely purchasers were viewers that perhaps you didn’t even remember and how true that has been.  It is a horrible experience to show your own property and there were a number of occasions, not being the most patient of people, I would gladly have shown viewers the door before they had even reached the upper floor.  It took a while, but eventually our home was sold to a most delightful family and I am reassured that in their hands it will continue as a happy and much appreciated family home.

Then came the search for a new home which at the beginning of this year was proving difficult and would have been a real challenge for even Kirstie and Phil! As the weeks passed I had to reduce my list of essential requirements, but eventually I found the perfect flat literally round the corner from where I lived.  After dealing with the legal side of things, next came the removal.  I think the removal men thought they were shipping to outer Mongolia.  Boxes were taped so as to defy even the alcohol fortified scissors wielding homeowner trying to find the essentials, the kettle and the gin; eventually peace settled over the chaos and Hamlet, the family Basset, gave his seal of approval, and a well-deserved chilled glass of prosecco infused with a dash of raspberry Edinburgh gin was enjoyed by me!

Anyway, for those clients thinking of buying and selling, I hope I will have a more sympathetic as well as professional approach to the trials and tribulations of moving house after my own traumatic experience.

For advice on the buying/selling process, feel free to contact Liz Mackinnon on 01224 581581 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.