Diary of an estate agent

Tuesday
Good news: the woman who loves shopping has put in an asking-price offer for the flat in Duke Street and is already desperate to move in. In the meantime, while her sale is being processed, I have found her a temporary pied-?-terre on Portman Street to rent. It's not quite one minute away from Selfridges, but she'll just have to put up with it.

Thursday
Took on what I anticipate will be a very popular property this morning: a lovely four-bedroom apartment on Portland Place with lots of light and space and original features. There is one slight problem, however: the property has only 27 years remaining on its lease. The flat is being marketed at around ? 850, 000, and although you might think that's a lot of money for something with less than 30 years on the lease, there is still a very healthy demand for properties of this type. The reason is that, first, an equivalent property with a standard 125-year lease might cost around £1.4 million. Second, many people are prepared to live in a relatively insecure position for a few years, after which they usually try to negotiate a longer lease with the landlords - and it's possible the original cost, plus the capital outlay needed to increase the lease, could end up lower than a similar-sized property on a longer leasehold. Third, it allows people the chance to live in grander surroundings than they could otherwise have afforded - who can resist that?

Friday
A doctor who has rented a two-bed, two-bathroom apartment on Wigmore Street for the past two years came into the office this morning to tell us some bad news: he's leaving. On closer questioning it became apparent the reason is he feels he can no longer afford the £580 per week rent, and has found something cheaper. I immediately phoned the landlord and, several conversations later, he agreed to lower the rent to £450 per week to keep his tenant - quite a substantial reduction but a fair one considering the drop in the rental market over the past two years. I believe the housing market has peaked in central London and prices may well drift lower this summer. The tenant was absolutely delighted with his reduction, as he works in adjacent Harley Street, and has come to love Wigmore Street and all its eccentricities: the strange medicalrelated shops, the Chinese massage centre, new furniture design shops and restaurants such as Wagamama. He is also very keen on music and goes regularly to concerts in the acoustically perfect Wigmore Hall. Thinking about it, in fact, Wigmore Street is teeming with mad old doctors who moved in years ago and have somehow never been able to leave the place.