Includes 193 branches for local Estate Agents and Chartered Surveyors in 12 locations including towns, cities and villages covering Dorset with addresses and telephone numbers The city of Bournemouth has information on 55 branches including website, address and contact telephone number. All Details checked spring 2010. You will notice the number of agencies has declined over the last 2 years as the property market has changed, ( Dorset is a great example as the Average Price of Property has decreased by nearly 5% in the last 12 months, when you combine that with earlier losses the market has changed significantly, larger national agencies have cut the number of branches and some small agencies forced out of business due to the economy We do not include Internet only agencies as our policy is to only list agencies with a local branch and telephone number.
There are four Agencies that have multiple branches with the widest coverage in the area, Palmer Snell is part of Countrywide, Connells a Nationwide Agency and largest Independent agencies are Goadsby specialising in sales and Dorset Lettings with multiple branches offering rental property. The agencies cover the main populated areas and the villages and lightly populated areas of the county offering a wide range of city, town, village, farming and country and equestrian properties.
Dorset is located in South West England, it shares it's borders with Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. The administration is done through Dorchester but Bournemouth is the largest city in the county in population. The county is represented by 5 Members of Parliament in the house of commons.
Dorset is also known for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site that begins in Exmouth in East Devon and stretches through to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset and also includes Lulworth Cove and Chesil Beach.
Dorset is also known for it's tourist industry featured round the beaches of Bournemouth, Swanage, and Lyme Regis.
As you can see when you look into house prices in Dorset the closer to commuting distance to large cities the higher the prices go and Dorset is a good example of combining quality of life with ability to obtain to employment through commuting even to London as the rail journey is still quite quick and achievable.
Whenever possible we include the professional memberships each agency belongs to, we try to be as accurate as possible and check the estate agents site for information, there are 5 that we consider to be important, many agencies do belong to these organisations but may not display the logo, so if you are unsure ask the agency who they belong to. Included in the agencies for the Dorset area are members of ARLA, members of NAEA, members of RICS and members of NALS nearly all reputable agencies are members of the Ombudsman. Some of these require many years of study and passing a number of exams ( Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors RICS is a good example ), others are designed to show the agency abides by a code of practice ( ARLA Association of Residential Letting Agents ), below is the list of memberships we include .
When you are selling your home it is important to look at all the factors that affect your sale, these include costs ( Check for hidden costs is advertising included in basic fees ), will your home be advertised in local press and on major property portals ( Example Right Move ), Does the agency belong abide by any "code of practice", Is the agency a small local agency with detailed local knowledge and known and respected in the community or are they part of a nationwide chain who has access to large numbers of subscribers.
If you are looking for your next home, register with agencies who have local branches in the area you are interested in, check local newspapers, check with large online property portals the largest in the UK is Right Move, if you are looking at village properties find the nearest location where agencies are located and register with those agencies, often the same place you might go to do your weekly shopping. The local agencies may well have homes available that have not yet been advertised. You can normally register online at the agencies website, but is still worth visiting the agencies in person if possible to build a relationship. Check out our House Buyers and Sellers Guide
While building our current database of estate agents we added Services which include additional descriptions including sales, rental and student rental to make finding agencies that offer rental property quick to identify. It is important when renting a property that you check the agency you are dealing with is governed and abides by a code of practice ( this will ensure repairs are done and your tenancy is safe ) .