How Dan the estate agent (and his client's kids) became an Instalegend

“This is Dan. He just valued our flat,” began the Instagram caption that blogger Lorna Hayward posted last week alongside this photo.

“Poor Dan. Poor poor Dan. Gonna just pour meself a pint of wine,” she concluded.

What on earth happened?

This is Dan. He just valued our flat. I had warned him, that arriving in my only available slot of the day at 5pm was risky. Nevertheless he rocked up. In the last hour Dan (who is a complete stranger) has had both my daughters request cuddles, can he hold their hands, if he would watch peppa with them, does he like cheese, if he was staying the night 😳and the finale – Elsie walking out of the toilet announcing she had just done “her biggest poo yet – it was a bit spikey though, so please can you wipe my bum” Poor Dan. Poor poor Dan. Gonna just pour meself a pint of wine.

A post shared by L O R N A ⚡️H A Y W A R D (@mrshhayward) on Mar 17, 2017 at 12:37pm PDT

Anyone with kids probably recognizes themselves in Hayward — and anyone who has a real estate license understands exactly how Dan Stevenson felt when he was faced with two adoring child fans: Like it was just another day at the office.

Stevenson is a real estate agent for Purplebricks, a U.K. hybrid real estate brokerage that recently announced plans to expand to the U.S. And Hayward is a mother of two who is attempting to sell the family flat (or “apartment,” for those of us across the pond).

It’s unclear whether Stevenson understood Hayward’s warning “that arriving in my only available slot of the day at 5pm was risky,” as she wrote in the post caption. (Follow-up reporting has revealed that Stevenson is single and has young cousins, though no children of his own.)

“Nevertheless he rocked up,” wrote Hayward. And her daughters were smitten, asking the agent for hand-holds, cuddles, Peppa Pig television time, his dairy preferences and whether he was there for a slumber party. Among other things.

After she posted the image to Instagram, it was uploaded to a Facebook group for The Motherload, a U.K.-based parenting advice and community forum.

And you can guess what happened next: The post went viral on social media, with thousands of “likes” and hundreds of shares on Facebook from that jumping-off point. Now, it’s a bona-fide news story.

Stevenson’s good nature (and ability to pose for an Instagram pic) paid off, showing agents the world over that real estate is a people business, and going with the flow may be more appreciated than you know.

Here’s one of the follow-up posts from Hayward’s Instagram account.

And so, we all got a lil’ sidetracked. But this just happened. 😳#purplebricks #cheersDan

A post shared by L O R N A ⚡️H A Y W A R D (@mrshhayward) on Mar 21, 2017 at 7:37am PDT

Anyone have a buyer moving across the Atlantic?

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