Episode 6 Under Offer: Estate Agents on the Job

Selling houses is not easy. You're dealing with the most expensive thing people ever buy.

There are more of them than ever before.

A square foot can be worth £3,000.

Many of us say they are our least favourite professionals.

The customer's always right, aren't they? No!

Yet we turn to them at some of life's most stressful moments.

I can't control it, you can't control it.

Yes, we're off!

They are the estate agents.

You'd get a better response if you say you're a mass murderer.

What inane comments do you want to make now, Alan?

This series goes behind closed doors across the UK, with the agents...

It needs everything doing to it.

..and their clients.

We're moving!

Gary takes us to the streets of London's super-rich.

My firm has recently sold four houses of, let's say,

40 to £60 million.

It's knock-down prices with Lynne in County Durham.

It went to auction with a starting bid of £1.

There's straight-talking Dave in Birmingham.

So when I tell you you're not getting it,

don't come crying back to me saying I'd have gone another 500 quid.

Rookie Lewis in Devon.

These surveyors are dangerous, dangerous people.

And in London's cheapest borough - Dagenham -

Caroline, Andy and Darren.

They had a bonfire in the front room here. This is ridiculous.

With unique access, we'll learn the tricks of the trade...

As an estate agent, I could class it as a wet room.

..and find out what's really going on in the UK's crazy property market.

I'm rather hoping that bankers might have

taken our place at the bottom of the pile by now.

Welcome to estate agency.

HE HOWLS LIKE A WOLF

Exeter is home to Lewis Rossiter,

a 31-year-old branch manager at Bradleys.

He's an agent who's not afraid

to bring his unique enthusiasm to the job.

In a world where Willeys Avenue has an open house,

one man decided to sell it.

HE HUMS DRAMATIC TUNE

Lewis, how did the viewings go? They're OK!

I got an offer. What's the offer? Oh, no, reject, reject.

DRAMATIC TUNE

Coming this summer. Willeys Avenue.

He may not take life too seriously, but he's proud of his profession.

An estate agent is as important as a football agent or movie agent

or it's that, you know,

wedge in-between dealing with two sets of people, being that

buffer, and I don't think estate agents are going away any time soon.

A thriving profession needs a thriving property market,

and Exeter has just that.

Typically, Lewis sells Victorian terraced houses

for up to £170,000.

They're going to go to first-time buyers,

they're going to go to people looking to downsize.

They're going to go to buy-to-let investors,

so you've got a wide range of buyers that it appeals to.

It's a busy year,

and the annual office awards are looming for all 33 branches.

Having successfully turned a failing office around, Lewis is

gunning for two major prizes, including Office of the Year.

I am desperate to win it.

I mean, you're talking about an office that

a lot of the people in the company wanted to close down because it

wasn't making money, and now we're currently number two out of 33.

PHONE RINGS

So we are well above what we should be doing.

So if we can win Office of the Year, it would be my dream.

So that comes in December.

Um... Hi, Jonathan.

Competition is stiff, but not everyone feels the pressure.

Would you guys like to win Office of the Year?

I wouldn't mind. We wouldn't mind winning an award, would we, Sal?

-No, not at all.

-Take it on the chin.

-Yeah.

At last year's ceremony, Lewis definitely

made his mark on the company.

Last year at the Christmas party, Lewis won Employee of the Year.

It resulted in him getting really drunk.

He was on the sofas and there were a few of the directors

just by the door, and I went over to see him

and he was just sick everywhere, all over the sofa, all over the floor.

It was really embarrassing.

And he just kept saying, "All night, dude,

"I was just sick in Head Office."

It was so funny.

Keen to make a different kind of impression this year,

Lewis is eager to impress his managers in their monthly meeting.

Area manager Darren and managing director Francis

arrive to crunch some numbers.

-Good morning.

-Morning, Lewis.

-Francis.

-How are you?

Mr Regional Manager.

If you look where we were a year ago,

I mean, it's... I would have dreamed at this sort of figure

and now it's become expected now, do you know what I mean?

That's what's quite cool.

Lewis has smashed his monthly targets

and he's cruising towards an annual office profit of over 70 grand.

Plus 38. By the end of September, you're going to be on 56.

That was my dream figure for this year.

Which puts you nicely,

nicely on track for the 72 at the end of the year.

Would that win me Office of the Year, do you think, at this stage?

It's tight, because I know Exmouth, Paignton.

-It all depends, doesn't it?

-How they do.

There's other people around.

Obviously, last year was a great year for me, to a degree,

but I won Employee of the Year.

And I don't think anyone can... No-one's ever done that twice

in a row, so I'm ruling myself out of that, but Manager of the Year...

Obviously, I've got more staff this year,

I've become more of a manager of people. You know, what...

It's not necessarily just managing.

It is managing the office, but it's adding all the other bits as well,

conveyance referrals, mortgage referrals.

And that's the thing that's going to get

judged on for the Office of the Year as well.

If you can be seen to just make that jump,

that's the sort of thing that's really going to help you.

He first off has to promise not to be sick at Head Office again.

Yeah, no, I'm not going to throw up in Head Office again.

You know, a young guy, I've learnt from my mistakes.

I've, you know, I've changed my drink, I'm a G&T man now.

So that won't happen again.

But, no, I think, yeah, I'm gunning for it, I want it,

I want it so bad, Darren, I want Office of the Year,

Manager of the Year, never done before, both of the awards together.

