Comment: Yes, trying to sell a house is as stressful as they say

No one goes into a house sale thinking it’s going to be a load of fun, but it’s only when you’re in the thick of it that you can truly appreciate the full, unenjoyable reality of it all.

From the ultimate privacy invasion that is seeing every inch of your home displayed online, to the hassle of choosing a conveyancer and maintaining unnatural levels of tidiness for viewings, there's not a lot to love about the process.

We've just had our first viewings, and obviously wanted the house to look its best.

With three kids, two cats and a dog, the odds of achieving a clutter-free look devoid of yogurt smears or cat litter-spatters were stacked against us.

Unwilling to risk our ancient cats vomiting on a rug or filling their tray with something less than welcoming, we opted to take them out for the day.

A kind friend has a cattery and offered to host them (and one of our children - bonus) while we took the other two and the dog for a nice long walk.

On returning home, our next challenge was finding all the things we'd frantically tidied away, like the green waste bin squashed between some bags of potatoes and the kitchen drainer stuffed in a conservatory cupboard.

It's no surprise that selling your house is right up there with getting divorced in the stress stakes.

Not only is it a huge financial move, fraught with so much uncertainty, it's also emotionally draining.

Will we find a house we like? Will someone else conveniently like ours at exactly the right time?

It's impossible to know.

For now, we're trying to take it one viewing at a time. But while we achieved previously unseen levels of pet and child-free tidiness for one day, this isn't something we can maintain on an ongoing basis.

Fingers crossed we find a buyer before we lose the plot.