After working as an Estate Agent for the most part of 10 years in varying roles from Lettings Negotiator to Sales Negotiator right through to my current role as Branch Manager/Valuer at our busy Whitehaven branch, you would think I would have seen it all. This week I have been conducting interviews for a Sales Negotiator for the office. Speaking to candidates and explaining to them what exactly the role entails has really made me think again about just how varied a day working as an Estate Agent can be.
A typical day:
8.45am to 9.15am – It is really important that our office begins the day with a staff meeting. It will usually involve discussing any new sales and lettings instructions, updates on pending offers and generally catching up on how sales are progressing.
9.15am to 10am – This is a good time to prepare for any valuations I have that day, looking at recent comparable sold properties on Rightmove and considering any similar properties that we have been to and/or sold. The team will be catching up on emails and enquiries which can be anything from arranging viewings, taking and negotiating offers and handling sales progression queries. This can admittedly take longer than 45 minutes!
10am to 12pm – This is a popular time for viewings, valuations and listing appointments. A typical valuation lasts around 1 hour, I will give the owner my opinion on market value and explain more about our services and it is a good opportunity for them to ask specific questions they have about the sales process.
12pm to 1pm – A break from appointments is a good opportunity for the team to grab some lunch whilst ensuring that any calls and walk ins to the office are dealt with. I find this a good time to browse on Rightmove as it is always beneficial to know what is happening in our local market. This can also be a busy time for our Sales Negotiators as potential purchasers will book viewings in across their lunch.
1pm to 3pm – This is usually where I will take time to prepare paperwork and draft sales particulars for properties which are about to come on to the market, editing photographs and preparing detailed information about the property which will soon go onto our website, Rightmove and other property portals as well as social media. The team will gather viewing feedbacks from the previous day and speak to vendors about the viewing updates to their properties and ideas to increase viewing levels. Keeping customers updated is an essential part of our service.
3pm to 5pm – The end of the day is a good time to contact solicitors for updates on sales which are currently going through and checking that any issues which may have come up are now resolved.
The most important part of my day is making a list at the end of it with tasks that I will pick up the following day as there will be many days where lists are put aside as an issue or several issues crop up which need to be resolved urgently. And that really epitomises why I love working as an Estate Agent, no day is the same! There are always different people, different tasks and different properties to keep you busy. Every day you learn something new.
Lesley Waugh – Manager of PFK Estate Agency, Whitehaven.
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