-Has it been done before?

-Yes.

-Yeah, it has, yes.

-Yeah.

-By you?

-No.

-No, no, no.

-How many times have you won it?

-Manager of the Year, I've won once.

-Once?

-Yeah.

-It's quite exciting, isn't it?

-It is.

-I'm excited.

For some agents, it's less about winning awards

and more about winning business.

In Birmingham, Dave Simms works a busy patch

in a predominantly Asian community.

He's not only up against rival agents,

but sellers wanting to cut the agent out altogether.

There's a lot of private sales in Washwood Heath and Alum Rock

and Ward End. Asian community, they sell into a community.

So they do a lot of business down the mosque, they do

a lot of business in the local supermarket.

And, of course, they try not to pay people like me

to do the business for them.

It's estimated that around 5% of vendors bypass the agent

to sell privately - something Dave's familiar with.

There are two ways you can sell a house.

You can sell one through an agent or you can sell it privately.

I have no objection to him doing it.

But in the long run, it will cost him, not save him.

He'll think it's saving him, but it's costing him.

And the reason for that is whether it was myself or another good

agent, if the agent does the job right, he's going to open

the pool of available buyers to a lot more people than a fancy,

you know, six sheets of A4 paper coloured in in his window.

Hungry to beat the opposition,

Dave's off to see a potential seller in the hope

he'll win the instruction.

We need to jut have a sit down first, if we may.

Yeah. Yeah, on to the right there.

-OK, thank you. So you're on the move, are you?

-Hope so.

Where are you off to, anywhere nice?

A little bit further away, Tamworth way, maybe. Lichfield.

Have you been here long?

-30 years.

-It's people like you that keep me out of business.

You're supposed to move every seven years.

So this is what I plan to do -

have a quick mooch around the house, take a few notes.

Downstairs, upstairs. I go outside and do my thinking.

-I come back and confirm everything to you verbally.

-OK.

OK, lovely.

Pad and pen at the ready, Dave starts totting up.

Was it two rooms when you came here, was it?

-Yeah, it was, yeah.

-Yeah, and then you opened it up?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-The extension, is that something you've had done in your time?

-Yeah.

Yeah. Approximately how long was that?

-20 years.

-Oh, 20 years.

So what will this three-bed house be worth?

As far as value goes, you know,

we've sold the two just down the road here in the last six months.

We got 125 for one, we got 135 for the other, so if this was my home,

I think I'd be suggesting anywhere between 135 and 140

as an asking price, and probably as a valuation

I'd hope that you'd get 135.

I don't know what your own thoughts were, hopes or...

-I was expecting 150.

-You were expecting 150.

Maybe to be drop... I know I'm not going to get 150.

Yeah. Yeah, sure. You're not going to get 150.

-No, no.

-I mean, that's the reality.

-You've asked me here today to value it.

-Yeah.

Rather than endorse your opinion of it.

-I don't think anybody's going to cut you a cheque for 150.

-Yeah.

Good, well, listen, nice meeting you and...

'I think I did OK.'

I think I told her the right figures.

Now, whether the right figures are what she wanted to hear, who knows?

That's one of the problems that an estate agent has.

In one sense, he's being asked to go and value the house

and give her an honest opinion of what that house is worth, but

on the flip side he also wants the job, he wants to actually - he wants

to gain the instruction, otherwise what's the point of him going out?

So where does the honesty of the valuation stop

and the salesman take over?

How does anybody choose an estate agent?

Some people choose on value, the guy who tells them the most money.

Some people choose on fees, who's got the lowest fee.

Some people just like the bloke who came round.

Some people like the girl that come round.

Good pair of legs, I'll instruct her. Nice fella, I'll instruct him.

What are the most important things, do you think, that are going

to influence you making your decision?

The one who tells me the most.

The one who values it at the most.

That's the one I'll go with.

Unless, like I say, unless we sell it privately.

Valuations can be a hit or miss affair.

Typically, just over a third convert to an instruction.

But win or lose,

Dave is looking to the future in the form of eight new-build homes.

Well, this is something that's quite different for us

because there's so little new build in Hodge Hill - in fact,

there's no new build in Hodge Hill, so when you get invited

to become a part of something like this, it's interesting.

This type of development fulfils an urgent need

for new housing across the whole of Britain.

New-build homes bring new business to agents,

providing they're the right design.

The builder, from his first layout that he came to us with,

all open-plan, that we divorced the rooms

and we got the multi reception rooms because, again,

we envisaged they're going to be, you know, Pakistani people

who buy these and they'll want that multi reception room housing.

They won't want that big open-plan housing.

Yeah, if we'd have left it to the builder, we'd have had

just open-plan houses that wouldn't have sold very well.

These are the best eight houses in Hodge Hill.

They're everything that we've been told for the last 20 years

people wanted in this area.

So we've now given them what they want, now they've got to buy them.

For the last few months, we've followed the highs

and lows of agents across the country.

180 miles north of Birmingham,

and selling shiny new-builds isn't the main concern of the morning.

Well, we obviously all have company cars.

This is mine, covered in snow, as you can see.

Lynne Blaney is an estate agent who does daily battle with

the Northeast weather.

The windscreen wipers are actually stuck on the windscreen.

Whey-hey, there we go.

It's just a tool for me to do the job.

I need it every single day.

If I didn't have it and it was off the road for whatever reason,

I'd be office bound, couldn't do my job.

No, it's an essential part of an estate agent's job.

