Work-life balance in Real Estate
Busy REALTORS® can find it challenging to carve out time for their personal lives. After all, the hours are often long and they work on days when the general public is relaxing or celebrating a holiday; there are quick turnarounds on offer deadlines; and the phone can ring at any time of day or night. The Edge newsletter talked to three Ontario REALTORS® to discover how they balance work and personal time.
Costas Kivelos, a Toronto REALTOR® who left the construction industry seven years ago to work in real estate, says achieving work-life balance can be challenging, but “it’s all about time management and availability. The key is to be available to the clients at all times and make them feel as if they’re your only clients.”
Kivelos says doing this successfully comes with experience. Now that he has a wife and two young children, he has created a team of younger REALTORS® so that he has other professionals on whom he can rely to keep the business running smoothly.
"On Christmas morning, my client called around 10 a.m., wanting to show his wife a house."
“This approach is win-win,” says Kivelos. “The newer people are looking for a mentor and, in a year they can gain the experience it took me seven years to obtain. They get a share of the commission, depending on how much they assist me, and meanwhile it has freed up a lot of my time. I can see my kids and have more time to myself and with my wife. I end up making more money because the overall volume of deals increases and the quality of service is improved – there’s no waiting.”
Lough Hayes has teamed up with a broker, focusing on buyer clients, to make her own work-life balance easier to achieve. However, another weapon in her REALTOR® arsenal is the ability to say no. She recalls a situation when she should have said no, illustrating how important that skill can be.
“On Christmas morning, my client called around 10 a.m., wanting to show his wife the house, which was a Christmas present he had bought for her,” Lough Hayes says. “I said no immediately! … He went on and on about needing to fulfil his condition about his wife seeing the house …With all of my family’s gifts already opened and breakfast out of the way, I called the listing REALTOR® to ask for permission for a showing. She said I was nuts but gave me the okay.
“I met my clients at the house. Much to my surprise, this guy had gone to a craft store, bought every scrap of 12-inch wide red ribbon, and literally gift-wrapped the house. It was very thoughtful and eye-catching, to say the least. But when his wife walked in, not quite past the threshold, she looked at him and said ‘I hate it! Let's go!’ Talk about a letdown! I returned home to glares from my own family for working on Christmas day. Meanwhile, this couple separated a few weeks later.”
Online technology offers another way to make the life of a REALTOR® easier and avoid wasting precious time, says Butler. “There are great tools out there to be used,” he says. “I use Google tools – you can add the calendar to your phone. I also use Evernote. I love paper and pencil, but I can take a photo of my notes and put it into Evernote, where I create notebooks for each listing.”
Kivelos can’t live without his smartphone. “My cellphone is my Holy Grail,” he says. “I need to be accessible 24/7. You also need an iPad or a laptop. When you’re meeting a client, a new listing might pop up, or you might see a home for sale as you are driving down the street and you need to document it.”
Even with all these strategies and tools at hand, burnout is still possible. “We all experience exhaustion at times,” says Butler. “Our systems aren’t perfect and in a busy spring market, it’s easier to become overwhelmed. We just have to remember to put our personal time into our schedules. As the author of The Wealthy Barber says, pay yourself first.”
Advice for achieving work-life balance
Develop systems for everything, including listings and clients.
Understand the difference between business and busy-ness.
Work hard every day – but not necessarily for eight hours.
When things get busy, learn to use the talents of those around you.
Look at the big picture and the long term: Build relationships rather than relying on quick hits.
Allow yourself to feel good about time off, because you’ve earned it. Sleep in late once in a while.
Find a hobby and schedule time for it as an appointment.