Diary of an estate agent: Soho

An exciting new development in Soho causes a stir and the forthcoming 24-hour Three Peaks charity challenge becomes the talk of the office...
  
Weef
21 April 2016

Monday
Cycling to work with the sun out and the smell of spring — and car fumes — in the air, I already feel that the week is off to a strong start. Mondays usually kick off with a team meeting discussing new launches and instructions, and as I reach the office I find there’s an extra buzz among my colleagues because we are arranging the finer details of our forthcoming 24-hour Three Peaks charity challenge.

Tuesday
First thing, I have a second viewing of my favourite property, a duplex penthouse in Covent Garden, this time with the buyer’s wife. I am hoping she is impressed by this great three-bedroom flat with two private terraces. I think she likes it but she doesn’t say much.

Back at the office, news comes in of a seriously exciting new development which is off-market and launching in a few weeks. We start to call our hottest clients to invite them to see this new modern scheme. It’s a first for such a historic part of town.

Wednesday
After recently selling a client’s Fitzrovia apartment, my attention now turns to helping him find his next London property. He has his eye on a boutique scheme in buzzy Soho. We are close to agreeing an offer, but he needs one final look before making the commitment. I take him to the apartment in the hope he is still interested. Luckily he gives me the green light and I head back to the office to get it reserved.

Thursday
Meeting up with an Indian friend of mine, we go for a much-needed coffee in one of Covent Garden’s great independent coffee shops, in Monmouth Street. He has an extensive client base of buyers searching for specific off-plan opportunities. We go through options and pinpoint a development in Shoreditch that we are currently marketing. This new scheme seems the best place for his clients.

After a hectic day I head to an evening launch of a collection of stunning apartments in Soho to show a number of people around. The floor-to-ceiling windows are second to none. Of particular interest is the wraparound terrace to one of the penthouses, which will be an excellent space for enjoying the English summer.

One couple who live in the area have had their eye on the development from the very beginning. After showing them round I get the feeling that they are interested, but they don’t want to appear too keen.

Friday
A young lady is viewing a range of both new and resale one-bedroom apartments with me around Bloomsbury, Lincoln’s Inn and Chancery Lane.

She is spoilt for choice and struggling to decide which is at the top of her list — a promising sign. She needs the weekend to mull it all over and says she will come back to me on Monday.

I finish off the week with a preview of a 6,500sq ft duplex apartment that’s “hidden” in Soho. This flat is massive, like nothing I have ever seen in the area. You could have a game of five-a-side football in the living room.