It's not the most glamorous start to a working day,

and Lynne's mind often drifts to life as an agent further south.

If I had a really smart car, you know,

something like a nice Audi TT, that would be rather nice.

You know, you see these estate agents down London on the telly

and they're in their flash TTs and you think,

"Whoa, lovely, like that."

Doesn't happen very often in the Northeast, unfortunately.

Lynne works a diverse patch across the Northeast.

She sells a wide variety of housing stock, including the good,

the bad and the ugly.

Some of the places that we actually have

properties on the market in is Ferryhill,

and there's certain areas in Ferryhill get nicknamed the Bronx.

It's not as bad as the Bronx in America, mind.

It's nowhere near like that.

And then over in Chilton, where we're going to now,

part of this gets nicknamed "the dark side".

What's Spennymoor's nickname?

A nice place to be.

We are coming into "the dark side".

We used to regularly get these little houses on the market.

The last one that we did actually sell was at the top end

on the right-hand side,

and I think it sold for about 16, 16 to 18 grand.

Historically, it was always a really nice little place to live,

a very close-knit community.

Your mum lived round the corner, your sister, your brother,

your friends, and everybody knew everybody

and it was really a nice place to be.

But over the last ten years, opportunist developers moved in.

Sensing a bargain, they snapped up rows of cheap houses.

There was a lot of investors from out of the area and even

out of the country who purchased properties round here because

they were cheap, and they were given to agents out of the area.

And the agents were putting any type of tenant in just to get them

occupied and, shall we say, they were of the lesser quality

tenant who gradually pulled the area down and gave it a bad reputation.

And then that affects everybody else in the area,

and that's how it's ended up the way it is.

In a bid to improve the patch, the council implemented a

Compulsory Purchase Order, buying up properties and demolishing the lot.

There used to be a row of terraced houses on this side, and then you've

got the tarmacked path, which was the little rear lane,

and then you used to have a row of terraced houses

where the other green patch is.

I would imagine that we are a world away from what

happens in the south of the country, you know, like London,

et cetera, and I would find it hard to believe that London agents

would ever come into areas like this.

They may do but, in my mind,

I don't think they would ever know things like this existed.

Back in Exeter, one of Lewis's regulars has popped in.

Julia Willox is a savvy landlady

who already owns 13 houses and three flats.

She's hungry for her next project.

Hi, guys. Kieran, how's it going?

Yeah, very well, thank you. Well, as well as it can be.

-So, a house.

-A house.

The market is really buoyant in terms of loads of buyers,

but there's a lack of stuff coming on.

Is there anything that I can have a look at that, you know,

may hit the boxes?

The only one I've got left, really, Victorian terrace,

is the one on Beaufort Road.

Julia's a no-nonsense buyer.

She's after a Victorian terrace for under 200,000.

The one on Beaufort Road has been refurbished,

so you don't have to touch anything.

Three double bedrooms upstairs, so it's got potential.

This isn't a typical buy for Julia.

She's not looking for herself, but for a lucky family member.

For my 18th birthday present, my mum has offered - she gave me

two options, actually - one to buy me

a house for my 18th birthday present,

or go travelling around the world,

and I decided to go ahead and sort of look at buying my own house.

I don't know anybody else that's sort of having their mum

buy their own property.

I do feel really fortunate in that sense,

and have the opportunity to go ahead and sort of start my life young.

Buying a house for her son holds particular importance for Julia.

For me, a home is really important

because as a child I didn't feel I had a stable home.

I mean, I left my parents' house when I was 12 years old

and went to live with my nan,

and then left there when I was 16 and went to Italy to work.

This is not all about me giving him the house.

He needs to show me that actually he is responsible.

The skills and the experience that a person needs to acquire,

you tend to only acquire them through living independently.

Tasked with finding the perfect pad,

Lewis is showing Julia and Kieran a house he hopes will impress.

-I don't like the front door.

-You don't?

-No.

-You can change that.

It's not the most promising start,

and Lewis hasn't even got them through the door.

Yeah, the girls said about this the other day.

They locked you out, you see.

There you go, see, it's easy.

Let me just grab this.

This three-bedroom house is on for just under 165,000.

To be fit for an 18th birthday present

and a discerning buyer, it's got to be spot on.

-Little skirting boards.

-Yeah.

Nice kitchen.

Location, location, location - three words close to Julia's heart.

This is one of the reasons why I didn't like the houses down here,

because of the railway line.

If you jump up over there, what's on the other side?

You've got the car park for the gym.

Oh, oh, we went behind there once, I can remember.

That's where rough sleepers sleep. Yeah.

Interesting. The back garden's a big no.

-The doors are a big no, and the street's a big no.

-Yeah.

Lots of noes. And no character features.

I mean, you can put in fireplaces, I suppose.

-It's got air vents.

-Yeah, yeah, so you can put them in.

Buyers are more switched on than ever.

You cannot fool buyers these days.

You know, they know exactly what you paid for it,

when you bought it.

You just don't bullshit them. I mean, that's the thing.

Oh, a horrible view.

-This is le master bedroom, as we say in France.

-Ah.

Even at the tender age of 18, Kieran is no easier to please.

But overall verdict, what's your overall verdict?

-No.

-No.

-Yes.

-OK.

-It's not home.

It's not like a home, is it, it doesn't feel homely.

-You don't get that homely feeling.

-Well, at least we looked.

Yeah. Another one to add to the list.

