What do we do?

A little birdy told me recently that the general public doesn’t really know what we do. Well, that was a shock. Prior to me becoming a REALTOR® I had very little experience with anyone in this industry. I had only bought one house and I still owned that home when I got my license in 2016. It had since turned into a rental after I met my husband and decided to merge the households. So all I knew is that my buyer’s agent drove me around all over town for months and opened houses for me. It was also so long ago I had forgotten every part of the process!

I’d like to invite you all into a typical day in my life as a REALTOR®.  First off, I have gained that title by being a member of the National Association of Realtors which holds us to a much higher ethical standard than just an “agent”. I am also a member of the Sunflower Association of Realtors (SAR) which is the association that holds our MLS. Most real estate agents are members of an MLS (multiple listing service). SO… that’s that.  I also hold my Kansas broker’s license and am associate broker to my supervising broker, Abbey Wostal.  I wear multiple hats on any given day and have next to no set schedule.  But let’s see if I can best explain.

I have meetings. Lots of meetings. Two set meetings per week for my team and my office. I also do plenty of volunteering for my association and serve on the board as well. I am chair of the office’s culture committee and we have meetings as well. I often meet with other agents to help them with their business and have the occasional zoom meeting to network with other professionals in an attempt to grow my business. I actually enjoy most of my meetings. Many of them are incredibly educational and can be crucial to my service and experience.

Any agent has two different roles (bare minimum). Listing agents and buyer’s agents have two very different tasks. That is something for another day. When I was first licensed I was told that being a listing agent was the bees knees and having listings was like having a small army out there “doing all the work” for you. I believed it. But now I think it couldn’t be further from the truth, at least in my business. I spend SO much time (and money) on marketing a listing, staging a listing (also saving this for another day), cleaning, showing, open houses, negotiating, phone calls with clients, ordering title work and inspections, the list goes on. I am constantly trying to sell a listing. And if it’s a market where the listings are selling themselves, it can be exhilerating, but so.dang.exhausting! You may think it’s great to have 20 showings in one day on a listing. But I’ll be damned if I get anything done other than fielding phone calls that day.

As a buyer’s agent it’s a bit more obvious (I think).  Incase it’s not, I’ll explain. The moment I get a new buyer, I am working to get them set up with a lender and get them preapproved. Some are easier than others and some are paying cash! We can start looking at houses from there. If my buyer has a 9-5 job, then guess when we are looking? You guessed it.. during dinner time. Also, during my childrens social activities, sports, concerts, the list goes on. There’s lots of showings on the weekends too. My record for a weekend is 42 houses! I didn’t see my family much those few days, lol. Once we find the house they want, I am trying to convince the listing agent to choose them however I can (within reason). Once under contract there is some marketing I do, scheduling inspections, title work, second and third trips to the house with the buyer, negotiating repairs, and more! Buyers are SO much fun.  I love all my clients but getting to see the excitement that buyer’s have when they find the home they love is priceless.

I like to think of a typical day as “flying by the seat of my pants”. It’s a rush! Some days are strictly scheduled and others I just have to go with it because I’m not sure what the day will bring. As for what I do as an associate broker, that’s for another day. I do like to take time off in the middle of the day for a school party with my kids or a lunch with a friend. This is because I am often working on the weekends and in the evenings. I try to find balance in everything I do. This isn’t the entire list but I feel like it’s SO important for the general public understand what we do and it seems that most don’t.  I hope you enjoyed this!  Come back for more!