Diary of an estate agent

Originally, they'd almost missed out on the £540,000 house when another couple got their offer in first. But when the winning bidders went for a second viewing, the husband insisted on inspecting the loft.

He lost his footing and disturbed a wasps' nest none of us knew was there. He was stung several times, his wife panicked, told me he was allergic to wasp stings and warned he could go into anaphylactic shock. Pretty shocked myself, I phoned for an ambulance and he was whisked off to hospital. Luckily he was OK, but they withdrew their offer.

Tuesday
A jittery day. The woman in the middle of a chain of seven was threatening to pull out as she hadn't found a house she wanted. We had to tell all the other agents, who passed on the news to their clients, some of whom were well advanced with removal plans.

The phones were ringing off their hooks with anxiety. I went around to see her to find out what she wanted, at what price, then whizzed back to the office and got the staff on the case.

With 21,000 chimney pots in our area, there had to be something that would suit her.

Wednesday
Got a call from a surveyor trying to access the flat roof of an Art Deco house in Berrylands, an area popular with parents hoping to get their children into the local schools.

The heavy lead-lined roof hatch was firmly stuck, having come off its runners. It would need two people to shift it, he said, so I dispatched a colleague who'd drawn the short straw.

An hour later, he rang from his mobile. He had helped the surveyor get onto the roof, who, after taking a look around, had left, as my colleague assured him he could close it on his own.

It had suddenly slammed shut and now he was stuck on the roof in the rain. I drove round, got him to throw the house keys down to me and let myself in. He was frozen and soaking by the time I heaved up the hatch.

Got him back to the office, but before we wrung him out and plied him with coffee, amused colleagues took photos of him on their mobiles to send to his friends. He admitted he would have done the same.

Thursday
Despite having previously insisted that she must have a period house, our wavering buyer holding up the chain has decided that a new £600,000 house in the former Milk Marketing Board development is exactly what she wanted all along.