Monday
For a 50 year old father of three boys with an amazing wife, a dog, 35 chickens, 2 turkeys, an aviary of budgies and several thousand bees, most days start the same! Getting boys ready for school, feeding the livestock and doing the school run.
After dropping the boys off most mornings start at
The Pump House on Garnier Road in Winchester. I am learning how to do latte art and so that is the first real challenge of the morning.
9.30 comes around quickly, having called a local estate agent to report on a Saturday viewing. We gathered as a team on Zoom to go through all our clients and share intelligence.
Most weeks there is a challenge that needs that need to be discussed. This week it is a client who is buying a house where the garden is not registered as a garden and has been developed without permission. There are a few different options that need to be discussed and run through with the client and his solicitor.
From the team meeting I am off to have lunch with some new clients in Kingsclere to discuss their search.
After lunch I pop up to see the agents in the northern end of my patch.
Tuesday
I am out to see a pretty mock Georgian house being privately marketed by one of the Basingstoke agents. It is a good house in a convenient location that I hope one of my clients will view later in the week.
I have got two clients keen to see houses, one viewing north of the M4 and the other around Winchester. I call the various agents to book in viewings and make sure nothing has been missed.
I am off up to Lords for the MCC Golf Dinner. Not an event I have attended before, but a good friend Ed Chamberlin, the ITV Racing presenter, is giving the after-dinner speech.
Wednesday
Out of my
comfort zone this morning as I have been asked to assist with a campaign for Partridges BMW. I am taking them to a site on the River Test curtesy of Chalk Stream Foods. I spend an hour or so being photographed fishing with a BMW in the background.
On the way home I see a house with one of the Stockbridge agents. Currently don’t have a suitable client, but it is important I stay well informed.
I get back to watch my youngest play football for Pilgrims. It was an absolute belter with Princes Mead scoring an equalizer in the final second to leave the score 5-5.
Thursday
Started at The Pump House to deal with emails etc. I popped into Winchester to see all the agents and discuss what they might have coming on. Possibly something coming quietly in the next week or so which is exciting for this time of year.
Meeting with a potential client looking in Winchester. They needed advice on their current house. We don’t sell houses but can give advice on values and the most suitable agent/s.
Out with a client to see two houses in the West Berkshire/Oxfordshire area. They liked one and want to make an offer. We will need to go through their buying position to confirm their cash/mortgage ratio before deciding on the level to make a starting offer. There is also a stamp duty saving to consider.
Friday
Often a day for completions and today I am completing on a house east of Winchester which we saw a few weeks before it was launched. Having taken some planning advice we were then in a position to make a qualified offer which was, after a small amount of negotiation, accepted.
This search has been a lengthy one, but my clients have been fantastic the whole way along and it was a great pleasure to hand them the keys and a housewarming present.
Finish the day with booking in a couple of viewings for next week.
Saturday
Thankfully this Saturday is a quiet one work wise as we went to The Odd Ball in aid of the Murray Parish Trust tonight. The dress code is Glam Rock, and I have the pleasure of being the live auctioneer. After my introduction I found myself standing on a dance floor with Alice Cooper blaring out! After a bit of “air guitar” I rattled through the auction lots, only to hand over to Stavros Flatley of Britain’s Got Talent Fame.
Not every week has the Glam Rock element, but I do feel I have a pretty Glam Job seeing amazing houses and dealing with lovely people!
