Let’s Talk about real estate agents’ schedules.
One of the great unsolved mysteries is “What do real estate agents do all day?” Unless you are a real estate agent, it is hard to get a realistic idea of what a typical day in real estate land looks like. It might seem like REALTORS® spend their mornings blissfully lounging at home on their couches as they drink their coffee, catch up on headlines, check email and leisurely make a list of what their day will look like. Around 10, they go for a workout, massage, or other self-indulgent appointment before catching a 2-hour lunch out with a client or associate. Around 2:00, they make the phone calls from their morning to-do list, show a few houses, meet another client for happy hour, write a contract, go home to their adoring families promptly at 5:00, have a healthy dinner, and peacefully wind down before heading to bed. The next morning, they will list 3 more houses that just fell into their laps, those will pend by sundown with no counteroffers to negotiate, and the cycle will start all over again.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality, every day and week in the life of a real estate agent is vastly different and unpredictable. While the most successful agents do create a scaffolding to create structure for their daily habits and business practices, the specifics vary greatly. Here is an example of what a diverse and unpredictable day-in-the-life schedule of an F.C. Tucker Emge agent looks like.
6:00 AM Wake up not with an alarm, but by a buzzing cell phone exploding with texts from other agents and clients about your new listing that went active last night at 10:00 PM
7:00 AM Leave the house, family still in their PJs, having not eaten breakfast, insulated mug of hot coffee in hand, to meet some clients to go over an inspection report and write a response
8:00 AM Write inspection response and file with listing agent.
- Schedule showings
- Attend the sales meeting with your brokerage to learn about what is going on in the company, new trends in technology, new marketing tools, MLS policies, lending, inspections, contracts, etc. etc. etc.
9:00 AM Check the 5 voice mails and respond to 3 texts that arrived during your meeting.
- Go back to the computer to put together a comparative market analysis (CMA) for a listing appointment you have later today and another CMA for buyers who are thinking about making an offer on a house they saw last night but are worried about paying too much
10:00 AM Field a phone call from a client’s lender who is concerned about the appraisal that came in under the sales price.
- Arrange for marketing materials to be designed and printed.
11:00 AM Rush out to meet some clients over their lunch hour to squeeze in 3 showings of new houses that hit the market last night.
12:00 PM Meet the professional photographer at a new listing to take photos
1:00 PM Line up contractors to get estimates for 1) repairs to new listing 2) repairs for an inspection response
- Send showing feedback to sellers
2:00 PM Eat a sandwich in the car while driving to an inspection. This is the first real food you’ve had all day. Wash it down with a diet caffeinated soda
2:15-3:00 PM Attend end of inspection with buyers to get the story directly from the inspector and allay any panic on the part of your buyers
3:30 PM Respond to 3 agents who have called and left messages about questions regarding your new listing (the one that went active last night)
4:00 PM Call sellers to tell them that there are 2 offers coming in on their home.
- Call other clients about which contractors will be coming by to look at the property so they can provide repair estimates.
- Call back some new buyers to discuss lenders they need to speak with.
5:00 PM Call spouse to tell them to eat without you because you have a listing appointment
5:30 PM Go to a listing appointment and spend time with the potential seller’s talking about their home, how to get it market ready, what the selling process looks like, and how much they can get for it. Also discuss how to choreograph purchasing a new house at the same time
7:00 PM Drop by another seller’s house and present the 2 offers to them. Advise them of their options, write responses.
8:00 PM Arrive home, pet your dog, say hi to your family, shovel some dinner in your mouth, collapse in your chair and answer 10 more texts before falling asleep.
People wonder if it is really worth paying a REALTOR® a commission based on a percentage of the sales price of a home. In short, yes, it is absolutely worth it. Real estate agents LOVE their job not because it is easy and relaxing but because it is gratifying and varied. While the best trained REALTORS® have an organized system that makes them look calm cool and collected on the outside, rest assured that behind the scenes, real estate agents are working their fingers to the bone to fight for their clients’ best interests and keep them informed of their ethical obligations and legal responsibilities while at the same time ensuring that they arrive at the closing table in time while protecting their bottom line. Agents also spend a lot of time maintaining relationships with colleagues in related fields to help transactions move along more smoothly; they also like to stay in touch with past and future clients to keep the pipeline of their business healthy and prevent the business from getting stale. When you entrust the sale of your home to a highly trained F.C. Tucker Emge REALTOR® not only are you protecting your investment, but you are saving yourself a lot of stress and headaches. Peace of mind is priceless.
