Going through the plethora of time management literature out there might seem like a good start if you are entering the world of real estate. However, most new real estate agents are unaware that time management involves more than being merely punctual. Thus, it involves more than a simple plan of your workday. Rather than working faster, time management tips for new real estate agents include strategies that will help you use your time more efficiently.
So, prioritizing, placing your focus the right way, and making good decisions are more beneficial skills than simply increasing your hourly productivity. Hence, we will discuss what successful real estate agents do and don’t do so that you can align your day with the work ethic of the best in the industry.
1. Set up a good foundation
One piece of advice that can help you start off your RE agent career with success is committing to a realistic and consistent workflow. So, it helps to know which direction you want your career to go. And to set a direction, you need to know what kind of RE agent you want to present yourself as right from the start.
For instance, by focusing your attention on a certain niche, you will be able to take control of your future planning more confidently. So, it is always better to become specialized for selling or finding properties in a certain city or neighborhood than juggle several different markets simultaneously.
Similarly, it makes sense to start your RE agent career within a particular sector such as commercial RE, residential, rental… Of course, you can continually expand your domains of interest later, but for the time being, it makes sense to develop within one RE market or community. In this way, you will be able to manage your time as your attention and tasks won’t become too overwhelming for you to handle at the beginning of your career.
2. Have a routine and stick to it
Aside from deciding what you can offer as a real estate agent, it will be of use to stay consistent with your decisions. This means you should devise a clear-cut, realistic routine you can follow right from the start. So, make sure you always get up early at a fixed hour, eat well, and stay focused and energized. This is especially true if you are relocating to a different neighborhood in order to start your real estate agent career. Moving to a new city alone is scary, but it's even scarier when you are about to start a brand new job. So, if you are a newcomer, there are ways you can settle into your new home, your new job, and your new career.
Also, consider that real estate agents do not have fixed working hours. This can be a blessing in disguise or a hurdle you will have to overcome. For instance, if you are used to doing a 9 to 5 job or the usual 8-hour shift, you might be surprised that the typical real estate agent's day may not look anything like it. So, set down a time for each task that you have. It will help you manage your time without dragging your workday to infinity. Being focused on a routine that you can abide by is one of the greatest time management tips for new real estate agents to remember.
3. You can organize your week in ‘time blocks’
The problem many new real estate agents face is precisely the self-management scheme that might make them less efficient due to the inconsistencies in their activities. One day you might do showings the entire day, and the other, you might fill out paperwork. You probably won't have a definitive, repetitive routine (which is tricky). A rough timeline will help you get to grips with the demands of working as a real estate agent.
Hence, you can devise 'time blocks' instead of doing your responsibilities in one day. For example, you can designate Mondays and Wednesdays for the showings and Tuesdays and Thursdays for tracking and uploading listings.
This kind of block schedule will allow you to ease into your new career, particularly if you are setting up your agency. At this phase, asking for help can also make things easier. So, if you are moving to a different city, consider making this process easier for yourself and hiring a capable moving company such as Pro Movers Miami that will help you settle into your new routine as soon as possible.
4. Don’t spend too much time online
Sure, as a rookie RE agent, the internet can come in handy. You can use social media to spread the word about your practice or your offers. This is not to say that word-of-mouth advertising isn't crucial for expanding your influence. The best course of action is to keep your internet activities automated as much as possible. This will help you reach your target audience without getting sucked into social networking wormhole. An excellent way to have a higher reach is to hire an SEO expert that will help you with lead generation and other important parameters that can position your website competitively. For instance, you can add an AI chatbot to your website to allow visitors to get in touch with you easily.
5. Delegate if needed
One of the most useful time management tips for new real estate agents is to ask for help if they need it. Although being ambitious and self-sufficient is invaluable, it can actually get in the way of your time management. Any plan or schedule you set out for yourself could be in vain if you cannot accomplish your tasks in time. In that sense, at least in the beginning, you can delegate it to someone else so that you can commit to something more important.
Written by: Lisa Roberts with US Moving Experts