Here’s the thing most people don’t see about this business...it doesn’t really have a clean start or finish. I don’t “clock in or clock out"...ever. I work 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, ever single day of the year (if it's necessary). People look at real estate as a career and the thought of being chained to your phone and clients at all hours or days of the week, any day...well it doesn't exactly scream work/life balance to most. But for some, it fits perfectly and as a guy who has been self-employed for over 25-years, it's all just part of the gig and all i've known. It does get a little crazy though (it's why they have had many a successful reality shows about being a realtor), so I thought i'd give a little look into what the days look like
Most mornings typically all start the same way: I grab my phone before I’m fully awake and do a quick scan. Not mindless scrolling but more like checking the pulse. New listings, price changes, anything that might matter to a client I’m working with at the moment....because here’s the reality, if I miss something in this market, that could cost someone an opportunity.
I’ll usually have coffee (or Ghost energy drink) in hand while responding to a messages that came in late the night before. Real estate obviously doesn’t respect business hours, and honestly, neither do I at this point. If something’s important, it gets handled.
By mid-morning, things start to take shape. Maybe it’s a meeting at the office, some showings, or maybe it working at my desk reviewing numbers and figuring out how to position a listing so it actually stands out instead of just existing. Funny enough, that part is more strategy than people realize. Anyone can put a home on the market. That’s pretty straight forward, it's positioning it so it wins, that’s where I spend most of my time focused for my seller clients. I’ll go back and forth with clients, answer questions, adjust plans, sometimes all of it is smooth. Sometimes it’s a lot of moving parts and personalities. You learn pretty quickly that you’re not just working with homes, you’re working with people making big decisions under pressure.
No matter how structured the day looks on paper, something always shifts. A deal gets complicated, a timeline changes, something needs something now. A timeline changes. Someone needs something now. That’s the job. There’s a lot of problem-solving that happens behind the scenes that nobody ever hears about, and honestly, that’s kind of the point. If I’m doing things right, my clients shouldn’t feel the chaos, I absorb that part.
Mid-days and into the afternoons, are often more out-and-about, showings, meetings, walking properties, getting a feel for things you just can’t understand from photos or data alone. You can look at comps all day, but stepping into a house tells you what’s real.
I also happen to just naturally pay attention to the little things, how a place feels, how it’s positioned, what’s working and what isn’t. That’s the stuff that actually helps guide people, not just numbers on a screen and I like being able to be more valuable than just the numbers to my clients.
Evenings aren’t really “off” either (as i'm guessing you figured by this point in my post). There’s always one more email, text message, one more idea, one more thing I want to get ahead of for the next day or my business in general...but then again, I love that aspect of my work. If I think of an idea or a way to do something, I act on that and turn it into reality. Those things drive me as a business owner and as a working realtor. I will generally work well into the night/early morning hours daily after the house has gone quite for the night (and i've worked this way for ages).
If I had to sum it up, this job isn’t about houses. It’s about timing, judgment, and staying steady when things aren’t. Some days are fast, some are quiet (some feel like everything is happening at once), but every day, there’s something of importance and a drive to keep going and that is where I live as a professional and agent. That space between the goal and the idea, where all the hard work is done...all while doing it "behind the scenes" so my clients never have to see or experience it...the magic of good representation right? It surely is, and that is what wakes me up every morning!
...and thus let it all begin again 🙂
