01The week at the branch
Monday and Tuesday carry most of the valuation appointments, because a figure discussed early in the week can be turned into particulars and approved by you before the weekend list is set. Wednesday and Thursday go to accompanied viewings and to putting offers in front of sellers. Friday belongs to the agreed sale files and to the block rounds. Saturday is the busiest counter of the six, worked from the same diary as the rest.
| Days | What the counter works to | Where it is written down |
|---|---|---|
| Monday, Tuesday | Valuation appointments, and the particulars drafted out of them. | The appointment note, then the draft particulars sent to you. |
| Wednesday, Thursday | Accompanied viewings, and offers put in front of sellers. | The viewing note, and the offer entered on the file with the buyer's position. |
| Friday | Agreed sale files carried forward, and the block rounds walked. | The sale file, and the written round for the block that was visited. |
| Saturday | The counter, worked from the same diary as the other five days. | The same diary, in the same order the calls arrived. |
Lines from the districts. Choosing a plate on sheet 07 lifts the matching line to the top of every list here.
- Valuation appointments in IG1 are taken early in the week, before the particulars are drafted.
- Viewings booked in IG2 are accompanied from the branch, and the seller hears on the same day.
- Offers on IG3 instructions go to the seller as they arrive, with the buyer's position beside the figure.
- Where an IG4 sale is agreed, the memorandum reaches both solicitors before the week closes.
- Communal areas in Clayhall blocks are walked on the Friday round, and what is found is written up.
- The office itself sits in IG6, so a block walk here is fitted between booked appointments.
- E11 enquiries arrive through the week, and an applicant kept at work is offered a later slot.
- In E18 the Saturday list is the long one, and viewings are spaced to suit it.
02Taking a sales instruction
The valuation appointment is an inspection and a conversation: the rooms are measured, the tenure is established, and you are asked what you would like the sale to achieve. Particulars are drafted from that visit and sent to you first, because the wording is yours before it is anybody else's. An offer is checked against the buyer's funding, chain and readiness, then put to you with those details attached. From an agreed sale the branch issues the memorandum and follows the file through enquiries to exchange.
| Entry | What is taken at the visit | What it is taken for |
|---|---|---|
| The rooms | Each room measured at its longest and widest point, with the convention named. | The measurements printed on the particulars, and the floor area worked from them. |
| The tenure | Freehold or leasehold, and where leasehold the term left and the service charge last paid. | The line a buyer's solicitor reads first, and the line an offer is checked against. |
| The condition | What has been done to the property, what is being left, and what is plainly outstanding. | The wording of the particulars, which you approve before anything is published. |
| The access | Parking, the way in, and how keys are to be held for accompanied viewings. | The viewing arrangements entered in the counter diary. |
| Your position | What you would like the sale to achieve, and the timing you have in mind. | The advice given at the appointment, and the order the file is worked in. |
| Your identity | The evidence an estate agent is required to take, and the record of the check made. | The customer due diligence the branch must carry out before it acts. |
Sheet 02 — how a figure is arrived at · Sheet 03 — what a set of particulars carries
- An IG1 valuation often concerns a flat in a purpose-built block, so the lease is read first.
- IG2 measurements taken at the appointment go into the particulars, which you approve before publication.
- An IG3 instruction goes up once the title and the tenure are confirmed on the file.
- Where an IG4 property is jointly owned, every owner confirms the instruction before viewings begin.
- An offer on an IG5 house is checked against funding and chain before it reaches you.
- In IG6 a second appointment is offered where a boundary or an extension raised a question.
- E11 particulars name the tenure, the term left on the lease and the service charge last paid.
- Once an E18 sale is agreed, the file is followed through enquiries to exchange.
03The run from instruction to completion
A sale is worked as a run of stops, and the branch holds the file at every one of them. The rule below inks itself from the first stop to the ninth when the sheet is printed; pressing a stop runs the ink to that stop, and everything under it stays exactly where it is and stays readable. Nothing on this sheet is folded away, and no stop is a promise about how long the one before it takes.
The ink stands at the ninth stop, completion, because nothing has been pressed yet and the whole run is printed.
04Who attends a viewing, and what is written afterwards
Viewings are accompanied. Somebody from the branch collects the keys, meets the applicant at the door and stays for the appointment, so the work of showing a stranger round your own home stays with us. The visit is written up while it is fresh: what was asked, what was admired, and where the applicant hesitated. That note is what a seller receives, in the ordinary course on the day of the viewing.
| Stage | Who is there | What is carried, and what is written |
|---|---|---|
| Before | The branch, on the telephone to both sides. | The applicant's name and position are taken, and the slot is confirmed to the seller. |
| Keys out | The member of staff attending. | Keys are signed out at the counter against the property and the time of the appointment. |
| At the door | The branch and the applicant, and the seller only if the seller wishes. | Identity is confirmed at the door before anyone is taken through the property. |
| Through the rooms | The branch, staying for the whole appointment. | Questions asked and rooms returned to are noted as the viewing goes on. |
| Keys in | The member of staff attending. | Keys are signed back in at the counter, and the property is left as it was found. |
| Afterwards | The branch, to the seller. | The written note goes to you in the ordinary course on the day of the viewing. |
- A viewing in IG1 is attended by the branch, and confirmed to both sides beforehand.
- Notes from an IG2 viewing record what was asked, what was liked and where the applicant paused.
- In IG3 an applicant's name and position are taken before the appointment is entered.
- IG4 sellers hear back after every viewing, whether the feedback is long or short.
- A second viewing in IG5 is arranged for a partner, a parent or a builder.
