Here’s What A Normal Day in Real Estate
Looks Like For Me
This month Donna Foerster has asked us to describe a day or week in our real estate world. Many of the submitted contest posts I’ve read have written that the word normal doesn’t exist for them in describing a day(or week) in their real estate practice. I would have to agree but I don’t think writing “Me too” would qualify for this or any ActiveRain contest or challenge.
Defining the word “normal” leads us to things like: usual, typical, average, standard, customary, ordinary, common, routine and more. Let’s face it, absolutely none of these have even a passing relationship with the majority of my days.
Activities and things define my days: meetings, showings, marketing, attending inspections plus lots and lots of follow-up. The activities and time spent on each will vary based on the day. I write a daily to do list(which always seems to have some carryover from the day that is drawing to a close) each night. In the morning, I may re-prioritize the list based on the stuff that happens. Each day is typically interrupted with new activities whether via a call or an email.
So is there anything normal or typical or a routine for me each day? ActiveRain. Other social media too but primarily ActiveRain. Yes, I believe AR makes my day a little bit more normal.
Why? Isn’t this a waste considering the other more beneficial things I could be doing? Here’s why I choose to include ActiveRain as a part of my day:
It makes my phone ring. Figuratively and literally. Whether it’s a call or an email, there isn’t a week that goes by where I can’t trace the source of a potential lead to this forum even when they don’t mention ActiveRain by name. The time spent may vary but AR is always “on” so I can check in first thing in the morning and before I shut off the computer at night as well as periodically in the day when time permits or my mind wanders.
It keeps me on top of my practice. If you follow me(first, thank you, I appreciate it) you know I write market reports -- and a lot of them. I wish I could create fascinating posts multiple times a week but I keep a formula(not an exact template per se) that allows me to communicate what is happening in the areas I actively practice by sharing market statistics along with some personal insight. As I am collecting sales data, I see trends in a different way. And as I write, I gain even deeper knowledge. And when I receive that call or email or someone stops me and asks “what about that house over on this street”, I can speak with authority. I think that is important in any business.
Real estate is a people business and that’s both a good and a bad thing so this is a great place to commiserate with like-minded individuals as well as a contrarian or two to share ideas. The ability to see things from a different perspective, to learn something new or to simply laugh is important to me. I joined and then lurked about AR before fully jumping in. Originally it was for business purposes but the relationships that have formed here for me are truly one of the greatest surprises in my real estate career.
So while there are things that are both typical and atypical in my daily real estate practice, I suggest that this place, ActiveRain, has been good for me. I can’t always predict the results but I know that doing the right thing on a consistent basis while always improving will be good for my business too.
So that’s my atypical look at a typical day(or week) in real estate. Thank you for reading -- it turned out to be much longer than my first draft: "Me too".
Published: November 29, 2016
Here’s What A Normal Day in Real Estate
Looks Like For Me
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