Whether you’re moving out of London into the countryside or from the other side of the Atlantic, the advent of the Internet has meant house hunting, whether renting or buying, appears so much easier. Any house hunter can spend hours themselves trawling through the Primelocation, Rightmove or Onthemarket sites, looking at floor plans, pictures and Google map images to find their perfect home.

So why on earth would anyone want to use a property search agent or a relocation agent?

Finding nice houses on the internet is the easy bit – it’s getting the location right that’s slightly trickier. For that, a good understanding of what’s important to the family moving and an inside knowledge of the local area is essential.

Why? Well let’s start with my personal favourite – the school run / commute in the morning.

You might be someone who has all the time in the world and leaves extra time just in case the traffic’s bad, or you could be someone who always does one more thing before getting in the car.

You might find sitting in traffic relaxing and it is an excellent time to talk to the kids – but let’s be honest, it normally causes raised levels of anxiety because you’re going to be late (again), the odd argument and, occasionally, a good dose of road rage.

Traffic in the mornings on the school run, or to the station, can mean driving 5 miles in one direction is a 10-minute drive but 5 miles in another might be 40. Viewing a house at midday is completely different to viewing it at 8.00am, 3.30pm or 5.45pm.

So whether you’re moving to ACS Cobham from Atlanta or moving to East Horsley from Battersea – in the “country” if you don’t get the location right, be prepared to sit in the traffic and count to 10.

If you are looking for a dependible property search agent in Surrey or London, with years of local knowledge, please call us on 01344 723292.