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Is Real Estate a Lifestyle or a Business?

By
Real Estate Agent with William Raveis Real Estate RES.0772823

Troy Erickson posted a question, "What is Your Niche Market?" that led me to think more deeply about my involvement with real estate and whether it is a lifestyle or a business for me.

 

REAL ESTATE AS A LIFESTYLE

I focus on a half-square mile section of the Black Rock neighborhood in Bridgeport, CT.  I've lived here for more than 30 years, so it was an easy decision to focus on dominating this small area when I went into real estate in 2004.   I've been the #1 listing agent here since 2007.  I love being in real estate because it allows me to get deeply involved in my community and that matters to me.  My social life and my work life are interwined so deeply that I'd have to say real estate is a lifestyle as well as a business for me.  

This was a deliberate choice for me.  I decided to change careers from corporate consulting to real estate so that I could care for my elderly mom and dad as well as get more involved in the community where I lived.  I became a community leader and still run a local environmental organization to this day, the Ash Creek Conservation Association.  When my husband became ill and died three years later, my community supported me through it.  I didn't sit home alone as a widow.  There is always an artist reception, community meeting, party, or someone to meet for coffee, dinner, or a glass of wine.

In the course of day-to-day living, I come into contact with people in my community who want to buy or sell a home or who know someone who does.  The Internet also plays a key role in generating leads through my websites, but personal referrals provide the most solid leads, because of the trust factor.  Many times I am not competing against any other agent.

 

REAL ESTATE AS A BUSINESS

Of course there are downsides to real estate as a lifestyle.  When your social and business life become interwined it's a 24/7 proposition.  When people see me they talk real estate, like they talk about the weather.  It's what they associate with me and it is an easy ice breaker for conversations.  It is also a topic of neverending interest, much like the stock market.  

It's also tricky having tough conversations with people you know well.  Recommendations from a stranger are sometimes easier to hear when they involve cleaning, decluttering, decorating choices, taking down family photos, or pricing decisions about their home.  

On busy days, I envy those of you who can cut right to the chase and have quick, focused conversations with clients.  My conversations are rarely just about business.  Aside from the personal catching up, "How's your mom?", there is also "Are you going to the artist reception tonight at Harborview Market?", and sharing neighborhood news.

 

WHICH IS IT FOR YOU - LIFESTYLE OR BUSINESS?

Do you look at real estate as just a way to make a living?  Do you go "off the clock" at set hours or days?  Do you keep your relationships with clients strictly professional?  Or does real estate become a way of life?   Is real estate threaded through your days and evenings?   Do you know many of the people you do business with or become friends with them later?

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments (18)

Trumps Elite
Keller Williams Realty Acadiana - Lafayette, LA
Realtors/Career Consultant

I definitely have become friends with many people I have done business with. We form our relationships for a lifetime. :)

May 06, 2015 05:28 AM
Anna "Banana" Kruchten
HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ
602-380-4886

Gayle love your post!  It's really both for me. Many of my clients turned good friends and that's what's so cool about it. They keep asking me to take care of their real estate needs and it's been this way for well over 20+ years. They know I'll tell the 'truth' and the trust factor is intact solidly.  I love my job!

May 06, 2015 05:45 AM
marti garaughty
garaughty.com - Montreal, QC
a highly caffeinated creative type...

garaughty, abstract art, graphic design, WordPress consultant

May 06, 2015 06:54 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

It's both for me.  My personal production falls under "lifestyle" and my running my office and managing other agents falls under "business"

May 06, 2015 08:03 AM
Donna Foerster
HomeSmart Realty Group - Parker, CO
Metro Denver Real Estate Assistant

That's easy Gail, it's a business and it has to be. It's important and it requires attention, but not ALL of my attention. 

May 06, 2015 10:23 AM
Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED
RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

Any business becomes a lifestyle . . . if done with passion.  It has to.  

