Location is always held up as being the paramount factor to consider when purchasing a house because although you can often make extensive changes to a house, you can’t physically move it to somewhere more to your liking.

In practice, things can often be more complicated. You might have a list of requirements for your ideal home, such as number of bedrooms, size of garden and so on, but your budget might not stretch to the prices being asked for that type of house in the location of your choice.

So, what do you do? Compromise would seem to be the name of the game — but should it be on the location, or the house itself?

But before you get caught up in the dream of the country cottage with roses round the door, first be honest with yourself.

What do you really want, what do you like and what do you need? Then think about where you are likely to achieve this.

For example, how long are you prepared to spend travelling to work and how you will manage when your car is off the road? What is the public transport like?

Think about what kind of amenities you use and how often.

If you have to drive everywhere, this will impact on your living costs, so you have to consider whether you can actually afford to do this, in addition to the physical practicalities and the time factor involved.

Other major considerations might include proximity to family, the kind of community you would like to live in, transport links, such as motorways, and, of course, the reputation of the local schools.

Also, think about how your requirements will change over time. What if you change jobs?

How will you cope as your family grows up? Teenage children will not thank you for moving to the middle of nowhere, and you’ll soon get fed up with supplying them with a taxi service if you do.

Physically drawing up a list of pros and cons can help to concentrate the mind and promote discussions with the rest of the family.

After all, in most cases, the views of several people have to be taken into consideration.

Naturally, there is an element of horses for courses, as not everyone will put the same location-linked criteria at the top of their list.

A rural or village location is always going to be desirable because it is in short supply, but equally, for some buyers, particularly younger ones, living in a town centre could be vital, with access to shops, transport and leisure facilities just a walk away.

Once you have established what criteria are essential, which ones would be nice to have and those that are not important to you, you can then begin to think about where you might like to live within your given budget.

This is where there may have to be some degree of compromise.

James Baldry of Bridges says that, although it very much depends on personal circumstances, his office increasingly sees people who are prepared to look at slightly cheaper locations in order to buy a property that more suits their needs.

“Young couples from Farnham move to Aldershot because they can get, say, a two-bedroom house there for the price of a one-bedroom apartment in Farnham,” he said.

“Similarly, people from Guildford move to areas like Ash Vale because they’re still near to the town but they can get a little bit more for their money.

“However, within that compromise, you find that they won’t move further. So if they choose Aldershot over Farnham, they will want the best part of Aldershot and on that they won’t budge.”

Of course, each purchaser will have a list of priorities according to their personal situation and preferences.

For example, location within the catchment area of a popular school is likely to be top of the list for couples with children, but they will often have to pay a premium for that privilege.

On the positive side, as long as the school maintains its standards, properties in its catchment will always be in demand and, therefore, eminently resellable at top prices.

Richard Day of Hamptons’ Fleet office reports that the excellent reputation of Court Moor School has boosted prices in Church Crookham.

“The catchment of this school has now become a preferred area within Fleet and prices reflect this,” he said.

For those who like the area but don’t have children of school age, it can be worth considering buying just outside a catchment.

This can allow them to benefit financially while still remaining generally in the area of their choice.

However, Steve Tetlow of MacKenzie Smith points out that this goes against the advantage of having a desirable house that will sell in any kind of market.

When considering the importance of location, Mr Tetlow has one piece of advice. “I would always recommend that some-one buys the worst house in the best road, rather than the best house in the worst road,” he said.

“But it pays to find out about the locality before you take the plunge, particularly if you are from outside the area, because you could find things aren’t quite as you expected.

“And it’s worth bearing in mind that so-called up-and-coming roads and areas take time to change. So if you’re thinking of buying on that basis, you have to take a more long-term view.

“One exception to this, however, is likely to be Farnborough, where new investment by businesses and the regeneration of the town centre is going to make the area much more desirable relatively quickly.”

Hartley Wintney, where Mr Tetlow is based, is one of the area’s prime property locations and homes there are sold at a premium because of this.

“If you really want to move to Hartley Wintney and funds are tight, I would say be prepared to compromise in the short term for the sake of the long term,” he said.

“So, you could buy a bit smaller to get into the village and then in the future buy something bigger as a local person, which is always easier to do because you will be familiar with the area.”

But even within a given location, there will also be sub-locations which are more or less in demand.

For example, houses in roads with a view would score over others nearby without the view.

Conversely, a less popular sub-location might not necessarily mean the neighbourhood is undesirable, but more that there is a particular feature which makes it less sought-after, such as proximity to a busy road or a railway line.

However, Steve Tetlow says that these types of properties should not be immediately dismissed.

“When you physically inspect the property, you might find that the apparent problem is not really a problem at all.

“Quite often, people don’t really know what they want until they see it because, ultimately, buying a house is an emotional experience, not a commercial one.”

Richard Day adds: “School catchments are always going to be important, but outside that, if you are prepared to compromise to an extent, there are some amazing bargains to be had which can make a massive difference.

“However, in this current market, we’re finding that buyers are less inclined to compromise over location, whereas in a strong, rising market, they might not have the chance to be so selective.”

So, it seems that a good location is always going to be king.

When you have that deep intake of breath at the price, just remember that when the time comes to move on, you will have a much more desirable property, whatever the market.

Richard Day said: “The advantage of buying in the best location you can afford means that when you eventually sell, you will do so more readily and your property will appreciate more quickly, too, so you will achieve an optimum price. It’s a win-win situation really.”