A day in the life of a letting agent and singer

Although they've split up, you can still hear Pauline's band Whanau's music at www.bandcamp.com/whanau.

The experienced singer is no stranger to the stage. As the only girl in her band Whanau (a maoiri word meaning extended family), she performed at all the local gigs along with the six male members of the group. Although she confesses she had no confidence in her (may we say very impressive) singing voice before the band formed, she soon overcame any reservations to sing at festivals like Sunflower Fest and the Hilden Beer Festival.

Now, she’s spread her wings and flown the Whanau coop but, along with partner Andy, she’s formed a musical duo.

Back in the world of work, Pauline has been in the property game for over 10 years now, sparked by shadowing her dad while he was doing surveys.

After working in Douglas Huston Estate Agents, Pauline made the move to Belvoir when the business began in February 2013. She says it’s a job that keeps on changing.

“The great thing about being in sales and lettings is that no two days are the same,” she says.

“A typical day in the office would include a whole range of things such as contacting our viewers from the day before for feedback and updating our landlords, arranging quarterly inspections at all our managed properties, generating tenancy agreements, arranging site visits, advising buy to let investors on potential rental income and potential void periods for certain property types/areas, dealing with any reports of repairs to our managed properties, speaking with potential tenants / purchasers to get a feel for the type of property that would suit them and matching them to our current stock.

“After that, on a day that I’m singing, it’s a quick bite to eat and off to the gig. My boyfriend and I play acoustic sets mainly in Lisburn arranged by Stephen McLoughlin of Lisburn School of Music or by Amanda Kirkpatrick who is a big name in organising events in Lisburn.

“We are playing an acoustic set on Tuesday 9 December in Bar 15 and this will be live streamed. A typical night will see us playing two original songs that I wrote the lyrics to and a few cover versions to include Beautiful Child by Fleetwood Mac, To make you feel my love by Adele (originally Bob Dylan), Wicked Game by Chris Isaac.

“I was honoured to be a part of the R-Space open mic evening as Amanda Kirkpatrick donated proceeds to MacMillan Cancer. Earlier on this year my grandfather lost his battle with cancer, he was a huge support in my singing. Andy and I were very proud to be performing for such a worthwhile cause.”