A Day in the Life

I have always been drawn to #dayinthelife blog and Instagram posts.  Who doesn't like to see how other people live?  Where do they live, what do they eat, how do they work, where do they travel, how do they do it all!?  Since being a real estate agent means getting a peek at how people live almost every day, I thought it only fair to share a peek at how a day in my life goes.

6:00 a.m. - My kids run out of their bedroom bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to take on the day.  They actually wake up at 6:00 on the dot almost every day of the year.  I usually try and tip toe out of bed at 5 a.m. so that I can exercise, make my coffee and shower before they rise, but it's summer, and yesterday was a long day, so I slept in today.  In comes the stampede of hugs, kisses and feet in the face, good morning!

6:30 a.m. - My husband makes breakfast for our three little ladies while I sneak in an abbreviated version of my 5 a.m. ritual.  I make my warm lemon and cayenne water and then head down to my basement and get in 25 minutes of spinning to my CycleBar CycleBeats playlist on Spotify and 10 minutes of yoga/stretching.  This playlist is seriously amazing and keeps me motivated during the workouts that need to take place at home.  I can almost close my eyes and envision myself in the CycleTheatre.  Check out the link to the playlist below.  While spinning, I check the MLS (shows me all of the most updated real estate market activity), send emails, plan social media posts for the day and take a peek at my calendar.  I like to multi task

7:00 a.m.  Husband hands the kids off to me and I proceed to get my "assembly line" ready.  I grab all of my supplies while the girls play and prepare to tackle the task of getting 3 kids 5 and under ready for the day.  Brush hair, brush teeth, change diapers, get dressed and get ready for the day, x3.

7:30 a.m. Play Barbies/blocks/dolls/craft/Shopkins/head to the park with kids.  Behold, the unicorn milkshake we created this morning.  This lasts about 20 minutes until my girls decide it is time to move on to something new.  Time to escape.

7:50 a.m. Escape was successful today, so I hop in the shower and get ready for my day.  I usually accomplish this before the kids wake up, but I slept in today, so I have to move my schedule around slightly.

8:15 a.m.  I have mastered the art of getting ready (yes, I can actually shower and get ready in 20 minutes), and am grabbing a quick breakfast courtesy of my husband before heading out the door for our Monday sales meeting.  Give hugs and kisses goodbye and head out to my meeting.

9:30 a.m.  So my office is only 10 minutes away, but I dropped a few handwritten letters in the mail to clients, dropped off a book I finished at the library and had a quick meeting with a local small business owner about my upcoming Halloween Carnival.  Sales meeting starts and we learn about all of the new, under contract and closed listings from our office from the past week.

10:15 a.m.  We go and tour new listings, one of my favorite times of the week (besides broker's opens). We had five houses to see today and they were all beautiful!  Here is the view from the top of one of the houses in River Forest.
12:00 p.m.  I immediately contact my clients to let them know what is coming on the market and  begin scheduling showings.  Scheduling is a HUGE part of being a successful real estate agent and mom.  From open houses, showings, appointments to kids lessons, school and making dinner, almost every minute of my day is time blocked for something.  This crazy scheduling is made possible by bullet journaling.  More on this another day.

12:30 p.m.  I take a quick break for lunch at home with my kids; one of the best parts of working for myself!  We read a few books in their playroom, I put them down for nap time and then keep going with my day.  I love the vintage toys and records I added to their playroom, they were all mine when I was a kid.

1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.  This time is dedicated to all things real estate.  Brainstorming new marketing ideas, making calls to clients, scheduling showings, negotiating deals, attending appointments, watching the local market inventory and responding to client phone calls and emails.  Today in particular, I am connecting with people I work with to see what is going on in their industries.

First, I contact my go to mortgage broker to see what his current rates are and see how the market is for him (Rimmy Dunlop (NMLS#1589786) is one of the hardest working mortgage bankers I know and follows-up with me weekly and even more frequently with his clients).  You can reach him at jdunlop@thefederalsavingsbank.com or at 708-369-1250.

Next on the list are the small business owners who are participating in this year's Halloween Carnival, more on them and their amazing businesses in another post!  Check out the beautiful artwork Yearbook Studios designed for the event last year.

Then on to my clients.  I already reached out to a lot of them this morning, but I follow back up with a client who is looking to move to River Forest from out of state and set up a time to do virtual showings.

Now it is time to get creative and use some problem solving skills to help out a client who wants to buy a property that is not currently listed.  I do some research and contact the company currently responsible for the property and see if they are accepting offers on the property.  After sending that off, I call this client to help her with the process of appealing her property taxes.

Finally, I get my #marketmonday post ready.  This is one of my favorite posts for Facebook and Instagram.  It provides my clients with a weekly snapshot of the local market.  Everything from top 10 questions to ask at an open house to a monthly report on what is happening in their local real estate market.

3:00 p.m. Time to prep dinner with the kids.  Today, my 5 year old helps while the 2.5 year old and 10 month old pull pots and pans out of the kitchen cabinets.  We are having a Summer Chicken Pot Pie Galette, which is so much easier to make than it sounds.  You can find the recipe here.

3:30 p.m. I head to the pool with my kids.  This is a labor intensive activity, but I also strategically picked a pool about 15 minutes away so that I can make client phone calls while in the car, because, amazingly, my kids are usually quiet in the car and staring out the window.  Today, I called a potential client who is looking at moving from Chicago to River Forest.

3:45 p.m - 4:45 p.m.  Pool madness ensues.  My 5 year old is learning how to swim on her own, but needs me in the "big pool" to help her which means i have the 2.5 year old in one arm and the 10 month old in the other.  Naturally, this situation can only go on for about an hour before it gets too crazy.

5:00 p.m. Dinner time.  The kids set the table and we eat dinner as a family (my husband works a block away and is almost always home for dinner).  I clean up the kitchen and get ready to go out and work some more.

6:00 p.m.  Time to put the kids down for bed, yes, they go to sleep by 6:30 p.m. 358 days a year (we let them stay up late for special occasions and holidays).  First the baby, and then the older two.

7:00 p.m.  Listing appointment in River Forest.  This is something that is offered to anyone at no charge.  I usually come and take a look around your home the week before this presentation.  I talk to you and see what kind of projects you have completed to your home, suggest some things that you can do to prep your home for the market and talk to you to see what you are looking to accomplish by selling your home.  During the listing appointment, I come back with market information and let you know what I think your home is worth and why I think I am the best choice of real estate agent in the area to work with.  Hopefully these clients enjoy my presentation and professional opinion and choose to list their home with me.  I know it is a stressful process and I really do everything in my power to take the stress out of it!  Isn't this dining room beautiful?

8:30 p.m.  Finally home and time to relax with my husband.  Remember that morning ritual?  My nightly ritual is hot herbal tea.  We catch up on our days with each other and then turn on last nights episode of Game of Thrones.

9:30 p.m. Bedtime for me.  I check the MLS and social media one more time before bed.  Today was busy, but so are most days!

I hope you enjoyed a peek inside my day!  Special thanks to CycleBar OPRF for keeping me motivated.  What do your days look like?  Comment below.

Aubrey