That's the main thing, isn't it?

East of Exeter lies the metropolis of London,

where house prices come with considerably more noughts.

Maeve, three things, number one,

can I go to France on the weekend I've sent you?

Estate agent Gary Hersham

sells some of the capital's most eye-wateringly expensive homes.

If you own a house in Avenue Road, a house in Eaton Square

and a house in St James, it's not one shot, it's three shots.

An established property player of prime central London, Gary's

an agent who's an experienced multi-tasker.

I've got to go to another appointment, Michael.

I've got 27 appointments today.

I enjoy my work enormously. I enjoy my private time enormously.

I enjoy my wife and my children, my family enormously.

We are very hard-working and very diligent.

But the biggest complaint all of them have is I never stop working.

Simon, c'est moi, c'est Gary.

My phone is almost always on.

Oh, exactement. Tu ne m'as pas dit ca.

I can do whatever you like, you know me.

I feel very lost without my iPad or my telephone.

I can barely hear you now, there's lots of background noises.

-This information...

-I'm trying to make a conference call.

Can you make sure there's some sandwiches at 1.30 for me

and David Bername?

100%. A million per cent.

For an agent as busy as Gary, there is little time to stop and refuel.

And can you cancel that?

Luckily, office aide Ernesto is waiting in the pit stop.

Gary drinks a lot of cups of teas.

He drinks, like, six, ten, 12 cups of teas.

No, sorry, it's not cups of teas, it's cup of tea, isn't it,

the plural, isn't it?

He drinks, like ten, 12 cups of tea every day.

Can I go back to my client and say if you accept 78 million,

effectively, he will do the deal.

Will you at least help me on that basis?

He might be surrounded by clients with expensive taste,

but Gary's palate is decidedly down to earth.

Gary likes to drink PG with a dash of milk, British breakfast,

English breakfast.

This cup of tea is for Gary.

It is his first cup of tea.

Working for a tireless boss, Ernesto reflects on Gary's focus.

Gary is a person fully oriented to business.

Business, business, business and work.

Working hard, working lots of hours every day.

And he's a person that goes straight to the point, straight to business.

No time for nonsense, no time for silliness, it's just business.

Business and work and work.

OK, I cannot do it for less than 1% for reasons that must be

obvious with these Russian guys and their introducing source.

So whatever happens, I need a 1% fee.

I am driven by making sure I don't lose a sale.

I enjoy my work enormously, and my work relates to success,

my work relates to closing deals and being able to satisfy myself

I've done everything I possibly can not to have lost the deal.

As London prices rocket, business is booming for Gary.

He's on the hunt for a new member of staff,

and he hopes Monica Zadiketer is the girl for him.

Tell me what you do.

I'm a PA for a Kuwaiti family.

One second, one second. What's your nationality?

Lithuanian. How do you pronounce your last name? Zidi... Zi...

Zadiketer. It's a Lithuanian name.

-Strange name.

-I guess.

Initially, I came here to study, so I've done my BSE management.

-Are you married? Engaged?

-I have a partner.

Yeah, OK. So effectively married, aren't you?

Yeah, well..

Niceties out of the way, Gary goes for the jugular.

OK, what salary do you want?

That's quite a tricky question. I would say 30 grand.

So 25 to 30.

-Yeah.

-OK.

And within the blink of an eye, it's game over.

Thank you very much indeed.

If I say thank you in...in Lithuanian?

Aciu.

Aciu. Aciu.

You are most welcome, what can I say?

I was quite nervous, actually.

I think he was very straightforward, exactly to the point,

and I hope I answered everything that he wanted to know.

He knows what he wants and what he's looking for,

and I guess that's why he's so successful.

Monica wasn't offered the job,

but Gary remains focused on the bigger picture.

I hope to be able to expand my business rather than

shrink my business over the next few years, and hopefully even

when I'm 65 or perhaps a little bit older than that I'll still have the

same energy levels and desire to sell property as I do today.

Back in Exeter, Lewis is limbering up for a meeting with Kate,

and a strategic discussion about the awards.

OK. So we've got...

so this is communication for September from the board,

Office of the Year updates, still Shaldon are in front, we're second.

And then behind us we've got Exmouth

and Paignton, who are doing great business.

Budleigh, I see them climbing up.

To get number one, we've got to have the most amazing end to the year.

Do you think you'll get Manager of the Year?

You had Employee of the Year last year, didn't you?

It'd be pretty sweet. We've got to up our conveyancing,

we've got to up our mortgage referrals.

What do we get for winning Office of the Year then if we did win it?

Kudos is number one, which is pretty big.

What's kudos?

-It's, you know, well done, you know.

-Oh, like handshakes and things?

Yeah, and other things. Let me get you the definition of kudos.

A new word.

Used to get word of the day toilet paper.

I like doing a word of the day.

It's a claim or praise for an exceptional achievement.

So could I say, "Oh, I've just got a load of kudos

"because I won Office of the Year"?

-Yeah, you just say...

-It sounds like cuddles, but I'm saying it wrong.

For example, if someone says, "I've just got a job,"

just say "kudos," like that, and give a little salute.

-Really?

-Yeah, people say it.

If Lewis wants to bag any awards, he'll have to see off stiff

competition from his rivals, 16 miles south.

He's up against a trio of seniority

with a collective 60 years in the business -

Ali, Julie and manager Katherine,

the golden girls of seaside village Shaldon.

It's a beautiful village.

