The leaves are beginning to change and so is the property market. Now that the kids are back into school, sellers and buyers alike are keen for new properties before the chill of winter settles in.

But with all of the properties currently on the market, how can you make your home stand out? Hoping to help you, I’ve tried to give you my best tips for helping your home cut through the crowd during the busy autumn property season.

1. Be conscious of colours

Autumn has a new colour palette and your house should reflect the change of seasons as well. We took the advice of design expert David Pickavance of Cubbon & Bregazzi, who said: ’Colours are a prerequisite in assuring a house sits within the seasonal trend, and offer buyers exactly what they’ve been anticipating even before they see it.

’Use colours like cranberry or salsa red, Buckingham or Eden green, and even muted colours like olive, coffee, or truffle brown. Décor-wise, highlight fireplaces, candles, rustic furniture, and historical features.’

2. Tend to your garden

After all the beautiful flowers and foliage of the summer, your garden, like my own, is probably looking a bit tired. It’s a bit damp underfoot, leaves are falling and the bright colours have changed into autumnal shades.

Gardening and landscaping expert Richard Speight of Manx Marvel Gardens recommends: ’Apply colour to the flower beds around the front of the house with evergreen shrubs, frame the entrance/porch and make sure you sweep up leaves.’

3. Make sure your photos match the season

All agents worth their salt agree on this, it’s critical. Richard Cryer of Jewell Photography Isle of Man told me when we take photos of the outside space ’ we must represent the same time, if a garden shot shows trees in full blossom rather than leaves slowly falling and changing colours’.

Buyers look at properties at a certain point in time, in a specific season and most are pretty eagle-eyed and will spot the discrepancies!

This is super important if your home has been on the market for a while. I always advocate a blend of images, strike the right balance between the seasonality of when a house is being marketed with the strong points it offers would-be purchasers.

5. A second opinion

If you’ve lived in your house for many years it can be hard to step back and judge where it needs to be improved. A good estate agent will be able to look at your house with a critical eye and identify areas that need sprucing.

6. Your fireplace

Have you got a real fire? If so, there’s nothing more welcoming that an open fire on a cold autumn day.

On the day of the viewing, light a fire to cultivate that cosy autumnal feeling.

Put the coffee on too, pleasant aromas make houses feel far more welcoming and homely.

7. Let there be light!

Make sure your agent turns on all the lights in your home when he/she is showing it to prospective buyers.

It gets darker much earlier in the autumn, and having a well-lit home makes it feel welcoming and cosy, two feelings you should cultivate when staging a property.

8. Make changes to your advertisement

Taking a long hard look at your advertising after the summer is essential.

How many viewings did you get in the first six to 10 weeks your property was listed?

Make time to discuss your marketing with your agent. Talk about how your property is being listed, is the pedestal the agent has put it on high enough, bright enough?

Consider his/her advice on price. There is a buyer for every property.