‘Once we knew we were having twins, we knew we had to expand, so we loved the proportions of this house and the size of the garden.’
Another particularly appealing aspect of the home was its multiple living areas, which gives them the freedom to relax with their three children and also have space to themselves. The downstairs living areas also all look out to the lush rear garden, meaning the adults can always keep an eye on the kids as they run around and play outside.
‘It can get pretty chaotic with three kids,’ James laughs. ‘We needed the space to branch out and have our own space.’
The home’s proximity to the Marshall White Armadale office added to its appeal. A member of the Marshall White team for 20 years, James cherishes many fond memories of his exceptional career.
‘I’ll always remember calling my first auction – it was a nerve wracking experience,’ he says. ‘All my family and friends turned up and I think we only had about two or three buyers. I think the buyers thought there was a wonderful amount of competition for the property, not knowing they were all there to help cheer me on! But we got it sold!’
Another especially memorable experience came when selling apartments in a development in Brighton several years ago. ‘In the first week, a buyer walked into the building and asked how many one bedroom apartments were for sale,’ James says.
‘I told him we had 13, and he said, “I’ll take all of them!” I think it took about seven hours to do all the contracts.’
Over the last 20 years, the logistics of working in real estate have changed dramatically. ‘When I first started, the internet was a bit of an afterthought, and it was all about marketing properties in the press,’ he says. ‘And we didn’t use photos in the print media, it was all sketches.’