We sell properties really ranging from 250 up

to in excess of a million pounds.

A lot of the properties are sort of more period character

properties, although there is an element of sort of newer

housing in the area as well.

Shaldon is a place where good things come in small packages.

Even a commonplace beach hut warrants a hefty price tag.

I love showing these beach huts, they're great fun

and I think it's that lifestyle dream, isn't it?

It's something we'd all like to be able to do,

and if we had a spare 250,000, why not spend it on a beach hut?

For buyers wanting to stretch both their legs and their budget,

Katherine has more spacious properties on her books.

This five-bed, three-bathroom house is on for a princely 1.9 million.

Our stock here, in comparison to what Lewis would be selling, well,

it's completely different, to be honest.

I'll talk about that I'm selling a beach hut, "Oh, yeah, how much is that?"

It's 250,000, where that's probably...

For St Thomas, you know, they're probably selling three or four

flats for that sort of money, you know?

And then this property is 1.9 million, well, that's more

than their portfolio for goodness knows how many years, you know?

It's just a different ball game.

OK, now this is the master bedroom, master suite.

Doors that open out onto this.

But selling expensive houses doesn't mean it's any easier to win the awards.

There aren't so many of our properties here, so, you know, we've

got to be really good at what we do when we're trying to sell something.

With 16 years' more experience,

Katherine isn't ruffled by her fledgling rival.

Lewis is so competitive.

Bless him, you know, sometimes he looks at me

as if to say, "I'm going to get you," you know, he really does.

I sort of goad Lewis now and again, and sort of can see him

and he's a young pup trying to do the business sort of thing.

But I've got more of the slower approach, more sophisticated.

Under the reference of 210/89.

Back in Birmingham, Dave is hot on the tail of the three-bed

house he recently valued.

In this game, if you snooze, you lose.

Hello, Mrs Macken, it's David Simms, Alex Smith's.

How are you, all right? That's good.

Just wondering if you had any more thoughts on our visit the other day.

'No, we've only just... Today, we've only just spoke with next door...'

Oh, OK, how did that go?

It's Dave's worst nightmare.

Rumblings of a private sale with a next door neighbour threaten

to ruin his chances.

What figures did you throw at him next door?

'Well, we told him we were going to put it up for 150.

'Yeah. See what they say.'

Yeah, see what they come back to you with.

Good call, good call. OK, well, once they've come back,

if there is still something going on, then let me know.

-'OK, then, I will do.'

-OK. Take care now.

-'OK, bye.'

-See you soon. Bye-bye.

I don't think the next door neighbour will pay 150 grand for it.

There's not a house in Ward End Park Road that's worth 150 grand.

I think my house is worth more than it is and I do this for a living.

You know, you think your house is worth more than it is.

And we all think our houses are worth more than they are.

It's human nature.

People buy houses for all sorts of different reasons - location, price,

square footage and, occasionally, the number on the door.

Here's a new one for you.

The lady who went to Twycross and Ferry Road,

she wouldn't buy it because it was number seven.

Honestly. Give me a piece of paper.

She only wants houses with certain numbers.

One is a bad number, so it's only evens.

So it's two, four, six, eight.

Ten is out, because ten is a one. And the zero means nothing.

Honestly, it keeps going.

12 I think is OK, because two beats one.

11 is a no go because that's a one.

17 would be a no go.

18 would be a yes, and so on.

And she can only buy houses with those numbers. So we've...

-Because?

-Oh, because the sun is shining in the moon from a different

direction to where Mars is.

Who knows? Who knows?

You're kidding me?

No, no, that's honestly it.

-So we've got to find something...

-So basically she's discounting...

85% of the houses.

Yes. What number does she live at at the moment?

Nine.

-Oh, dear.

-You couldn't make it up.

-You couldn't make it up.

In the world of estate agency, first impressions count. Particularly

when it comes to the look of the workplace and the shop window.

Lynne's office in Spennymoor is no exception.

I think it looks a little bit tired.

It needs a bit of TLC, a bit of love and attention.

You know, we need freshening up a little bit.

You know, we need a bit of glam.

An agent's window is a crucial marketing tool

and Lynne is giving hers a make-over.

Time for the before and after shot.

This office has been like this probably about ten years now,

and this is the original window display from all them years ago.

So even though they're very functional

and we can get enough in our windows, when you compare it

with other agents, you know, they look a little bit more glam,

a little bit more minimalist, a bit more modern, LED lighting,

et cetera, and I think that's what we need, something to make us...

make the window look a little bit more attractive, a bit more modern.

That'll be nice.

So it's out with the old and the mould,

but the revamp doesn't stop there.

Lynne is also getting a brand-new company car.

This is my car that I'm going to get in white.

I've always wanted an Audi TT.

I think I've got the poor man's version. It's a Peugeot RCZ.

It's nice when you pull up outside somebody's house with something tidy

and something respectable, you know, but not necessarily over the top.

Lynne might sell some of Britain's cheapest homes, but recent

turnover has been profitable and a new car well deserved.

That's the interior.

-What colour seats are you having?

-Black.

Yeah, just black cloth, you know, can't afford the leather,

it doesn't come in my budget.

Eagerly anticipating life in the 21st century,

it's still a day of good old-fashioned work for Lynne.

I've just basically sold that one over there.

Oh, I've just sold the shop down here as well.

Oh, it looks like a new hairdresser's has just opened.

Over the years, I think I've been in this one.

I've been in that one.

