House owners hoping to sell their properties are being advised to spend the next few weeks getting their properties ready for the autumn market.

Local agents advise that sellers take this traditionally quiet time in the industry to make sure their homes are in perfect condition before activity picks up again in September.

They were reacting to a claim from the Rightmove homes website that August 10, 2015, was the busiest day of the year for house hunters browsing properties, with more than 43 million page views recorded.

Adrian Tod, director at Hayward Tod Associates in Carlisle, said that in his experience, the August period tended to be quieter than busy May and June, and steady July, because it's a peak holiday month.

He said: "We have a surge after the summer holiday and September and October are good months.

"So if you haven't come to the market yet, August is a good time to be getting on with it, instructing an agent, painting the front door, getting the house ready to sell, so that when the holiday period ends and people are back at work looking at property in September and October, you can take advantage of those months.

"Kerb appeal is very important. We get a lot of clients who say, 'I want my house on the market, I'm going to be doing this and that, I'm going to touch up the fence, do a little bit inside'.

"And we say, 'Look, do it before you hit the market, you get one chance'. The first time someone sees your property, that's the moment they make an opinion so if it's not right, not up to scratch at that point, with all your good intentions they're not going to come back to you.

"It's very important to help the agent get the house ready to sell. It's not a showhome because nobody lives in a showhome, we live in homes, but you need to look critically at your own property and think, if you were a buyer what would you see, what would you feel?

"Work on the outside is important. The main elevation that people drive past, that they will see when they pull up, needs to look like someone cares about their house, the paths swept and cleared, borders done, the gate on its hinge, the front door looking sharp.

"These are just little things but they make a big difference to that first impression which is formed pretty quickly once the viewer, the potential buyer, arrives."

Richard Stronach, director at H&H King, said that last August was one of the best months he has had, although he can't pin down the reason.

"Sometimes it can be the activity before August that means people are doing the moving through August. My busy month was for exchanges. Property that had been sold two to three months previous to that, or one to two months previous, went through in August.

"Historically you would have to suggest that August isn't the busiest month. June and July are busy then the market starts to gain in September.

"What I would suggest to anybody out there at the moment is that they want to be putting their house on the market probably in the first or second week in September and that means that they have an opportunity for the property to have exposure to the market and hopefully receive an offer and be in for Christmas."