Confessions of an estate agent - Telegraph

Confessions of an estate agent - Telegraph

For many of us, buying or selling a house is war – both psychological and financial. We don’t so much purchase a house, as prise it out of the hands of the people who own it. We don’t so much sell a house, as surrender it to invaders. And right up until the last minute, the deal can be sabotaged by an act of panic or greed on either side.

“The whole business is a mass of contradictions,” says David Pollock, a north London estate agent who has been selling houses for the past 34 years. “The dynamic of people, money and property is fraught with emotion. That said, there is nearly always a key to a successful resolution, and that’s being able to see the situation from the other person’s point of view.”

And it’s not just hot air. “David is one of those rare breeds in his profession that actually makes an effort to understand the needs of both the buyer and the seller,” says Harry Handelsman of the Manhattan Loft Corporation.