Ariosto

We are going home in two months (from California to the Bristol area), so we would like to know if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations for estate agents in this area?

There are any number listed on the Internet, but I'm having trouble judging the quality of their services.

My husband and I would like to rent for six months (to give us time to settle in and look around), and then we will be buying our own house. To complicate matters we have pets; an indoor cat, and a small dog (12 lbs).

Hamptons International contacted us and said they would be interested in helping us, but I saw that they had negative ratings on blagger.com.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

ann m

I reckon most of them would have negative ratings to be honest !
Bless !

Unfortunately for you, the estate agents will be gaining any and all their commission from the owner of the property - either renting or selling - so I suspect their 'service' to you will be of a minimum or basic standard.
Presume you have looked at rightmove.com ?

Sorry, not familiar with the Bristol area - others will no doubt help with any positive comments - I hope ! Good luck.

Arizona Wurzel

Hi Ariosto,I am from the Bristol area originally,actually ten miles south on the A370 WSM road and a good estate agent for this area is http://www.cjhole.com/ What area are you thinking of moving to?North Somerset and South Glos properties are getting very expensive.Have you been to Bristol before? Be aware of some of the boroughs of Bristol,some of them, not nice,do a lot of checking first.Bristol is a beautiful city.Hope this helps a little.

Ariosto

[QUOTE=Arizona Wurzel]Hi Ariosto,I am from the Bristol area originally,actually ten miles south on the A370 WSM road and a good estate agent for this area is http://www.cjhole.com/ What area are you thinking of moving to?North Somerset and South Glos properties are getting very expensive.Have you been to Bristol before? Be aware of some of the boroughs of Bristol,some of them, not nice,do a lot of checking first.Bristol is a beautiful city.Hope this helps a little.[/QUOTE

Hello Arizona Wurzel,

Thanks for the link to CJ Hole; this helps a lot! I am going to contact CJ Hole. My husband has a job in Almondsbury, and we're pretty open to any area within 20 miles of that.

I'm originally from North Devon, so we are thrilled to be moving to Bristol. But the last time I visited Bristol, I was a little girl. Which boroughs in Bristol are dodgy?

Again thanks for the link!

Arizona Wurzel

[QUOTE=Ariosto] Southmead,Eastville,Easton,Barton Hill,Bedminster,Hartcliffe,Knowle West,St Pauls,my wife is from Fishponds and even thats getting bad.Almondsbury is nice also Iron Acton,Bradley Stoke,Winterbourne and any of the villages north of the M4 and either side of the M5.Hope this helps.

Ariosto

It helps enormously!! I'm going to call the Bradley Stoke office of CJ Hole tomorrow morning (I'm allowing for the 8 hours time difference).

Again, thanks for your help!!

bananahammock

[QUOTE=Arizona Wurzel] Hi,
I'm also from Bristol & only left last year (ow bist Arizona Wurzel?) hope I don't offend but could I add Withywood & parts of Kingswood to the 'not so good' list ~ mind you, I'm not keen on Bradley Stoke either (the yokels call it 'sadly broke'!! . As well as the ones AW mentioned Frenchay & Hambrook are nice.

Besley hill estate agents have a lot of branches all over Bristol & Andrews are pretty popular as well............hope this helps ~ I'm SO jealous

Ariosto

Thanks Bananahammock! This does indeed help because it's difficult to judge an area from pictures on the Internet. I will also call your estate agents.

Again Thanks!!

krizzy

[QUOTE=Arizona Wurzel] LOL...I grow up in Knowle West...and St Pauls...my family owned a lot of the St Pauls area when it was posh way back...my Stepdad is from Bedminster...I lived in fishponds for ages before moving to Yate...

snorkmaiden

I used to be an Estate Agent in the Bristol area

I worked for Connells but they don't do rentals yet I believe. They're competitive when it comes time for you to buy though.

Almondsbury is a really nice area itself, the rents up there will generally be fairly expensive though now I would imagine. Thornbury is also a nice place to live.

If you've got children, try and stay in the South Glos area, the schools in Bristol are not great generally but the South Glos ones are much, much better. We were in Bristol catchment area but appealed to get into South Glos schools.

Avoid Southmead like the plague, really, if you can stay up in the Thornbury/Almondsbury area you will be on to a winner.

There is a great mall, Cribbs Causeway with great shopping and loads of car parking spaces and you can drive into the country really easily from there.

I am so jealous, give me Bristol over Texas any day of the week

Ariosto

Thanks Snorkmaiden! I will check out Connells when we've settled in, and thanks especially for the shopping tip. We are going to need some household appliances (toaster, kettle, coffee maker etc.) as soon as we arrive.

BTW to everyone else: I called CJ Hole's letting agent and she was very helpful, and sent me a list of properties to review. I'm going to call Besley Hill and Andrews tomorrow morning (with the 8 hour time difference, I only have a small window of opportunity).

I think my husband and I are going to take advantage of some cheap flights currently being offered and fly over, look at rental properties, hopefully sign a lease, and fly back to California, and get ready for the movers. Whew!!

iamthecreaturefromuranus

[QUOTE=bananahammock] Bradley Stoke hasn't been called Sadly Broke for years... that was all down to the property crash at the end of the eighties... You will need 250,000 upwards to get a four bed house in Bradley Stoke.. more in Almondsbury itself.

Pollyana

I'd echo the comment about South Gloucestershire around Bitton, Warmley, Willsbridge - towards the Keynsham area. Some excellent schools around that way, and you are well placed for both Bath and Bristol.

ireland

try clarks for rentals (brislington office) really really nice helpful people the best i have experienced and i currently rent with them.

krizzy

I have family in Keynsham...I lived with my aunt and uncle there for a time...I loved the place...