Estate Agents The Psychology of Estate Agents

Date Published:

28/05/2008

Type Four - The Tragic Romantic

It is now deeply passe to mock estate agents. But, nonetheless, Type Fours are ashamed of their career choice. They feel it is beneath them, that this is just a temporary transition on the way to their true vocation.

Fours are often creative, but lack the drive or talent to complete the unfinished novel, symphony, bed... So their only creative outlet is other people's homes. Unlike a One, who is a functional aesthete (a home should be beautiful so that it will sell), a Four is aesthetic for its own sake. They will simply not be able to bear a vulgar or inelegant home. 'I am allergic to PVC windows', you will hear a Four announce proudly. 'And as for decking...'

Unless a Four happens to approve of your property, you can forget about a buyer. There is no malice intended. They just can't bring themselves to walk through your front door, or drink tea out of a chipped mug on distant terms with washing up liquid.

Fours have an unshakeable belief in their own specialness. They see themselves as fundamentally different from others, able to experience life at a deeper, more profound level. You should be able to spot a Four estate agent a mile off, from the smoke cloud of smouldering intensity to their Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen dress sense.

Fours dismiss their colleagues as artisans and automatons who have no concept of inner life. 'I know I'm an estate agent', Fours tell you apologetically, 'but we're not all the same.' Frankly, it does not take much to stand out from the crowd in the average high street branch of Gazump and Gazunder. In a paradoxical way, being an estate agent can suit a Four. They can be individualistic without trying too hard, and can too easily grasp the small comfort of being different without troubling the limits of their potential.

Theirs is a world of over-pessimistic present and over-optimistic future. Unfortunately this will not improve the chances of your house being sold. You will not arrive anywhere with a Four, but the journey will be rewarding.