Diary of an estate agent: Fulham

Monday
My dog Rufus wakes me up as he wants to go for a walk, so I catch up on some emails as we wander along the road before I set off for work.

This morning we are launching a new house and I head over to meet the negotiators in the neighbouring offices, as in Fulham we have a lot of crossover from applicants registering in Chelsea and South Kensington.

This house is something else — not only does it have a large pink Aga but there’s a pink slide and a swimming pool, too.

Abbie in our Chelsea office got the memo and arrives wearing a jazzy pink jacket. She can’t resist a go on the slide but she looks a dusty shade of grey afterwards.

Then it’s back to base for a call-out. It’s generally very busy in the office. I barely see Amelia in my team after 11am and she rarely returns before 6pm — and often with a number of offers.

Our new opening hours of 8am to 7.30pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 5pm on Saturday seem to be paying off. We are really putting in the work for our clients.

Tuesday
I receive a rather panicky phone call overnight from a client in California. She’s worried that a friend who has been staying in her London flat might have switched off the freezer, and now the friend has gone the client has asked me to dispose of the perishable contents.

What she doesn’t tell me is that this industrial-size freezer is full of huge cuts of mystery meat.

Having loaded it all into bin liners I get some rather concerned looks from neighbours as I dispose of my own bodyweight in meat.

We hear back on yesterday’s offers and one in Fabian Road is going to best and final bids tomorrow afternoon.

Wednesday
I make my way to the appraisal of a house on the Peterborough Estate, always a popular spot with tenants.

On arrival I take off my shoes — my ongoing refusal to switch from brogues to loafers makes this slightly cumbersome — and the family dog takes a liking to them.

When I finish the appointment only one of my shoes is where I left it. I feel bad retrieving the other from the dog, who’s got it in his basket and seems to think it’s his new toy.

Our client for Fabian Road is in Dubai and the final offers are sent across to her to make a decision.

Thursday
It’s rather an emotional day because I am attending the memorial service for the queen of Knight Frank, Eliza Leigh.

She was an incredible lady and really set the benchmark for client care in the firm, so much so that Knight Frank created a charity wristband for Trinity Hospice in her honour.

The church was packed and it was a beautiful tribute to her life and everything she did within Knight Frank.

Friday
Most of our tenancies start on Friday to give tenants the weekend to move in and settle.

I begin the day putting together the welcome packs and delivering them to the properties. Part of the reason I decided to get a motorbike was to beat London traffic so that if a tenant is arriving, I can be there in minutes.

On this occasion the weather counts against me. I arrive to greet the new tenants looking like the “Bovril biker” advert. The clients give me full marks for effort.

Tom from our Japanese desk in corporate services is with us for the day as he has three searches that we are helping him with. I just have time to whizz home to change before our viewings.

I catch up with the team at 6pm and round off the week updating our clients as my diary tomorrow looks like it is back to back. I must remember my waterproofs…