People wonder what it's like to be self-employed. Having freedom from a boss is often quoted as one of the reasons that real estate agents go into the business. An associate in Sacramento says that being her own boss means that she's free to choose any block of 12 hours out of the day to work. It's not unusual for busy, full-time agents in today's market to put in 16 to 18 hours a day.

I often start work at 5 AM. It's quiet. I can answer emails and questions from my About.com homebuying site. It's also when I write my Land Park blog and post it on Active Rain. At night, I turn off my cell phone at 7 PM and settle in to watch a movie, but I still answer emails until 9 PM. Every day is generally a long day for me.

Holidays come and go. Leaves drop from the trees; then suddenly they are budding out. The sun goes down early; then the sun comes up early. It's raining, no, it's 115 in the shade. Sometimes, it's hard to keep track. I find there are times when I'm driving past a school that I have to stop to think whether I should slow down to 25 MPH because I don't know whether it's a month when kids are supposed to be in school. I guess you could safely say that I'm pretty focused on real estate.

This is why I look forward to vacations. At least once a year. The more exotic, the better. Come November 30th, I will be in Vietnam. I chose that date last summer because it's when the first-time home buyer tax credit is set to expire. Seems the safest stretch of time to get away.

People ask me if I think the home buyer tax credit will be extended. A bill is already in works but whether it will pass is hard to say. I don't see any reason to try to stimulate the December market. This is a time when many sellers take their homes off the market and the number of buyers dwindle. It would make more sense to motivate the spring-time market buyers.

But whatever happens with the home buyer tax credit, I'll be touring rice fields, experiencing the many diverse cultures in Vietnam and most likely devouring a daily bowl of Pho for breakfast, confident that my associates will competently handle my escrows and Sacramento short sales in my absence.

Until November 30th, though, the market in Sacramento will probably continue to be a mad house. This week especially. Because this is the last week that many first-time home buyers have to get into escrow, with any hopes of closing by November 30th.

Photo: Stan Goodwin