Obvious but ignored

“A schedule defends against chaos and whim.”
- Annie Dillard

One thing that has become glaringly obvious to me: most real estate agents do not have a regular schedule. They believe every day is different.
They treat every day as a new adventure.  Simply because the address and the names change, does NOT mean it is a totally different journey or process.

I had someone tell me that every transaction is new. Huh? Like this transaction creates new problems, or new challenges, that they have never seen before.

I replied, “Absolutely not.” Real estate is the same every day.

She said, “No, but it’s different.”

“No, it is not.”

Every transaction has problems and challenges! They always revolve around something “unexpected” coming up. A condition of the property, an issue with value, or an issue in the financing process.
What specifically the issue is - totally irrelevant! If real estate was problem-free then AI or some $15/hour shmuck could do it!

We get paid to guide our clients through the transaction, regardless of the issues that come up. It doesn’t matter what the specifics of the problem is - our job is to handle it. Pretending, or hoping, that no problems come up is an amateur way to view real estate. Every now and then we will get a transaction that goes pretty smoothly, but mostly we can count on: shit will go sideways at some point.

I recently had a listing that went through four buyers. Four! I performed a pre-listing inspection, and yet we had THREE buyers cancel. That is RIDICULOUS! Every one of these buyers knew the condition BEFORE they went under contract and they STILL cancelled 8 days after going under contract. While I have never had that happen, and while it is a little surprising...SHIT HAPPENS!

My job is the same: get with the client to evaluate the circumstances and determine the best course of action. Period.

Here’s the question: are you one of the many agents who run their days based on what comes up?

This business gets simpler and easier when we have a process for running our business, including when, how, and where - we account for the stuff that is GOING TO COME UP!!!

Our schedule is made up of the following:

• The days you work and the day (or two) that you are off. I take Sunday off - Saturday is by appointment only.
• The time you start and the time you end the day. I don’t start until 9am and my phone turns off at 6pm.
• The time you talk to people - aka Develop & Nurture Relationships. I knocked on doors from 11am - 2pm. If the weather was bad I made phone calls.
• The time you go on appointments. I scheduled my appointments in the afternoon, 3pm - 5pm. Even inspections and closing appointments. Sometimes I had to do some of those a smidge earlier - but not often and not much earlier; occasionally a little later - but almost never past 6pm.

That’s all you need to schedule for your business. Then leave some time in between to handle “stuff that comes up.” It will work most of the time... as long as you make a plan in the first place. Then you must display the discipline and courage to follow it.

Real estate is chaotic, and realtors are whimsical. If you want to get out of the hamster ball that is being blown around by the frenzied real estate winds...create and follow a schedule.