May 06, 2015 10:52 AM
Tammie White, Broker
Franklin Homes Realty LLC - Franklin, TN
Franklin TN Homes for Sale

We have become friends with some of our clients and others were friends to begin with. I don't mind being on the clock all the time. It's 8:20 p.m. and here I sit at my computer working. I'm not much for TV and my kids are both in college so it helps us fill our days. We do other things but I would have to say our business is a lifestyle for us.

May 06, 2015 11:22 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

It's a lifestyle for me. I do turn off my computer and cellphone at 7 PM every night, though, unless there is something really unusual happening and the circumstances are beyond my control that I need to keep tabs on something, but that doesn't happen very often. When my husband frowns because I take a call while on vacation, I remind him precisely how we are paying for that vacation.

May 06, 2015 11:33 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

It is a mix of both and the percentages change from time to time.  The clients can become close friends or they are people for which we help with their real estate needs

May 06, 2015 12:40 PM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

I think it's a little bit lifestyle and a lit bit business.  I've been licensed since 1981, and have marveled that most of those years I could have a certain element of freedom, even though I was working my tail off at times.

May 06, 2015 01:00 PM
Kat Palmiotti
eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT
Helping your Montana dreams take root

It's definitely a mix of both. I haven't been in the business all that long, but already have some good friends who started as clients. I love that aspect of this business.

May 06, 2015 08:10 PM
The Julie Morales Team
RE/MAX Cinco Ranch - Katy, TX
Real Estate Questions? Call (832) 367-3412

It is definitely a business first. And inevitably it has become my lifestyle. 

May 06, 2015 09:52 PM
Kimberley Kelly, SFR, HAFA, GREEN
HK Lane, Christie's International Affiliate, 760-285-3578 - La Quinta, CA
I do Real Estate like I played polo-to WIN!

It's my business first.  My horse training is my second business.  That's it.  We cannot have everything..so social life MUST be mixed in amongst the two!

May 06, 2015 11:20 PM
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

I write books between escrows...Both provide a return on time and passion

May 06, 2015 11:53 PM
Gail Robinson
William Raveis Real Estate - Southport, CT
CRS, GRI, e-PRO Fairfield County, CT

Elite - That is a side benefit of this business.  We come in contact with so many people and sometimes friendships develop.

Anna - The trust factor is so important!  We have to form partnerships with our clients in order to have a successful outcome.

Marti - Thank you for featuring me in your group!

Tammy - I can see how running a broker firm would do that.  

Donna - It's interesting that some of us are on the lifestyle side of the continuum and others more on the business side.

Carla - That's a really good point!

Tammie - I try not to work on the computer in the evenings, but sometimes the paperwork piles up and I have to do it.

Elizabeth - LOL, I love how you remind your husband of how the vacation is getting paid!

Ed - I can see how there might be a shift between real estate as a lifestyle or a business depending upon what's going on in your life or who your clients are.

Myrl - Yes, we have flexibility in some ways, and not at all in others.  Our time isn't always our own.

Kat - It does seem to be a mix for most people.  I love the friendship possibilities in this business as well.

Julie - Real estate does have a way of taking over our lives whether we want it to or not.  It's not a 9-5 business.

Kimberley - You have two demanding sets of priorities.  It's fabulous that you are able to do both!

Richie - I think it's great that real estate enables you to pursue your writing career.  You bring passion to both!

 

May 07, 2015 12:42 AM
Karen Feltman
Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, IA KW Legacy Group - Cedar Rapids, IA
Relocation Specialist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I think that it is definitely a lifestyle for me.  I am the "go to girl" for information about real estate and what is going on in the areas that I serve.  I love being in the "know"!  People share what they know about new businesses that are coming in or events that I should pass on to my clients.  I get lots of great opportunities to meet new people too and it gives me no time to sit around and feel sorry for myself!

May 07, 2015 09:52 AM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

It sounds corny, but to me it really is the business of lifestyle in the lifestyle of business at Core of it all with a capital C

Jun 07, 2015 02:51 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

The two kind of create and cultivate each other and kind of intermingle with each other maybe as welli Karen Feltman

Jun 07, 2015 02:55 PM