I've been in this one.

She's on her way to a viewing at a rather unusual property,

a converted police station.

Four bedrooms, a spanking new kitchen, state of the art bathroom.

On for 108,000, it's an attractive proposition for bargain hunters.

Hiya, are you all right? Miss Betsworth? Oh, hiya.

Here we go.

The viewing is with Toni Betsworth, an out-of-towner who's keen

to capitalise on more modest northern prices.

If you have a look, you can even see by the ceiling that there's

been some electrical work done.

You get a lot more for your money up north.

I mean, I can buy three houses for what I pay for one down south.

I mean, it's ridiculous.

-Isn't it nice to have space?

-Yeah.

It's not just property prices that have lured Toni up north.

There's another attraction in town.

Girlfriend Jo, who she's moving in with.

Are you buying it for both of you?

Yeah, well, I'm going to buy it.

Right, OK. And then are you both moving... Ah, right, OK, OK.

So at least... Well, there's always two living rooms,

so one can watch Coronation Street, the other one can watch whatever.

Am I thinking along the right lines there?

Yeah. I'm the one that watches that Coronation Street.

Me an' all, me an' all.

Sensing a degree of interest, it's time for Lynne to pull out

a killer USP, the original police cells.

Oh, there's bars on the windows.

It's perfect for my son, this.

This is probably the type of prison cells that they should put

people in now.

Imagine being a prisoner in one of these.

It must have been horrific, mustn't it? Spooky. Ooh!

Back in the West County, Julia's still after

the perfect 18th birthday present for her son.

She's come to give Lewis a gentle nudge.

-Hello.

-Hiya.

Good to see you.

I hope you've found a house for me,

because I'm going to get mighty upset if you haven't.

Well, there's been some movement.

I'm about to put one on the market on Buller Road,

but I don't know if it's the road they want to be on.

-Yeah, I've got a house in Buller Road and it's noisy.

-Yeah.

-I didn't realise it was on a main bus route.

-Yeah.

Lewis has already shown her eight houses.

But not one has led to a sale.

I'm actually feeling deflated, because it's...

-There's not anything.

-No.

I feel like I'm going round and round in a circle,

I feel emotionally drained by all of it.

And I so desperately want a house, and it's all beyond my control.

-You just can't panic buy, that's the thing.

-No.

-You can't just settle.

-Find me a house.

-I will, Julia, I will.

If Lewis succeeds, he'll better his chances at the end of year awards.

Back by the seaside, and past winners, the Shaldon girls,

have the same thing on their minds.

Office of the Year is looming, as you know, and

I know we feel that we potentially are going to be

Office of the Year, however, we can't sit back on our laurels.

You know and I know that there are other offices, they had a slower

start than us and they're going full guns, so, you know, there's no

way we can sort of guarantee that we're going to get it.

The last area meeting, they definitely felt there was

-a few offices that were catching up.

-Catching us.

-How many weeks to go?

We've probably got - what, is it six weeks left? Six weeks left,

-so no pressure. All right, I don't...

-The pressure is on.

Like Lewis, every sale counts.

And Katherine is off to a viewing at a cosy country cottage.

This chocolate box charmer is on the market for 540,000.

The house gushes West Country chic, roaring fire, toastie Aga,

it's exactly what Devon buyers are looking for.

Do you want to come on through?

Katherine wastes no time in pedalling her best agent patter.

It's got such a lovely atmosphere, hasn't it? Beautiful.

I think I said to you that it's been completely renovated,

so you and Cissy won't have to do anything to the house,

-which I think might be a nice start for you.

-Fantastic.

OK. Now this is bedroom two, oozing lots of character.

It is nice.

And this is the master bedroom.

This is definitely the wow factor, isn't it?

-Yeah, this is, definitely.

-It is gorgeous.

-Beautiful.

An encouraging nod, an enthusiastic smile.

But has she bagged herself a sale?

-Well, I hope you liked it.

-Love it. It's very nice, very sweet.

Just not sure about the amount of space.

-The actual size, OK.

-And the size.

It's just a tiny bit small for us, I think.

-That's a shame.

-But it's beautiful and I think it will suit someone.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Maybe without growing children.

Yes, OK. OK. Well, I'm glad you've had a look at it.

Back in Hodge Hill, aka Simm City, Dave is doing some detective work.

He's keen to see

if a rival agent has won the Ward End Park Road instruction.

It's always interesting to drive past and see

if the opposition got the job.

No, it doesn't look like anybody got that job,

so I guess that's good to know in one sense.

Little does he know Mandy's decided to sell to her neighbour

and cut out the agent altogether.

I was going to put it up for 150, to get 145.

But then by the time you've paid your solicitor's fees

and your other fees, it probably would have gone down to 142.

And then my neighbour says, "Well, I'll offer you 140,"

and I thought, "Well, yeah, that's fine."

And I was quite looking forward to putting a board up.

Because of living round here all my life, people are saying,

"Oh, are you selling your house, where are you moving to?"

and what have you, and I was quite looking

forward to, you know, having viewers and what have you.

But it didn't happen.

Another one bites the dust for Dave.

But it's onwards and upwards with the sale of eight brand-new homes.

Dave is selling all eight plots and negotiator, Karen,

is handling today's viewing, alongside the developer.

It's a location that's close to her heart.

I got married in the church that was on this spot.

Where the building silo is now was the doors to the church where

I walked in as a Miss on my dad's arm,

and walked out as a Mrs on my husband's arm.