- Keys for an IG6 property are signed out and back in at the branch counter.
- In E11 a cancelled appointment is passed on to the other side at once.
- Where an E18 property is tenanted, the tenant has notice before the slot is offered.
05The office, and how a message reaches it
The branch is at Office 1860, 58 Peregrine Road, Ilford, IG6 3SZ, and it is worked Monday to Saturday. A message sent to viewings@waltersestate.site reaches the desk directly; one left outside working hours is answered once the office next opens, keeping its place in the order it arrived. Appointments, valuations and block matters are booked through that one address.
| District | The places it covers |
|---|---|
| IG1 | Ilford town centre, Cranbrook and Loxford. |
| IG2 | Gants Hill and Newbury Park. |
| IG3 | Seven Kings and Goodmayes. |
| IG4 | Redbridge. |
| IG5 | Clayhall. |
| IG6 | Barkingside, Fairlop and Hainault, where the office stands. |
| E11 | Leytonstone and the Wanstead side. |
| E18 | South Woodford and the Woodford Green border. |
| Company number | 14113974 |
|---|---|
| D‑U‑N‑S number | 228944292 |
| Incorporated | 18 May 2022, at Companies House |
| Registered activity | SIC 68310, real estate agencies; SIC 98000, residents property management |
| Registered office | Office 1860, 58 Peregrine Road, Ilford, IG6 3SZ, United Kingdom |
| The counter | viewings@waltersestate.site |
06Working a reserve fund forward
A reserve fund is worked forward one year at a time: the balance a block starts with, plus what the block pays in, less whatever falls due that year, gives the balance carried into the next. The schedule below runs that roll-forward over ten years from figures you supply. Every pound in it is a pound you typed, and the arithmetic is addition and subtraction taken in order; what comes out is your own assumptions totalled up, and it is neither a valuation of the block's future costs nor a budget any directors have adopted.
07The district board
Eight plates, one for each postcode district the branch works. Choosing a plate lifts that district's line to the top of every list on this page and rules it, and the lines it steps over move down together; the rest stay exactly where they were and stay readable. The matching row of the district schedule on sheet 05 is inked at the same time, and the board itself prints which district is in hand.
In hand:
08Communal areas in a resident-owned freehold
Where the leaseholders hold their own freehold, the branch acts for the company they formed and reports to its directors. Communal areas are walked to a written round: entrances, stairs, lighting, roofs where they can be seen, and the grounds. A repair is quoted before it is instructed, and where a set of works passes the statutory consultation threshold — £250 for any one leaseholder on qualifying works, and £100 in a year under a qualifying long-term agreement — leaseholders are consulted in the manner the legislation requires before a contractor is appointed. The budget, the service charge and the reserve fund are settled on an annual meeting cycle.
| What triggers it | The threshold | What the branch does before anything starts |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifying works | £250 | Where the cost to any one leaseholder passes it, leaseholders are consulted in the manner the legislation requires before a contractor is appointed. |
| Qualifying long-term agreement | £100 a year | Where the cost to any one leaseholder in a year passes it, the same consultation is carried out before the agreement is entered into. |
The year the block is worked to, stop by stop.
- 01Budget drawnThe coming year is costed from what the block spent last year and from what is known to be falling due.
- 02Notice and meetingThe budget, the contribution and the reserve fund go to the directors with the notice of the annual meeting.
- 03The roundsCommunal areas are walked to the written round through the year, and what is found is reported as it is found.
- 04Accounts for the yearThe service-charge accounts for the year are prepared and circulated to the leaseholders they belong to.
- An IG1 block is walked to a written round, and the report names what was seen.
- In IG2 a communal repair is quoted twice over before the directors are asked to choose.
- Where IG3 works pass the consultation threshold, leaseholders are consulted before anything is instructed.
- An IG4 reserve fund is held against known works, and its balance reported at the meeting.
- IG5 service-charge accounts are prepared for the year and circulated with the notice.
- In IG6 a contractor is given the access arrangements in writing before the visit.
- An E11 leaseholder querying a charge is answered from the file, with the invoice behind it.
- The E18 meeting cycle settles the budget, the contribution and what is costed next.
09When a landlord instructs the branch
Letting is the shorter half of the branch's work, and the instruction stage is where it sits. A landlord is asked for proof of title, the lease where the property is leasehold, and the safety records held, because particulars go up once those are on the file. Applicants are referenced by an independent agency instructed for that purpose, and viewings are accompanied as on a sale. Once terms are agreed the paperwork is drawn, and the running of the tenancy passes to whoever the landlord appoints; the branch sets out in writing who does what.
| Asked for | What it lets the branch do |
|---|---|
| Proof of title | Confirm who may instruct, before the property is advertised at all. |
| The lease | Read the consents a leasehold property requires before anything is offered to let. |
| Safety records | Show an incoming occupier what the law requires them to be shown. |
| The terms you want | Draw particulars that name the rent asked, the term offered and what it includes. |
| Your appointee | Set out in writing who runs the tenancy after it begins, and what the branch carries out. |
- An IG1 landlord is asked for the title, the lease and the safety records held.
- IG2 letting particulars name the rent asked, the term offered and what it includes.
- In IG3 letting viewings are accompanied, and the owner is reported to as on a sale.
- An IG4 landlord is told which consents the lease requires before anything is advertised.
- Applicants for an IG5 letting are referenced by an independent agency instructed for that purpose.
- Once IG6 terms are agreed the paperwork is drawn, and the running passes to the landlord's appointee.
- E11 instructions are taken for a letting alone, or alongside a sale.
- In E18 the branch confirms in writing what it carries out and what stays with the owner.