Author's note: I try to keep this as up-to-date as I can, but if any estate agent thinks they're unfairly represented, let me know.
Introduction
The property market in Cambridge has been extraordinary in the past few years, as you can see from UpMyStreet (a site which is well worth spending a few minutes on). Our house in Cherry Hinton has risen to three times its original cost in ten years! Prices inside the ring road are quite astonishing, and I'm not just referring to the old Victorian terraces of Mill Road, which at least have character and community.
Anyway, best of luck in your searches; here's my list of the local estate agents and their web sites. Some of them are just terribly designed, driven by what are probably expensive database systems which give little consideration to the user. Sometimes it takes several clicks just to select the area, and some don't even get more specific than Cambridgeshire as a whole. Obviously the local agencies have the advantage that you don't have to find a way to select just Cambridge properties, as that's all they deal with, but the hash which some of the national agencies make of this simple task has to be seen to be believed. I wouldn't find this so irritating if I could link you straight to the Cambridge page from here, but most don't allow that.
This list is not exhaustive and if any other estate agencies would like to be included, please contact me by email. So if you're looking for Cambridge Estate Agents, the list here is a start!
Note: Don't forget there are many impressive new developments being built around Cambridge which the developers sell directly, and you probably won't find on the estate agency sites. I can't keep up to date with them in this listing, but they're quite likely to be advertising in the white advert panels below, along with a few idiots from the rest of the country, and indeed world, who don't know how to run a Google AdWords campaign properly.
The Estate Agents
Abbotts Countrywide has a multi-page listing of its Cambridge properties (ordered arbitrarily by descending price) which you can just browse through, or if you want to search by specific criteria, select "Cambridge" here. Some pages on the site break for Apple Mac users.
Bairstow Eves is a straightforward, easily-searchable site, but it features all the properties for sale at its Cambridge branch, so you'll have to wade through plenty of houses which are right out in the country as well as the city ones.
Bidwells has a new site with the search box on the front page, but you'll have to type in "Cambridge" yourself though.
Bradshaw's is a nice simple site, which doesn't have a search facility or anything, just a list of what they've got. OK so far. But when you've found something you're interested in, you have to go "back" to the front page to get their contact details, so if I take you straight to the listings page, you won't have been to the front page in the first place, and won't be able to go "back" there, if you see what I mean. So the link is to the front page, and you'll have to click on "Property Listings" yourself.
Bush and Co have a redesigned site which ticks all the boxes - I can take you straight to the search page, and from there things are pretty straightforward. Well done. Brilliantly, these people changed their website recently and haven't redirected the old pages to their replacements. D'oh!
Carter Jonas won't let me get to the Cambridge page for you either, so here's the search page. Then it does its search by postcode, which isn't very helpful - my tip is to type 'CB1' into its search box and select "up to 10 miles" to cover most of Cambridge.
Chapman Lorimer Oakes is a relatively new agency with a straightforward website, showing you the search box on the front page. Well done again. There, that wasn't too difficult, was it?
Cheffins has a dedicated estate agency site now, and I can get you to the "property search", but you'll have to click the boxes around 'Cambridge' yourself. Like Bush (above), these people changed their website recently and haven't redirected the old pages to their replacements. Jeez.
Connell is a national estate agency which lets me take you to the listings from the Cambridgeshire branches, and the rest is up to you.
FPDSavills has improved its website and there's now a fairly freeform search on the front page. You'll still have to type in "Cambridge" yourself though.
Haart also now has a fairly freeform search on the front page where you have to type in "Cambridge" yourself. Note it's the box above the map you want though.
JSM Hockeys has a few East Anglian branches but I think I've got you to the "Cambridge" page with this link.
Pocock & Shaw Chartered Surveryors and Estate Agents has a nice helpful site, with not only a search facility on the front page, but also direct links to popular listings such as "Cambridge City Properties for Sale".
Redmayne, Arnold and Harris is a Cambridge-only estate agency so you shouldn't need to select the area, but you do. Another site which changed recently and didn't redirect the old pages to their replacements. Do any estate agents understand t'internet?
Rightmove is a major national web-based property finding system which is fairly straightforward to use and seems to host the properties from many estate agencies. It's therefore well worth a look, and after a bit of experimenting, I think I can now get you straight in to the Cambridge properties.
Rooke Wood and Miller seems to have disappeared - some of the pages (but not all, d'oh!) seem to redirect to Bradshaws (see above).
Russell Residential estate agents lets us straight into their search system but you'll have to click "Cambridgeshire" and then "Cambridge" on separate pages before you can see the actual properties.
Spicer McColl seems to have given up in Cambridge, last time I tried (May 2009).
The Tucker-Gardner Partnership independent property agents is a straightforward site to use. The quickest way to get to Cambridge properties is to select "Cambridge" on the drop-down on the little map.
Tylers Estate Agents is a local firm which has mainly Cambridge listings, and the search box is prominent and easy to use, on the front page.
Vincent Shaw Estate Agents is a local agency with a nice straightforward web site for properties in Cambridge. A simple filtering system allows you to view properties as narrowly as you wish.
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