So it's a bittersweet thing for me, because the church has gone,

the memories have gone.

But this is really exciting.

Mr and Mrs Jalil have come to check out what's on offer.

Early viewing and an unfinished build means a degree of vision

and good footwear is required.

So there'll be a footpath down here.

This is the downstairs cloakroom,

so in here this is going to be fully tiled from floor to ceiling,

and I'll be able to show you that next door now because that is tiled.

It's all got under-floor heating as well, so you won't have

radiators downstairs, it's all under-floor heating.

-Now this is what we wanted to show you.

-Yeah.

This is the style of kitchen that we're doing

and that's the type of finish that it'll have.

Which is every woman's dream, isn't it?

This is what we're calling bedroom number two,

it's the second bedroom and it's...

These five-bed detached homes start at just under 420,000.

They're considerably more costly than Birmingham's average

house price of around 155,000.

This has got four bathrooms, so it's a bathroom and three en suites.

Three en suites in this one.

She is really impressed, especially with the kitchen and the bathroom.

Do you think it's going all right?

Fingers crossed, yes.

I'll ring you either this afternoon or even tomorrow

and we'll have a chat and take it a bit further.

-All right.

-No problem. Thank you for your time.

-Bye for now.

Thanks for coming up. Thank you, love.

-Bye.

-Bye-bye.

I think she's got to do some persuading on the husband.

He walked off site a bit too quickly for my liking.

Back at base camp,

and Karen has already received a call from the couple.

Amanda, that was Mrs Jalil on the phone that we've just shown

round the new build.

She is very interested.

-Really?

-Really.

-Oh, right.

-In either plot four or five.

-Yes, yeah.

She wants to sort out her finances.

So I told you she was more interested, didn't I?

-Very good.

-Woman's instinct.

Do you think Dave would have noticed that?

No, definitely not. He's not in touch with his feminine side.

In Exeter, Lewis hopes he's finally found a property to tickle

Julia's trying taste-buds.

I've just rushed them through. I've done the floor plan.

-There you go, you're the first person to ever see it.

-Oh, brilliant.

Well, it's not even on the market yet.

-It's about to go on tonight. Are you ready to go in?

-Yeah.

You're ready to go in? All right.

This period property was lived in by an elderly lady who recently

passed away.

Unmodernised, in urgent need of some TLC, on for 200,000.

But will it be what Julia's looking for?

I need to look around the rest of the house in relation to what

work needs to be done.

So far, double glazing, a new central heating system.

And the fires will have to come out, I mean, they are probably old,

-probably defunct.

-You couldn't use them, yeah.

It's not the easiest sale for Lewis,

particularly with a buyer as eagle-eyed as Julia.

Then you've got to rip the kitchen out.

Yeah, the kitchen is really, really, really, really bad.

-Yeah.

-Really bad.

The garden. Let me just...

It goes pretty far back, doesn't it, because it goes...

-Yeah, the gardens do go. They're a 100 foot, I think.

-100 foot?

Yeah, I think they're a 100 foot from beginning to end.

-It's interesting.

-There's a lot of work.

Yeah, it's interesting. It's a lot of work.

More work than what you initially see, most definitely.

It's things like this has got to come out. Gracious me.

-Yeah.

-And you've got replace all the carpets.

Oh, my gosh, those duck tiles and they've put them on upside down.

Can you see? They're ducks.

And, look, that's his beak, that's his head, that's his body,

and they've put them on sideways.

-They're ducks?

-Yeah, they're like birds, sparrows.

I think they're called sparrow, sparrow tiles and it's

amazing how many people put them on upside down or back to front.

-They look like penguins to me.

-Do they? OK.

It's all looking a little bleak, but Julia decides to chance her arm.

I would be interested,

but I wouldn't put an offer in for the full asking price.

Ball park, I would be looking at about 190ish.

You've got to try and work it, what's it going to be worth

when it's done up?

I don't know.

I feel that if this was done up top, top spec you could ask 250 for it.

It was a guide price of 200, Julia felt it's not worth it.

To her, in her eyes, at the time, it's worth 190,000.

I said to her , actually, we're going to get loads of viewings

and someone is going to pay at least 200,000 for it.

To me, market value is what someone's prepared to pay for a property.

Up in Spennymoor, Operation Refurb is under way.

The sale of the police house has ground to a halt

and southerner Toni didn't make an offer, but for every down

there's an up, and in just a few hours,

Lynne's new motor will arrive.

Are you excited?

Yeah. Yeah. I'm like a kid at Christmas. Of course I'm excited.

It's a new car.

But before she can get the keys, she's got to juggle

a jam-packed diary.

Lynne has set her targets high and she's keen to keep upping her game.

On average this year, we've been selling between ten

and 14 houses every single month.

Anything over the 14, 15, you know, you punch the air, yes.

Hello. Hello, I'm sorry, I'm running a bit late.

Welcome to the world of the glamorous estate agent.

Just to put you in the picture, my 12 o'clock appointment,

I'm on my way to it now and it is 17 minutes past 12.

Luckily, the people know that I'm running late

and they're absolutely fine with that.

I just like to make things look nice for photographs,

so if I have to move anything, plump the cushions up,

smooth the crinkles out of the bedspread, I do it.

Helps if you take the lens cover off.

Move the toilet roll again.

Anybody who says estate agents don't work hard for their money

hasn't got a clue about estate agency.

