Up front Apology....This is a horribly long post. Been working on it for a while. Finished today. You dont have to read it all to get the gist. What I Do…… For those of you who think they want to become a Real Estate Agent because you can “make your own hours” or, “I want to be a Realtor because they make lots of money for very little work”…..here’s an example of a TYPICAL work week for me. I have excluded bathroom breaks and showers. Please note that I have not had a vacation or weekend getaway since 2005. Before that, never had a vacation. Ever. Monday: 1. Wake up to coffee at 7:00. Return texts & emails as they come in. Answer calls during coffee. 2. Get to office around 9:00 a.m. (I go in later because I work most evenings and I take the morning to catch up with my husband). 3. Return emails, return any texts, check for feedback on any showings of my listings and get that to my sellers. Check for private messages on Facebook that are Real Estate related. 4. Turn in any paperwork left over from previous week. Prepare for Friday’s closing. 5. Do final walkthrough with buyers for tomorrow’s closing. Allow more time, as house is in Madison County. 6. Lunch at my desk while I do a Market Analysis for a potential listing. 7. Do a Broker Price Opinion and Market update for Bank Foreclosure listing (typically 2-3 hours of computer research and math). 8. Retrieve calls throughout the day from buyers interested in my listings. Most ask if they can be rented or owner financed. 9. Call lender for update on tomorrow’s closing and ask why closing instructions aren’t at title company yet. 10. It’s 4:45 and I’m about halfway through my work. Prioritize to see what can wait until tomorrow. Pick up closing folder from closing department for tomorrow’s closing. 11. Receive closing statement from title company for tomorrow’s closing. Find an error and call title agent to correct. Wait to receive corrected closing statement and forward to buyer and tell them how much they have to bring to closing, and how to bring it. 12. 6:00 p.m. Make appointment for showing tomorrow. Update calendar, return more emails and send documents needed by the other agent in transaction. 13. Post to Facebook about my upcoming Open House and post the virtual tour. 14. 7:30 p.m. Home. 15. Work on Real Estate Facebook page and my website. 16. 1:00 a.m.- BED! Tuesday: 1. Wake up at 6:30. COFFEE! 2. Company meeting at 9:00-10:00 a.m. at office. 3. 10-noon: Company driving tour of new listings. 4. Lunch at desk while gathering documents needed for closing at 1:00. 5. Attend closing (usually lasts about an hour, with no complications). 6. Turn in closing file to closing department. Turn in Open House ad for Sunday’s paper. 7. Print out listings for showings this evening, route showings, make appointments. 8. Pick up postcards I ordered last week and print out labels and mail to 400 people in my database announcing the open house on Sunday. 9. 3:00 show one of my listings to potential buyer. Buyer wants to see 2 others in neighborhood right now. 10. Make appointments to show 2 other homes and show them to buyer. Have buyer call lender to be prequalified. 11. Buyer cannot qualify for a loan. 12. Meet 2nd buyer (already prequalified) at office to go see 4 homes. One is in Springdale, one in Rogers, one on Beaver Lake, and one in West Fork. Buyer wants to make an offer on the Springdale house. 13. 6:00 p.m., go to office to write an offer. 14. Call listing agent to make sure there are no other offers, and begin process. Ask buyers questions and ask for a Seller’s Disclosure to be sent to my email. 15. Finished writing up all documents needed for the offer by 8:00 p.m. Buyer leaves, and I email offer to listing agent. Call listing agent to tell him I sent the offer. 16. 9:00 home. 9:30, retrieve call from listing agent saying they are writing a counter offer and to watch for it. I call buyers to tell them it’s coming, and they said they’d stay up to hear. Woof dinner hubby made while I wait. 17. 10:30, receive the counter offer and forward to buyers. Text them to tell them it’s there and for them to call if they’re still up. 18. 10:45, they call and I explain counter offer to them. They decide to accept counter offer. I send to them for digital signatures and receive back. Forward to listing agent by email. It’s now 11:15 and it’s too late to call him. 19. 12:00 a.m. – BED! Wednesday: 1. Sleep in to 8:00 a.m. Call listing agent to make sure he received the counter offer. 2. Take leisurely morning to catch up with my husband and pet my dogs. In office by 10:30. 3. Receive listing referral from office and call them. They want me to come now. Gather info on their home and neighborhood and go to see the house. 4. 11:15, meet with home owner and look at their home. It is in bad condition (dirty, needs paint, carpets are stained, broken window, needs a roof, lawn isn’t mown, they owe $10,000 more than the house will bring. 5. Give listing presentation anyway, and explain that if they don’t bring house up to ship shape, they’d have to do a short sale or bring money to closing, and they don’t want to do any of the above. 6. 1:30 p.m., head back to office, hitting drive-thru along the way. 7. Woof lunch and check calendar, emails and messages. 