Real Estate Agent: Time & Money Management

What does success look like to you? Personally, I look at success as doing the right thing consistently. How can we evaluate success in our lives and business? Success may look different to different people but, today we are going to try to break down what that might look like to you monetarily. We are going to identify business productivity tools that are put in place to achieve an income level that meets our own profitability goals. To do this, we are going to examine and create a business budget, then explore how we can manage future expenses.

Without a budget, you cannot plan profit increasing activities. There are different ways you can plan a budget. Some real estate professionals are comfortable running their expenses off credit, some aim to use as little credit as possible. It’s all up to personal preference and what an individual is comfortable with. Either way, a reasonable budget is crucial to a successful business plan.

The first question we need to answer is, how much revenue do we need to produce an income and cover both our business and personal expenses?

How to determine how much revenue you need to generate to meet your goals?

• Determine your average sales price in your market. You need to do market research to determine the average sales price of properties in your current market.
• Determine your commission structure. What percentage of the sale price will you be receiving as a commission? You need to determine how much you will typically take from the buyer or seller, and how much your split is between you and your brokerage firm. All splits will vary determined by the transaction and the commission split negotiated between you and your broker.
• Now you can determine the productivity needed to meet your yearly revenue goal.
• First, find out the average revenue you would produce per transaction. Multiply the average sales price in your market by your transaction percentage cut, then by your commission split negotiated between you and your broker.
• For example, if the average home in your area sells for $200,000 and your transaction percentage is 3% and your brokerage agreed cut is 60%, then the math would be: $200,000*.03= $6000. Then, $6000*.60=$3600. You would take home $3600 for that single transaction.
• Next, multiply the average revenue per transaction by the expected closed transaction you expect to produce. This will tell you how much you can expect to make per month or per year if you close your target sales numbers.
• For example, if you would like to make a yearly revenue goal of $60,000 you would need to close 16 transactions per year or 1-2 transactions a month.

Time Management and Daily planning

Time management consists of two components: planning and performance. Planning includes weekly actions of calendar management, creating to-do lists, and scheduling activities for the upcoming week or month. Performance (or productivity) includes the daily actions you do to generate business, such a phone calls, emails, attending showings, conducting interviews, sales calls, listing presentations, and depositing commission checks. You should be conducting your planning on a weekly basis.

Whatever method you use for time management, be consistent in your planning and hold yourself accountable. You must remember, that in real estate, you are your own boss, so you are going to be the sole person that holds you accountable for these business generating tasks.

Suggestions to help you stay focused:

• Create daily appointments and daily task lists
• Prioritize your to-do lists
• Allow for unexpected issues to arise
• Don’t be consumed by busy work or administrative work
• Use a (CRM) Computer Relationship Manager or a user-friendly online calendar to stay organized
• Have a defined workspace that you use every day (especially if you work from home)

Try time-blocking:

• Block out specific times for specific tasks
• Figure out what part of the day you are the most productive (Could be mornings, mid-day, or nights) and use that time to knock out the tasks you dislike or find most difficult
• Block out times to contact new or past prospects
• Block out times for showings
• Block out times to network or show up for social events
• Block out time for appointments
• Block out time for personal activities (to maintain a work life balance)

Make sure no matter what, you are spending time on activities that directly contribute to your business. These activities include:

• Sphere of influence phone calls
• Prospect marketing
• Listing appointments
• Buyer Interviews
• Showings

Always keep in mind how many closed transactions you need per month to reach your yearly income goal.

To keep things simple here are daily, weekly, and monthly activities that you can perform to meet your productivity goals.

Daily Activities:

• Meet at least 1 perspective buyer or seller
• Check new MLS listing for any current buyer clients
• Make 10 prospect calls for new leads
• Make 1 appointment for a “for sale by owner” in your area
• Complete any necessary administrative work for existing appointments or transactions

Weekly Activities

• Preview new listings from other agents in your firm and ask if you could hold an open house this upcoming weekend
• Visit/contact a local business and ask to assist them with their re-location services
• Learn and post about your market’s current inventory and how that impacts the buyer
• Attend at least one networking/or community event and add at least 2 names to your prospect list
• Write a new blog or social media posts that educates your following about the buying/selling process
• Respond or engage with a new person on social media

Monthly Activities

• Create a brand centered newsletter to send to your sphere of influence
• Find a new publication to advertise your business in if one does not work try another one.
• Pay attention to any holidays coming up on the calendar and plan a creative way to reach your audience
• Review your progress, activities, and previous marketing strategies with your advisor or mentor and see which past efforts are working for you

Remember that every agent has a different way of working their business. As a new agent the only way to figure out what works best for you is trying different things and seeing what sticks. If you are struggling with the activities that I have listed above, try contacting a successful agent within your brokerage. Take them out for coffee and ask them what they do on a regular basis to generate business. You’d be surprised at all the creative ways you can prospect for new business. A lot of times veteran agents have more to share than just their lead generation, they’ve been in the business a long time, so they often have tips for how to keep a positive mindset as well. Thanks for reading and be sure to check back to the Career Corner for more insightful articles on how to be the best agent you can be.