Discussion Title: Why Hampshire is the perfect location for selling property

We’ve previously written about why Southampton is the best location for buy-to-let investors. Now we take a look at why the county of Hampshire as a whole is the perfect selling location. When it comes to selling your property, location is likely to be a major factor in your success. Nine times out of ten buyers will be after a house in a safe and welcoming area. Good transport links and local amenities are also vital, while quality of life and green space will probably be other key considerations. On these measures, Hampshire scores highly. It offers both urban and rural living, both busy seaside cities and isolated villages. In other words, there’s something for everyone. And even in the cities, life tends to be slightly less hectic than in truly massive metropolises like London, Birmingham and Manchester. Residents of Southampton and Portsmouth can enjoy a good mixture of history, culture and leisure opportunities, as well as a raft of high-quality restaurants and bars – plus, of course, the added bonus of a beach on your doorstep during the summer. As we’ve written about before, young professionals and families are deserting the capital in their droves, driven out by impossibly high prices and a lack of hope that they’ll ever be able to afford to buy. Hampshire, which is close enough to London for commuters but far away enough to offer a more relaxed, laid-back pace of life, is an obvious destination for would-be buyers to escape to. Hampshire is very well-connected, with major cities like Southampton and Portsmouth and smaller cities like Winchester all providing relatively fast services to London. You can be at London Waterloo in 1hr 17m from Southampton Central, while Winchester to Waterloo takes just over an hour. With Southampton being crowned as the ultimate buy-to-let destination by HSBC recently (Portsmouth was also in the top 10), sellers in Hampshire have a large pool of investors to target their property towards. Naturally, when it comes to selling your home, the more people you have to sell to, the better your chances of achieving your asking price (or above). The county is also a hotbed for universities – meaning, in turn, a significant student population. That means plenty of young people looking for accommodation. As a result, landlords are attracted to stock near to campuses or city centres. If you own a property in these areas, there’s a good chance landlords will be knocking at your door to expand their portfolio. When carrying out viewings, don’t be afraid to use location as one of your main selling points. Wax lyrical about the area you live in, whether that’s the stunning landscape of the New Forest or the South Downs, the architectural and historic interest of Winchester and Portsmouth, or the various cultural activities on offer in Southampton. Furthermore, the average property value in Hampshire’s two biggest cities make for good reading for sellers – in Southampton the typical asking price currently stands at around the £250,000 mark, while in Portsmouth it is closer to £235,000. This means that buyers are unlikely to be put off, but it also ensures that you are more likely to be achieving a fair and reasonable price for your property. For further advice on selling property in Hampshire, please contact ChimneyPots on 08448 099931. We also provide an instant online valuation tool to give you an accurate idea of how much your property is worth. https://ow.ly/NHCZm