Nick Churton of Mayfair Office looks at whether it will be best to opt to stay in the market or to come out.

Should we stay or should we go? It is a very difficult question to answer. There are so many factors to take into account. What will happen if we stay where we are? What new opportunities might there be if we move? But if we stay put at least we know where we are. We have become used to it. Of course there are faults - many of which need to be fixed over time.

The neighbours are reasonably friendly and do look after us a bit. We are secure here and they do keep out some not-so-welcome guests. But the neighbours can also be taxing, do not always see things our way and often try and tell us what to do. Next door are always good for a fine meal and a great bottle of wine. But they grumble a lot and never seem to be happy. Next door but two are in a huge place, run things like clockwork, and often seem to bail out our more cash-strapped neighbours which is nice of them. But over the years we have on occasion not always seen eye-to-eye and have had some major arguments.

Of course if we do move it doesn't mean our neighbours won't move away themselves over time. So the old place may not stay the same whether we leave or not.

Then there are others in our own family to consider. If we do move some might not want to move with us, but would rather go in their own directions making our family smaller. Do we want that?

Moving could mean finding ourselves in an isolated place. We would have to make new friends, many of whom could live a long way away.

Yes, deciding whether to move house or not is a very big decision. Property exit - prexit - will be one of the biggest decisions we make. We'd better take a few months to think very carefully about being in or out of the market and then be prepared to live with our choice, because if we do move there is probably no moving back.