subject: House Hunting [print this page] Finding out about the community that you are planning on moving to is vital for peace of mind and to safeguard any investment you are making. Indeed, whether you are choosing to rent or buy, you need to know that the local area is safe, friendly and has a good community. In large cities and towns this can be difficult as it is almost impossible to categorise a particular area as one thing or another.
If, for example, you are looking for Docklands apartments, the tone of an area can change over the course of a few hundred metres, moving you from one community to another just by turning the corner. This is why it is so important to find an estate agent that can win your trust and who has a superlative level of local knowledge to help with any decision you make. In an age of large multi-national estate agents the sense of a dedicated, personal service has largely been replaced with the high pressure sale and a production line mentality.
However, this is not the case with smaller firms that can offer a level of personalised service to help you find your dream home in the ideal area. You will be able to get real answers to your questions and not just vague generalisations and this is vital if you are looking to make a big investment in something like Docklands apartments. Even with the vast numbers of websites that help you get a taste for a specific area, they rarely offer a balanced view and generally sway one way or another depending on the nature of the site. Although there are more balanced sites out there, it is easy to form an imperfect picture from their information, with many people reacting to even the slightest mention of crime with alarm.
Of course, the reality is that every area has levels of crime, including the one you are moving from which is often forgotten. Many people do not make a comparison between the two and just focus on the negatives. This is where a good London estate agent is invaluable. A true professional can easily be distinguished from the hard sell salesperson with an eye on your money and his commission. Bound by professional duty, they are obliged to truthfully answer any question you might have and can give you a more nuanced account of the neighbourhood, whether it is flats in Hither Green to investing in Docklands apartments.
