Property Natter: Day in the life of…a Local Property Expert

With the rise of Purplebricks in recent years, many will be eager to know what the hybrid agency’s Local Property Experts (LPEs) get up to on a day-to-day basis. In this exclusive interview I catch up with one of them to find out more.

Clare Hindes works as a Local Property Expert for Dudley and Tipton. An estate agent for 18 years, she began working with Purplebricks in November 2015 and has a Viewing Assistant called Neeta Brooks who supports her. Clare, 47, is married to Patrick and is step-mum to Patrick’s son Dominic, who has learning disabilities. She lives in the family home with Hector the dog and Sydney the cat. 

Without further ado…take it away, Clare. 

Every day in the world of Purplebricks is different but this is a typical working day for me. Each Local Property Expert has the flexibility to set their working hours around their home life.

7am: I wake up around this time and the first thing I do is check out my emails. Purplebricks' tech system supplies me with all the information, alerts and reports that I need to service customers. It’s great having everything sent to me so that I can analyse up-to-date, daily information and it makes life so easy. I really enjoy digesting the reports and I love the fact that I can do this from home.

7.30am: I make breakfast for the family, prepare my husband’s lunch (he works shifts) and feed Hector and Sydney.

8am: Every day l conduct around three valuations that each take around an hour and a half. As I work in the area where I live, the furthest I travel each day is around 4 miles. For every valuation I attend, I prepare a report beforehand showing comparable properties that are on sale or have recently sold in the area and what current demand looks like.

9am: Our tech system means I can check out all the alerts that tell me offers have come in for vendors. We have a task management system that basically prompts and organises me. I talk each offer through with the customer, which is one of my favourite bits of the day as I love giving people happy news! I make sure I speak to every person that has offered and qualify all offers, along with getting proof of ID.

10am: I leave the house as majority of my appointments start at 10.30am.

10.30am to 12.00am: Carry out a valuation in my local area. It’s fab that valuation requests come directly to me and I can spend my time focussing on customers, which is what I love doing.

Noon: Arrive home. I prepare lunch for my stepson and then spend time creating engaging ads for new properties coming onto the market. Our tech makes this easier than when I was on the high street. Once I’ve done them, they are sent onto customers for input and approval before going live and my customers say they love the control this gives them. I then deal with any post-sales queries, vendor updates and offer updates from the morning and will negotiate any offers on behalf of my clients. 

1.30pm: Pop out and get any shopping or food that I need. 

2.30pm: Carry out the next valuation in my local area.

4pm: Drive back home where I will address any customer queries that have come in and answer any messages if I have missed calls.

4.30pm: Start preparing tea for the family.

5.30pm: Leave home for my 6pm valuation.

6pm – 7pm: Another valuation in the local area. This one only lasted an hour because the customer didn’t have too many questions and had selected Purplebricks on a referral from friend. 

7.30pm: Serve tea and eat with my family then walk the dog

8.30 - 9pm: I follow up on all the appointments I have carried out during the day and generally check to ensure all our customers are happy and well looked after. Our technology allows us to send out valuation reports and I know customers like receiving materials when they are at home after work and have time to process everything. I really love my job and the way that it gives me the flexibility to work around my home life. 

Thanks for the insight, Clare.

Until next time…

*Nat Daniels is the Chief Executive Officer of Angels Media, publishers of Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today. Follow him on Twitter @NatDaniels.