Diary of an estate agent: Shoreditch

Monday
The spring market has lifted everyone’s spirits — the sun is shining, and we have tenants and properties aplenty. My plan is to get a head start and arrive at the office early, where, to my delight, I am welcomed by a hive of activity. It seems the lettings team have all had the same idea.

Fully “caffeinated” and catching up on messages from the weekend, some of them are already on the phones taking offers from prospective tenants and relaying them to our eager landlords. My 8.45am sales meeting provides the spark for the ignition I need to get the week moving.

Tuesday
I spend the morning touching base with our current portfolio of landlords, followed by three back-to-back valuations in the afternoon, which all happen to be in different areas of east London. Part of my day generally involves calculating travelling times between locations and challenging Google Maps to find better and more time-efficient routes.

The last appointment finishes at 7pm and with three new properties to rent, I follow up on a few missed calls. One of the team has been particularly keen to get hold of me, so I call him straight back, and he is ecstatic.

A corporate law firm has just made an offer via our corporate and relocations services team, significantly over the asking price, for a one-bedroom apartment on behalf of an employee.

Wednesday
Our head office is my first destination today for our weekly meeting. This gives everyone a chance to meet with the directors and discuss what’s happening in the market. So far so good — April was a cracking month.

Yesterday’s corporate offer is for a two-year lease and I call my client about it en route to the weekly meeting. He is understandably delighted with the news — the apartment had only been on the market for a few days, I might add. He agrees the offer immediately and I send out the paperwork.

Today has flown by amid all the activity and before I know it, it’s 7pm. I remember that one of the team is off to Berlin in the morning, and I also have a new agent starting with us, so I am preparing for another busy day tomorrow.

Thursday
A quick update on what we currently have available and the viewings we’ve got booked in, is a good way to ease in a new member of the team. No doubt he will have his full initiation in the pub tomorrow evening.

Most of today is spent out and about seeing clients and working from my mobile phone. It’s another sunny one, and it’s on days like this that I feel very lucky to be an estate agent.

Friday
So here it is — last day of the week and it’s all systems go. The team are very focused on getting organised for tomorrow — Saturday is always the busiest day of the week for viewings.

The corporate law firm deal gets “over the line” and there’s a great feeling among us all. Not only have we had a great week, but it follows one of the best months since we opened our east London doors. As a thank you, I treat the team to lunch at The Orange Buffalo, which incidentally, does the best wings in London.