8. Update a price change in MLS on one of my listings. Call agents who have shown it prior. Make new flyers and send to be printed. Change virtual tour. 9. Receive termination of a contract that is one week from closing. Call my seller to break the bad news. They’ve already moved out, and are renting another house. They are mad. Spend 45 minutes calming them down. 10. Call all agents that have shown THAT house before and tell them it’s back on the market. Meet with sellers to sign the termination. 11. Turn in the termination to closing department. Put house back active on MLS. 12. Receive another angry call from sellers. Spend another 30 minutes trying to tell them it will be alright. 13. Rough day. Get a call from another seller asking for feedback on a showing that had happened 30 minutes ago. Tell her that I will check with agent this evening and ask what their buyer thought of the home and If I can expect an offer. 14. 6:30 p.m., still at office. Wanted to cook dinner, but it’s not happening. Check emails and see an offer on one of my listings. Then get a call from another agent saying he’s sending over an offer on that same listing. Call sellers of that house and tell them we have one, and soon shall have 2 offers. They want me to bring them to their home. It’s in Winslow. 15. 7:30, still awaiting 2nd offer. Do net sheet on first offer for the sellers. Answer another call from the sellers who’s deal just fell through asking if they should sue the buyers. 16. Brain numb. 8:30, receive second offer. Start for Winslow and call hubby to tell him I’m going to be late. 17. Explain to sellers both offers and show them what they would glean from each. They decide counter the first offer first. Write up counter. 18. 10:30. I’m home. Hubby makes me a BLT and I sit on couch with dogs and Hubby and watch a tv show. 19. 1:00 a.m. – BED Thursday: 1. Decide to take the morning to do a load of laundry and actually cook breakfast. Eat leisurely breakfast and chat with husband, interrupted by call from irate seller regarding suing the buyers that terminated. Calmed them down a bit, and told them to speak with their attorney. Finish laundry, dress, off to work. 2. 11:00 arrive at office. 63 new Emails! Yikes! 22 Emails are really important, return emails. 3. Get text from seller asking about the feedback they wanted yesterday. I apologized and told them about the 2 offers I received late and that my brain hurt and I spaced that. They said it was okay. I said I’d call agent now. 4. Called agent for feedback. They said the house is nice, but they liked another one better. I asked why, and agent said they didn’t like the floor plan. 5. Called seller back about the feedback. They said okay. 6. It’s 1:00 p.m. already! That’s what I get for starting later. Print off copies of the offer that was accepted on Tuesday. Fill out escrow sheet and take to closing department, and email to title company. 7. Order home inspection for following Monday for those buyers, and call their lender to give them title company information and email lender their contract. 8. Read a short online article on title insurance that was sent to me by a title company. Learn something new! 9. Get call from former client to come list their home. Gather info about the house and comparable properties and head over and see house….it’s lovely! Fill out listing documents, take photos of the home, put up a sign and a lockbox and head back to office. 10. 3:30 p.m., make copies, get broker signatures and turn in new listing. 11. 4:00, put listing in MLS with photos. Work on Virtual Tour for the listing and post that also. 12. 5:30, Look at calendar, and realize I have a showing at one of my listings at 6:00. Run over and show it. They were a neighbor who just always wanted to see inside that house….not wanting to buy it. 13. Pick up take-out food, and get home by 7:00. 14. Eat dinner with husband! Wow! Settle back to watch a tv show and relax. Get call from a seller who wants to lower their price right now, and can I bring them some new flyers tonight? I said, no, but will first thing tomorrow. Go into MLS and change their price. 15. 9:30, get a call from an agent asking to show the house I just lowered price on tomorrow morning at 9:00. Call sellers to make the appointment and they said house is a mess, can they come at noon instead? Call agent back and he said he’d ask. He calls back at 10:15 and says “no, but they can do 10:30”. I call my sellers and say how about 10:30? They said no just to reschedule. I called agent back and said no and he said, well, let’s just do noon then. Call sellers back and set up for noon. 16. What time is it? BED! Friday: 1. Up at 7:00. COFFEE!!! 2. Go to office and Pick up paperwork for today’s closing. Haven’t received closing statement so call title office. Order new flyers for my other seller. 