Whistleblower (BBC One)

We had a friendly chat to the people in the house, they'd had few people round, it was obviously a ploy to get the people thinking the estag was getting people to view. We advised them to get a new estag, and they said they would.

One other time, around that time, we were sent to a house that turned out not to even be going through that estag and hadn't even contacted them ever. We said that if we were going to offer, we'd do it direct. They agreed in principle. In the end, we went to a different property.

It was interesting they chose her and that other pretty woman, the one who went to work for Foxtons, as their undercover reporters.

I enjoyed the scenes in which the blokes in the agency were clearly getting a buzz out of saying they were indulging in a bit of illegal activity.

It's always interesting to get new bits of slang, too. Chop-chop and simmering spring to mind.

(being an attractive lady myself)

scandalous, all of it, but that's what happens when there's so much money involved in anything. i always feel like keying those foxton minis whenever i see them and this hasn't helped.

but surely that's why they design them to look as though they've already been keyed!

The Scottish system tends to lead to faster price inflation than the English one, I think.

The main drawback of the blind auction system is you currently need to get a survey done prior to making a bid. If your bid is unsuccessful, you need to get a survey done on the next property, and the next, and the next...

They're introducing a new system which requires the seller to commission one survey, which is then made available to all, and the successful bidder pays for it when they buy the property. It's only a voluntary scheme at the moment, though, and as far as I can tell hardly anyone has opted in.

Wouldn't that be open to abuse? If estate agents are so corrupt anyway, surely they could put you in touch with a dodgy surveyor?

It certainly helps that the valuation is done by a surveyor rather than an EA (though it has been argued that in areas with fast-rising property prices, surveyors don't keep up and make low valuations).

I'm going by the experiences of friends who have tried to buy in Edinburgh.

the head office is in Chiswick Business Park - Chiswick High Road, opposite Gunnersbury tube station, building no 1.
first and second floor - foxtons & mortgage brokers alexander hall together.
i confirm every woman who works in Foxtons is attractive, but it's the same when it comes to the blokes :) all young, ambitious and good-looking.
im an insider, what they say is the whole situation is not going to affect their business, alexander hall brokers are even less worried.
any questions? will be happy to answer.

the vision of koogs indulging in such petty vandalism has really brightened my day i must say.

I can honestly say that they have refined the art of brainwashing young hopefuls to a tee! Most of my fellow candidates were early 20's and fresh out of university or confident non-graduates looking to get on a career ladder. Just for background, I'm a 30yr old business development exec. looking to change industry and interested in property selling

They try and wow you with promises of trips abroad every quarter if you hit your targets and offer you the chance of 'winning' prestige and supercars as your earnings get higher and higher. For someone like me who's recently got married, taken on a healthy mortgage and enjoying spending time with my new hubby, I'd rather have the money and go on holiday with him!

Needless to say, I wasn't impressed with their working hours - almost 12hr days Mon-Fri and 9-5 on a Sat or Sun. And all that for a choice of salary of 17.5K basic with 5% commission or 10K GBP with 10% commission. As you can imagine, when they called me the next day to say I hadn't been selected, I was about as gutted as an alcoholic in a brewery. Thanks, but no thanks!