All going good. All going good.

With a manic morning in the can, it's time to meet her brand-new toy.

Ahh, look! It's coming, it's coming, it's coming, it's coming.

-Exciting.

-Hi, Lynne, it's here. It's here.

Ah, yeah. How are you?

-I'm very well, thank you.

-Good, at long last.

I know. I bet you thought it was never going to arrive.

God, I thought, "I'm not destined to get this car, I'm really not."

-You might have to put them in water because...

-Car man, Andy,

delivers the precious package with perfect wheeler dealer schmooze.

Oh, thank you.

What we'll do now is we'll take it off the trailer

and then I'll just walk you round the car and show you the bits

and pieces that you need to know.

I'm like a kid at Christmas.

I think you'll be the smartest estate agent around in that.

Oh!

I'll just let you in. You pop yourself in there.

Thanking you. This looks very nice inside. Very nice. Lush.

I don't think it'll make me change as an estate agent personally,

because obviously I'm still me.

But it's nice to have something nice to run around in.

Really nice. And that makes you feel good.

You might sell some more houses.

Well, you never know. Watch this space.

See you later. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye.

Being an estate agent can be tough, deadlines, tricky customers,

constant pressure to seal the deal.

In quieter moments, it's not unusual to consider the alternatives.

I'd like to have a job which involved clothing

and handbags, like a handbag tryer.

That would be my ideal job, just to get bags sent to me,

shoes, try them on, wear them and get paid for it.

Does that job exist?

I suppose it's like a model but without the modelling,

so I'm just testing them.

I don't think it does exist, but you never know what's going to come up.

Kate's calling Julia to feed back on the 190 offer

she made on the house for her son.

Hi, Julia, yeah, I was just calling regarding Lawrence Avenue.

At the moment, as it stands, we have had a higher offer in.

'Oh, right. OK.'

If you want to work out some figures and bits and bobs and then

if I say to Lewis you'll come back to us at 3.30.

'OK, thanks then. Bye.'

All right, thanks, bye.

It's always slightly awkward, isn't it,

telling people that their offer hasn't been accepted.

I always...

Julia doesn't increase her offer on the property,

but her appetite for the perfect pad remains.

And her search continues.

Yes, myself and Kieran are looking at more things.

I've got a viewing lined up this afternoon to look at a house.

There's going to be another. I've spoken to Lewis, there's going to be

another house in one of my favourite streets coming on the market.

Hopefully, I say, that shortly we'll be purchasing a property.

That's assuming, of course, that the

perfect property does actually exist.

Oh, this is nice, where's this?

Oh, wrong area.

Don't let's hold our breath.

Have a great Christmas. You're welcome, any time.

Bye-bye.

Tonight is the annual Christmas party/award ceremony.

So it's quite exciting.

So I would love to win Manager of the Year,

especially after winning Employee of the Year last year, would love it.

But, you know, I'm trying not to get too excited and carried away.

I think I'm in with a chance.

I think I've done all the right things. So, hopefully... Who knows?

We'll see.

# Jitterbug

# Jitterbug. #

After a long, hard year, the award ceremony has finally arrived.

A time for agents to let their hair down, glam up

and prepare to do battle.

With a confident air, bookies' favourite, Katherine.

There are numerous awards, we're potentially up for three of those.

It is quite stressful.

We have expectations, everybody does, and the

stress of thinking that we may or may not get them is just phenomenal.

Working the room, underdog Lewis.

The Christmas party is really important because, you know,

we've had a long, hard year and it just gives us

chance to unwind, enjoy it together.

I mean, where else can you go to your Head Office, a former hotel,

open bar, fantastic food?

I would love... If I had a choice, I would love to win the

Office of the Year, because that's a collective, especially our office.

It's not the biggest, so any kind of recognition is most welcome.

The atmosphere is electric, the tension palpable.

Welcome for your Group Chairman, Mr Brian Bradley.

12 months of hard work, and it's all come down to this.

It's the Exeter office versus the Shaldon office.

The winner is - Shaldon.

A crushing defeat for Lewis as Shaldon bag Office of the Year.

Well done. Absolutely superb. And here it is, girls.

Manager Katherine is humble in victory.

Well, Lewis did get beaten by the more mature woman

and I'm sure that's something, you know,

he's just going to have to deal with really.

But it's not game over yet.

There's still one more chance to earn his spurs.

It's Manager of the Year.

The nominations are...

HE LISTS NOMINEEES

The winner is....

..our very own Lewis Rossiter.

# Oh, we're halfway there

# Oh, living on a prayer

# Take my hand, we'll make it I swear

# Oh, living... #

So I have just won Manager of the Year 2014.

Bang. I won this award, which is pretty awesome.

You know, estate agency is competitive.

Winning, certainly, you know, that I can take this home to my wife

and put it on the mantelpiece and say, "There you go, that's for...

"You've given birth to three children, I've won this."

# Oh, we're halfway there

# Oh... #

I always refer to myself as the Kevin Costner of estate agents

- if you build it, they will come.

# Oh, living on a prayer. #

As the year draws to a close,

a moment of reflection from estate agent Lewis.

Generally, estate agents aren't the most liked people

and profession, and you can't put us all in together.

It's like any profession that I've ever worked in,

you've got good estate agents and bad estate agents.

You've got, you know, estate agents with integrity and complete cowboys.

I'd like to think that one day when people think of estate agents,

they don't think "money-grabbing asshole".