Perhaps the “typical work day” in real estate is an oxymoron. As many real estate agents will tell you, there is no such thing as a typical work day. There are a number of tasks that need to be done on a regular basis, but not all of them can be done on each and every work day. And there is also no equal division of time and activities. One real estate agent described the typical workday as a balance, “between daily administrative tasks and income-generating activities.” Let’s look at the typical workday of an agent.
administrative duties
There is no way around this aspect of the realtor’s workday; You have to do administrative tasks. Administrative activities include:
- Returning calls and emails from customers, agents, business and service providers (including property inspectors, repairmen, financial institution representatives)
- Processing of documents, agreements, lease records (complete, send and archive)
- Attend meetings with colleagues.
- Scheduling appointments, meetings, open days, exhibitions
- Creation of marketing plans and guarantees to promote listings and services.
- Filing of records, correspondence, materials using both paper and electronic filing systems
- Data entry and maintenance of customer databases.
- Budget development – monthly, quarterly and annual operations
- Maintenance of websites and social media profiles (about industry news, achievements, current properties, etc.)
- Research on properties that are active, pending, and sold to develop Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) reports
income generating activities
Agents must carefully balance the demands of administrative and revenue-related activities. There is no 50/50 split of management vs. revenue generation time. Here are some of the income-related activities that can occur on any business day:
- Lead generation is essential to an agent’s success and then converting those leads into sales. Commissions are paid on the sale, rental or purchase of a property.
- Customer service requires the agent to spend time preparing a listing, taking photos, discussing marketing strategies, showing properties, accompanying the client to property inspections and meetings with loan officers, processing contracts and purchase/purchase documents. sale etc
- Attend meetings with other agents and brokers to learn about (and share) new listings, updates on current properties, and discuss client needs.
- Touring properties allows agents to stay on top of properties that may be of interest to their buying clients; Touring also provides valuable pricing information that helps agents determine the appropriate listing prices for the properties they represent.
- Home appraisals should be conducted to look for details and points of interest that will help the agent market a property effectively. The agent may also be involved with staging the home and following up on repair and restoration work.
- Education: Most states require licensed real estate agents to earn continuing education credits as part of maintaining their active license status. Some agents also choose to broaden their industry skills and knowledge to improve their marketability.
- Open Houses and Showings: Agents host open houses for their property listings and schedule and escort clients on tours of other agents’ listed properties.
- In addition to all of those activities, real estate agents spend time as educators and therapists throughout the buying or selling process and when things don’t go as planned.
Some days will be spent almost entirely on administrative activities and other days will be spent in the field with clients, colleagues, and others associated with the real estate industry. This variety is what attracts many estate agents – there are is there is no typical work day!