Hampton, Peterborough - What's it like?

Hampton is made up of a collection of communities in the south of Peterborough. Relatively new to the Peterborough landscape in terms of history, Hampton started small and now offers some of the finest homes in Peterborough.

Here you can buy anything from a one bedroom apartment to a family home in a well thought out and developed landscape that includes parkland, great facilities and a superb community life. There are even two self-build schemes available. Hampton has a life and soul of its own and green space figured highly on the developers must have list. The area is within easy reach of Peterborough town centre with good road and rail links, however it offers more than just a great location. The Hamptons are served by the Serpentine Shopping Centre that brings together a collection of high street names including Tesco, Next, Boots and Holland and Barratt to name a few. You will be spoilt for choice with the selection of local restaurants that include Toby Carvery, Harvester, Chiquitos and Frankie & Bennies so you won’t have to go far for a little retail therapy or a good night out. There are a few estate agents in Peterborough also.

Each of the Hamptons has its own character and it is worth exploring before you buy for this very reason. Hampton Hargate was the first of the Hamptons and here there is a real sense of community with children’s play areas, a community centre and thriving allotments. Hampton Hargate Primary school is also sought after locally. Hampton Vale is popular with growing families, featuring lakes, ponds and canals giving this area a natural feel as well as a selection of convenient shops, restaurants and takeaways in its commercial centre. Hampton Centre and Hampton Hempsted are the newer areas and are being designed with the same balance of nature and facilities in mind. Hampton College serves the area. The main college was judged as outstanding by OFSTED in 2010 and 2007 and offers great facilities for years 7 to 11. The Primary School opened here in 2013 and a brand new Sixth Form is due to open in September this year. Attached to the college, Hampton Football Club is a multi-award winning club with some 23 teams and a lovely pavilion, perfect for all you sporting enthusiasts.

There’s plenty of outdoor space here, ideal for fitness buffs, nature lovers and dog walkers alike. You can walk or jog around the area and never get tired of the views. Cycle routes around Hampton are part of the Peterborough 50 mile green wheel route that circles the city. The Nature Reserve at Hampton is a designated Site of Special Interest and is home to Europe’s largest population of great crested newts! The separate areas are host to a number of community clubs and societies covering all ages and interests including mums and tots classes and zumba to name a few. As Hampton is on the south of the city, there has been plenty of space to develop industry with the likes of Amazon, Ikea, Prologis, Debenhams and News International occupying the surrounding area. We love Hampton, not only because we are based in this thriving community ourselves, but because of the lifestyle you can enjoy here. Great homes, close to nature and superb facilities make this one of our favourite places to live and work.

You could win the chance to sell your home for 0%

When we talk about #soldyourway here at Tortoise we mean exactly that. Since the inception of our hashtag #changeiscoming, we have been preparing our customers for something a little different. This difference falls into three categories:

Digital
As estate agents in Peterborough our portfolio of services available in our Marketing Tool kit include professional photography, property videos, floor plans and a creative write up of your property. First and foremost we believe that high quality images of a clean and clear home will attract the right kind of buyer. We can help with the staging of your home to ensure the best possible images of your home are captured, which is especially important if you are trying to sell a lifestyle and not just another property. Professional video enhances the mediums in which we can promote your property and a floor plan helps the buyer know your property is a real contender in size and layout before they step through the door. Over and above the detailed property description, we also provide a creative write up. This magazine-style piece aims to tell the story and put the heart into your home making it appeal to buyers who will be pulled in by the lifestyle and individuality your home offers.

Media
In this technological age, it is important to reach prospective buyers on many levels. Here at Tortoise we engage with potential buyers through Facebook and Twitter , via our blog , website and on the property portals of Rightmove, Zoopla and Prime Location. We believe that over and above standard newspaper advertising, buyers can be reached quickly and easily through social media channels and we always get a good response when we add new homes. Video especially makes your home more interactive and real to potential buyers. Please be sure to follow us on our social media channels to see how we use these to market our properties.

Website 2.0 Have you seen it?

So it's been a few weeks now since the latest version of our website went live. In case you haven't had a chance to see it yet, it's at http://www.tortoiseproperty.co.uk . We've simplified our journey so you don't have to spend ages waiting for pages to load and you get to see the properties you want to see as soon as you want to see them!

We are estate agents in Peterborough and have been since January 2015. Be sure to take a look at the website and see the range of properties we have available for sale along side those that I'm afraid to say you've missed out on and have already been sold.

