Full of character

Some clients are more memorable than others, as Andrew Grice discovered when he was instructed to sell a delightful Georgian house near Salisbury owned by Michael Horsfall and his wife Odile. 'When we arrived to pitch for the job, late on a cold November night, Michael greeted us on the doorstep, confessing that as Odile was away he'd taken the opportunity to turn off the central heating,' remembers Andrew. 'There he stood, breath crystallising in the hall, with his corduroys tucked into his socks and a chunky scarf around his neck.'

'We'd bought Clump House through Strutt & Parker originally, back in 1987,' says Michael, 'so there was a nice bit of continuity there.' It went on the market again in January 2009, and attracted more than 30 viewings in the first month. 'The property was lovely but, I must confess, bore the hallmarks of Michael's somewhat idiosyncratic DIY,' says Andrew.

On one viewing, he took the prospective buyers into an adjoining coach house only to find it inches deep in water. 'It was obvious that Michael's DIY plumbing had come unstuck in the frost,' he says. But in a flash, Michael cobbled together a makeshift pump from a vacuum cleaner, buckets and gaffer tape.

'Michael is a great DIYer. One of his most impressive initiatives was a golf club rack for his motorbike - a four-foot vertical rear spoiler for his golf bag. He'd also decided to re-gravel the drive before viewings, and had invented a spreading contraption made from scaffolding planks, which he towed behind his quad bike. But it only worked when he could persuade his daughter to perch on the back as ballast!'

Although viewings were plentiful, no one made an offer. 'There was always something,' says Andrew. 'Little things that, in combination, meant that no one had actually taken the next step.' But one prospective buyer seemed keener than the rest - a couple who wanted their in-laws to live with them. 'I sensed that they really liked the house, so I got to thinking,' says Andrew. 'I realised that, as it had two staircases - a main one and a back one that would have been for servants - it could notionally be divided into two, so the two generations could keep their privacy while still living together.'

After talking the idea through with the buyers, a deal was struck. All that needed doing was to clear any changes with a listed building officer. Both sets of buyers came along for the inspection. Michael arrived late on the scene, assumed the young building officer was the buyers' granddaughter and turned on the charm. It had the right effect - and the officer agreed to all the proposed changes.

'When contracts had been exchanged, Andrew took Michael and Odile out to lunch to celebrate. 'It's such a pleasure when clients are particularly charming, creative and eccentric,' he says. 'This job is sometimes like being in a soap opera - the characters are larger than life.'