Includes 373 branches for local Estate Agents and Chartered Surveyors in 42 locations including towns, cities and villages covering the Hampshire with addresses and telephone numbers The city of Southampton has information on 41 branches including website, address and contact telephone number. All Details checked spring 2010. You will notice the number of agencies has declined in the last 2 years as the property market has changed with large national agencies cutting the number of branches and many small agencies forced out of business due to the economy . The other major change is the increase in agencies dealing with property management, many now only cover rental property and no sales. We do not include Internet only agencies as our policy is to only list agencies with a local branch and telephone number.
Hampshire a number of agencies covering the county including Nationwide Agencies Like Connells, Fox and Sons ( Part of the Sequence Network ) and Leaders ( Rental Property Only ) plus a number of independent agencies covering the Southern part of the UK including Beals, Cubit and West, Austin Wyatt and Enfields. with branches covering the main populated areas and the villages and lightly populated areas of the county offering a wide range of village, farming, country and equestrian properties.
Hampshire is located on the South Coast of England and shares borders with Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex, the county is represented in parliament by 17 Members of Parliament MP's. the county town is Winchester but the largest city by population is Southampton. Hampshire is the 5th ranked County in the country by population.
We have included the Isle Of Wight In Hampshire, It is a small island separated from the mainland by a stretch of water called the Solent, the area on the south coast including Hayling Island, Southsea and Gosport together with the Isle Of Wight pulls in hundreds of thousands of tourists each year to the area.
The other main tourist area in Hampshire is the New Forest, it is well known for the New Forest Ponies and is an extremely pleasant area of the country to live in because London is still within commuting distance but provides country living at it's best, but be prepared to pay highly for the lifestyle as property is expensive.
Hampshire does have a number of highly populated cities including Portsmouth, Southampton, Winchester and Basingstoke and a good transport system.
Portsmouth is Englands only city that is an Island and due it's Navy heritage holds some of the most important early ships in the dockyards including The Mary Rose ( Tudor Warship 1510 ) , the HMS Victory ( Nelson's Flagship 1765 ) and HMS Warrior ( the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship 1860 ) .
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 Bristol 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 ) .