Many times there is a misconception and misunderstanding as to what a broker does on a day to day and week to week basis in selling and renting property.

In my discussions with client sellers and customer purchasers, I go over the list of items, prioritizing those that are most important, so everyone gains the knowledge about what we do daily with respect to listing and marketing properties as well as other duties to be performed.
First off, when listing a property, obviously paperwork must be filled out with all of the necessary and pertinent details, so the buying and renting public has all the information that is required to spark their interest.

Once the paperwork is signed by both owner/landlord and Broker, the next step is imputing the information online on MLS, whether it be an exclusive just for the office or an MLS public listing for all offices to see and show and in that type of listing, it will be aggregated out to 100’s of other sites.

It will also be imputed on the company site too, as well as the agents site, if they have one. Having the listing/videos linked on all the major social media sites, Facebook (consumers spend an average of 35 minutes daily), Twitter , Linked-in, You Tube (average time spent 40 minutes daily), Instagram (25 minutes), snapchat (25 minutes), whatsapp etc. and if done properly, will greatly add wide reaching global exposure to those who are on those sites daily.

Scheduling to take photos, virtual tours/videos and layouts of the property would come next and should be done as soon as possible, so those prospective customers will have a clear vision about its interior and exterior.

There is always information about the area, transportation, schools, restaurants, shopping that will be an important facet for most to decide if that home and location will fit their family’s “needs and wants” and lifestyle.

When you have an office that has a window, then a colorful layout of the property is placed there for the walk traffic to view, since people do window shop and this can and will spark interest in your property.

Periodically, having a postcard go out in and around the area where the property is located is another item on the list that will let all the neighbors know its availability.

Weekend open houses in the current market seem to work in lining up that potential buyer, because many cannot see the property during the week, due to their work and family schedules.

However, there are always exceptions to the rules and we, at times take out the prospective buyers and tenants after hours, as needed.

Real Estate hours are flexible, but the amount of time one will put in varies from part timers of 20 hours up to 70 or more for full-time realtors!

It’s not about the quantity of hours performed or required, but more the quality of the hours that we work.

Working nights to return calls from the day, from buyers and sellers, becomes a necessary obligation, and one must commit to doing it, in order to follow through to be an above average broker or agent.

Sometimes we have to do our emailing and texting at that time when our cell phones and other duties are less busy and we can concentrate more in completing those tasks.

It is also important to realize and understand that there is some family time with our wives and children or significant others and free time that we have to create after business, so we do not burn ourselves out; which many agents go through and end up quitting the business.

However, learning how to manage our time (happy wife, happy life!) is always a challenge and the giving of our time is a crucial ingredient in our industry in order to engage our clientele and to be successful.

If we have other agents and assistants on our team, there is always a certain amount of time devoted to them in order to have a cohesive and organized game plan.

But, as they say, the left hand must know what the right hand is doing, so communication amongst those individuals is critical to help make day to day operations run smoothly.

Negotiations, deal sheets, inspections, mortgage qualifications, walk-throughs are also some of the additional things that we have to make sure get completed. Whatever comes up to help or derail a deal, we must handle in the most professional, knowledgeable and honest way.

Going to a closing is the end result of the many facets from start to finish that one must go through in order to complete a successful transaction, but it is the day to day things that begin the process and one must be true to their business plan to make it happen.

Phil Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 7 Bond St. in Great Neck. He has earned the designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute and is a Certified International Property Specialist. He can be reached by email: [email protected] or by cell (516) 647-4289 to answer any of your questions or article suggestions or provide you a free Comparative Market Analysis on your property.