Which Property Portals equal Power?

When selling or letting your property Rightmove, Zoopla and Prime Location are the main portals that you should be looking to use or at the very least your agent should be advertising your property across. They all cover the widest exposure levels for properties on a national scale. Let's take a look at each portal individually.

Rightmove

The biggest audience of home-hunters

• 95% of home-movers said that they had previously seen or heard of Rightmove
• 75% said that Rightmove was the property site they turn to first.
• The average Rightmove user visits more often, spends longer on our website and looks at more pages of property than the average user of any other property portal.

This shows the massive exposure that the property portal Rightmove gives a landlord or vendor. 

Zoopla

The company, which owns websites including PrimeLocation and HomesOverseas, said it clocked up 50.5 million visits to its websites and mobile apps in January.

The surge in traffic last month contributed to an average of 42.3 million visits a month between October and January – up 14 per cent on the same period a year earlier.

Prime Location

Prime Location which is owned by ZPG (Zoopla Property Group) receive similar viewership statistics as it's bigger brother Zoopla.

According to an article on metro.co.uk 61% of house hunters use a mixture of Prime Location and Zoopla. This points out that both Prime Location and Zoopla are handling over half the housing requests, which you'd pick is depending on the market you are looking to appeal to most. Prime Location typically is used more for London vendors than Zoopla, while Zoopla is more the national coverage that you'd expect a portal to provide.

Summary

In summary then, these three major portals cover a staggeringly massive audience when it comes down to property exposure. There is of course the entrance of OnTheMarket recently, however I've yet to learn of any sort of impact that this website has had on the market, with on a few agents moving over from these portals to OnTheMarket, at first glance it would seem as though OnTheMarket doesn't have the share of properties available to be viewed online compared to it's competition. Will OnTheMarket gain traction? Potentially in time, but can you afford to choose an agent who is willing to take the plunge now and advertise there instead of with the major portals which practically guarantee nationwide viewership?

From what I've seen being based in Cambridgeshire, the majority of estate agents in peterborough have stuck with the major portals while only a very small number have made the switch.

Be sure if you're thinking of selling or letting a home that the agent you choose is providing you with optimal exposure, be it using the above mentioned portals, social media, their own websites and more.

Selling your home with Tortoise

Welcome to Tortoise.
Below we will explain the stages that you will go through when selling your home or investment property.
Your journey has already started, this includes researching different estate agents and their services.

Estate agents are now made up of marketing specialists, photographers, web developers, relationship managers and administrative specialists. We are bringing these changes to the local property market in Peterborough.

Choosing an estate agent

If you are selling a home or an investment property our advice goes beyond just setting a price.
You will have a dedicated relationship manager who will advise and guide you throughout. These individuals are market specialists.

We understand you do not want to be passed from a valuer, to a negotiator to an administrator.
Therefore our administration specialists will look after the back office, while our relationship manager will look after you.

12 week plan

When selling, you receive the most interest and the highest offers from buyers within the first 12 weeks.
That’s why you will receive a 12-week marketing plan from your relationship manager, so that a clear path is agreed for advertising, presentation, pricing and feedback.

Marketing your home

To support our 12-week plan, your relationship manager will help you select the appropriate options from our marketing toolkit that will best showcase your property.

These will include:
Your advertising options with the national portals including Rightmove, Zoopla and Prime Location.
The use of our social media channels
The use of our purpose-built web-site
The booking of a professionally trained photographer

You will also be asked to contribute to the presentation of the property. A little story from the owners of the property helps to bring a human connection, a reason why each home is special.
Our feedback and communication is intrinsic to the quality of the service that we offer, our marketing plan enables your property to stand out from the crowd; driving interest, demand and therefore, the price to the desired level.

Advice and negotiation

As you move forward, your relationship manager will negotiate and discuss offers from buyers with you, helping you to understand the viability of each offer and its relationship to market value.

Professional services

The professional services offered through Tortoise mean your sale will be both organised and transparent.
Our legal and conveyancing service level agreements build a timeline towards exchange and completion.
Independent mortgage advice to you and your buyers instils confidence through expert knowledge of lenders’ requirements.

Once again your relationship manager will offer you a personal point of contact throughout.

One contact

When you choose to work with Tortoise, you choose to work with a dedicated and experienced relationship manager. One contact, with a team of specialists supporting you.
Tortoise are specialist letting agents and estate agents in peterborough.
To talk to us about our services please contact us and one of our relationship managers will be happy to discuss your property with you.