3. Change 10:30 closing to 3:30 due to lender delay. Call my sellers and tell them. They can’t go at 3:30, but can at 1:30. Call title company to see if they can go ahead and sign at 1:30. They said yes, called sellers to tell. 4. Get call from agent saying she is sending me an offer on one of my listings (the one that just fell through). It’s cash, she says, and it will close fast. Call sellers to tell them. 5. Receive offer from agent. Good price, cash deal. Take to sellers to sign. 6. Sellers decided to counter the good offer against my advice. Do the counter paperwork and send to buyer’s agent. Call agent to tell him I’ve sent a counter. 7. Receive an addendum on another deal to get signed, asking for repairs. Call seller, and they don’t want to do the repairs. Give them their options, and they offer a home warranty instead of repairs. Send to agent. 8. Agent calls back and says they will take the home warranty. Whew! Order the home warranty online. 9. Go to closing at 1:30 with my sellers. 10. Get call from agent who wrote cash offer. His buyer won’t go up to seller’s countered price. Sticking with original offer. Call sellers and they want to sleep on it. I explain the buyers can pull out anytime if they wait. They are sleeping on it. 11. Call agent back and say they will sleep on it. He said they are looking at another house at 6:00. I call sellers back and tell them they are looking at another house. They said they’d accept the offer. WHEW! 12. Send for eSignature right away, and get right back from sellers and send to buyers agent. Call him to tell him it’s accepted. Whew again. 13. 3:30, go to title company to buyer portion of the closing and buyer decides to read all documents before signing. I leave documents the other agent needs, and wait and get the ones I need and go back to office. 14. Pick up check from Tuesday’s closing out of my box (been there since Wednesday, but haven’t had time). 15. Sit down to check emails and texts and facebook. Add a post or two. Pick up new flyers. 16. Title company calls and says my check is ready for the closing today. I pick up at 5:15 and bring back to office and turn in to closing department, which is closed. 17. Stick a fork in me…..I’m DONE! 18. Go put up Open house signs for Sunday’s open house. I take new flyers to other listing and put in flyer box. 19. Didn’t eat lunch, so I’m STARVING! Pick up take out food and take home and have a nice dinner with husband. 20. Do another load of laundry. 21. Watch a movie then practice my keyboard a little bit. 22. 1:00 a.m. BED! Saturday: 1. Sleep in until 9:30. 2. Get up and go to the bank to deposit my check. 3. Go to grocery store. 4. Take home groceries. Ask husband to put my clothes in dryer pretty please. 5. Receive 4 calls on my listings and make showing appointments. 6. Make appointments for afternoon showings for my buyer. 7. Meet buyer at 2:00 p.m. and show 7 houses in Fayetteville and Springdale. 8. 5:00 p.m. head home. 9. Make dinner, eat, gather materials for open house and print off some extra flyers. 10. Asleep by 9:00 on couch. 11. 11:30, wake up, watch end of Saturday night Live 12. 12:00 BED Sunday: 1. Up by 9:00, Husband cooked breakfast. 2. Eat, coffee 3. Go by and pick up sign and lockbox from house that sold. 4. Get to open house by 1:00 p.m. Open house, turn on all of the lights, put out my flyers and brochures, sweep off patio and front porch. Wait. 5. 1:30, greet first people at open house. Show house to 3 couples and a neighbor. At 4:00, turn off lights. 6. While locking up the house, another couple comes by and wants to see it. Open house again, and turn on all lights and show it. They love the house! Get buyer agreement signed! 7. Talk to buyers about the house and they haven’t seen a banker yet. Give them a couple of banker’s numbers and lock back up. Tell them Ill talk to them Monday after theyve been pre-qualified. 8. Pick up open house signs and go home. 9. Dinner, sit outside with dogs and hubby and enjoy 15 whole minutes of nice weather. 10. 6:30, receive phone call from buyers I just met. They want to write an offer on the house I just showed them (Open House). I asked them if we could meet tomorrow (Monday) to write up the offer. They both work so we make an appointment for 6:00 Monday evening to write the offer. Reminded them to get prequalified tomorrow! 11. Call the owners of the house and tell them I’m writing an offer tomorrow. 12. TV until 10:30, then BED So there’s an average week for me. I don’t do Open Houses every Sunday, but when I don’t I’m usually doing something else like going on a listing appointment, or going to show property. Sometimes my husband goes with me to showings or to put up signs so we can actually have some time together. I do watch the Razorback games during football season, or at least I record them to watch later. I also sing in a blues band, but that’s a whole nuther thing. This example week is when I don’t have a gig with my band. And I take my elderly mother to grocery store, doctor, etc. in my “off” time. There are so many other things we do in a week’s time. Countless. Next time you think a Realtor makes too much money for little work, please read this. Some weeks are easier, and some are harder, but all are so busy. I can multi-task, but this is ridiculous! If you need a Realtor, please call me, as I almost always answer my phone, and Im always working!
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 20:39:51 +0000
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