Diary of an estate agent: Marylebone

Monday
My weekend was great — all family and football. I’m an Arsenal fan and on Saturday we went en masse to the match: me and my wife, our son and daughter, my Dad and my brother-in-law and his fiancé.

On Sunday I took my boy to football practice. Aged eight, he’s already a great fan of the beautiful game. My wife is an ex-ballerina and my daughter loves ballet — it must all be in the blood.

The school holiday traffic’s not bad as I drive to meet fellow director Alex Bourne for breakfast at La Brasseria Milanese in Marylebone High Street.

We go through weekend client updates and then head for the Beauchamp Estates Mayfair office to take the sales meeting. Then it’s back to the Marylebone office to catch up on my emails, make calls and book appointments before heading home to tackle homework with my children.

Tuesday
I spent much of my youth in Florida and I’m a beach bum at heart. Ideally I would live on a beach somewhere and keep a home in Marylebone, where the Howard de Walden Estate has done an amazing job keeping the High Street “boutique”.

It really gives the area a local, village feel. The combination of new developments and beautiful period properties, with the excellent High Street, make it a great place to live.

First thing, we brainstorm our best applicants and try to suggest options we may not have presented to them. Then I am showing a stunning mews townhouse in the W One scheme.

We’ve sold a number of flats in this great location but the townhouses are, to put it mildly, something else. This is the first new-build Marylebone house we’ve been instructed on. They don’t normally exist.

After work I’m off for a date with my wife. We love sushi so we’re having dinner at Roka in Charlotte Street, which gives me chance to tour the area ahead of viewings tomorrow, when Fitzrovia is on the schedule.

Wednesday
We cover all of London and our first viewing is at Wimbledon Hill Park to see two penthouses. They offer the space and flexibility the client wants, but there are other off-market properties to see back in central London.

In Fitzrovia we view flats in Fitzroy Place and a penthouse in Great Portland Street that the client is considering as a possible investment. They like Fitzroy Place’s design and location and feel it could be a good option for them and their children.

We then head slightly north of Marylebone to view two properties, one with a swimming pool. I once showed a client a stunning house in west London with a very Zen-like pool complex.

The client failed to see the exceptionally still, perfectly clear water at the entrance to the pool and stepped right in. Thankfully we found shoe covers for her wet feet.

I fit in a last-minute viewing at Orchard Court, which in my opinion is the finest portered building in Marylebone.

Thursday
It’s a desk breakfast today as I read emails. We have had an enquiry about a property in Clarewood Court, the perfect pied-à-terre. It’s in a great location and well presented.

I email back with a request for best viewing dates and times. After a team talk I’m off for a quick lunch with Alex to discuss a new instruction.

Alex and I were at drama school together and we still joke about life reflecting art, as during my foray into the world of acting I was cast as an estate agent, more than once — you just can’t fight that kind of cosmic force.

Later, it’s time to review progress on a large development we are involved in, with a potential Gross Developed Value in excess of half-a-billion pounds. This would top my largest sale to date by quite some margin.

Friday
Alex is breakfasting at The Ivy Café, where we chat over coffee before we both have to leave for viewings — Alex is heading to Chiltern Place and I am back in Fitzroy Place.

Friday is the day we ensure we have a catch-up with all of our clients, compile written reports and ensure everyone has an update. London will always be a great place to live and own property.

We all just have to work harder in the current market to support both vendors and buyers.

It is nearly a year since Beauchamp Estates Marylebone opened and despite an increasingly challenging market, it has been a good year.