Real estate has it’s own reality.
Today was a normal day. I woke up at 5:30AM, poured some coffee and fed my cats. That was the moment when my reality ended. Realty reality took over from there. It’s now 11:22PM and it still has hold over my daily life. I’m sitting at my dining room table trying to finish this post in order to have it posted by 11:59PM (I promised Lani I would get my post in today and from what I can tell, she’s into that Harry Potter black magic stuff, so I don’t want to mess with her). My eyes hurt, my feet ache, and I’m kind of tired. But the reality of realty still has its sway.
In the course of any agent’s life there are times where we have a bit of that “a-ha, could have had a V-8” style moment. Today was such a day for me. I did a lot today – multiple showings, photos for a listing, second showing for another client, finalized a contract negotiation, spoke with my client who just arrived into town, talked to multiple agents about multiple things, ate a brownie, spoke to my broker and my old broker, and somewhere in there I think I drank at least one other cup of coffee.
None of this may seem like a big deal to any of you – you do it all the time, but this entire week has been a revelation of how to cope with the reality of realty. I’ve planned, blocked time, rescheduled a few things, skipped lunch, worked late, went out of my way – all those things you’re taught to do so that you don’t wind up running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I love the ever changing nature of a day in the life of an agent, but this past week has been ridiculous (and I still love it). In it, I see patterns emerging that will allow me to better block time and prepare, but that’s not the point here (at least I see room for improvement!).
Cold harsh reality.
The facts are the facts. Plan all you want, but realty has its own reality. When you’re in your car on the way to your next appointment and a seller calls with a huge problem, what do you? You adapt your day to make it work. When a buyer needs to see the house one more time before they write the offer, but the schedule didn’t plan for it, what do you do? You adapt your day to make it work. When the agent sends you the finalized version of the offer during dinner, what do you do? You adapt your day to make it work. When you feel so tired you just want a nap, but you’re behind on paperwork, what do you do? You adapt your day to make it work.
Every day is a trial in real estate. Someone is testing you, pushing you, grading you, and analyzing your every move. Embrace it. Talk to the clients and customers on a one-to-one basis. Don’t beat around the bush. Tell them you need to fit in this or that emergency, but let them know you’d do the same for them. The gurus and experts will tell you you have to block your time and stick to the schedule. I agree to an extent. Don’t be afraid to reevaluate and readjust as the day goes on. Make realty’s reality work within your own reality, but don’t cram it into your mold. Let it breath, let it change, let it evolve. Just keep it in check so it doesn’t get out of control. Some days even reality needs a good smack on its nose to teach it to behave.
All in all, today was an excellent day.
Despite its hectic, frantic nature; today was awesome. I got when I needed to get done and then some. I had to change plans more than once. I had to readjust time schedules a few times. I had to drive one side of town to the other then back. And I got everything done…except one, and you’re reading it. You deal with it. You make the reality of realty fit in with the reality of you.
For a new agent, this might not come right away. For me, it took over a year to finally see what a good day should be like and to truly get a good lesson in multi-tasking real estate style. I’ve had good days, but not like this. I missed the real estate boom, but to me this is my own little boom and I’m learning from it every day. I’m about to learn how to squeeze in some sleep time as I speak. Right after I make room for a yawn…even they have to be scheduled some days.
photo courtesy of scoobymoo
