One of the reasons that we get stuck living in areas that don’t meet our needs is that we don’t know where else we could possibly live. Moving to a new area is often considered a gamble – house prices may be cheaper but is it enough to offset the cost of travel? Will we make new friends and will our old friends be able to visit? Where will we do the week’s shopping? The difficulty is that typically, we won’t be able to answer those questions until we’ve actually committed to the move. Moving to a different area takes a lot of planning too – viewing properties an hour’s drive away requires determination and a flexible diary.

Surely there’s a better way? I think there is – I have introduced a new Property Finder service so that my team can do your research for you. Many of my clients are moving from East London to Broxbourne, Nazeing and Hoddesdon and can really benefit from a local guide. Here’s how it works…

Discovering the area

One of my estate agents will take you to the area you’re considering moving to and show you round. To understand why you’d want to live somewhere, you need someone with good local knowledge to take you off the main drag and show you how the area fits together. Driving through a town or suburb, you can easily get the impression that your potential new postcode is just a street of shops, but our agents can show you so much more. Maybe you could walk to the corner shop but you’d have to drive to the station, maybe houses near the school are a bit more expensive but a lot more convenient. Spending time in your potential new location with a local expert can help you answer a lot of questions, get a real feel for the place and decide if it’s where you want to move to.

Finding a property

Once you’ve decided that this is the area for you, it’s time to find a property. Armed with key facts like your budget and wish list, Dockleys will connect with agents in the area to find the right property for you. Based on our research, you can draw up a shortlist, only going to view properties that you’re serious about. (This will make you popular with buyers, too!)

Practicalities

I have lots of connections in Hertfordshire and Essex, connections I’m always glad to pass on to my clients. Whether you need your new property refurbishing or extending, you need a local removal firm or a local mortgage lender, I can put you in touch with the right person.

To find out more about the Dockleys property finder service, contact me, Adam Dockley, on 020 3633 4440. You deserve a lovely home in an ideal location – let’s make it happen.