One of the joys of a real estate career is that every day is completely different from the day before. Most time is spent in preparation for closing day when your buyer or seller closes his/her transaction, and you get paid. How you get to closing is the result of many hours of work and a wide variety of tasks completed. So what goes into a typical day?

In order to get to closing, you must have clients, either buyers or sellers or both, and most of your activities will revolve around acquiring them, serving them, communicating with them and preparing documents and other information for them.

Many activities are income-producing and others are strictly administrative. How an agent balances these two types of work appears to relate strongly to their success. Some agents figure out how to delegate the administrative tasks, either by hiring an assistant or networking, and concentrating on the tasks that result in income - namely contracting with clients.

The following are some typical activities an agent may be involved in daily:

Meetings, tours, and other networking activities

Agents, even though they are independent contractors, operate in a community. They work in an office and share information with other agents, are part of a franchise in which the franchise managers share information, and part of their local, state, and national associations which also share information.

The morning may begin with an office meeting in which the agents share their new listings and their buyer's needs. The first of the week may include an office or an MLS tour in which homes that have just been listed, reduced in price, or had major improvements will be showcased by the listing agent. Tours are considered important as agents must be familiar with their marketplace.

Agents may also attend meetings with other related organizations either in person or network online with other agents to share information.

Farming

Far and away the biggest job for any Realtor, particularly new agents, is generating leads. Although many start their careers with a home sale from a friend or a relative, you have to build contacts from a "sphere of influence" any way you can. Many Realtors choose to start farming for clients from their own neighborhoods, churches, social organizations and business organizations, or all of the above.

Anyone you meet is a potential client. Sooner or later most people will buy, sell, or rent a property, and you can help them. Your first job is to let them know that you are in the real estate business and that you are available to help them. Give your card to everyone you meet and ask for their name, phone number and email address. Ask if you can send them some occasional information of interest about buying or selling a home.

Farming activities include building a database of contacts so that you can get in touch with them periodically and keep your name in front of them. You may get these contacts from walking your neighborhood and introducing yourself to neighbors. You may get neighborhood lists from sources who may be willing to sell you their database of names by zip code or special interest. You may network with furniture store dealers and other retailers for leads. You may advertise extensively to get people to call you. Many Realtors get leads by including their business card with every check they write, and with every bill they pay. Some include a card with every tip to waitstaff and other service personnel. Some rely on Internet marketing to attract consumers.

What you have to be willing to do is make farming a daily activity. For some people selling homes is easy, but selling themselves is difficult. You must be able to comfortably sell yourself, and be willing to make calls to enlarge your sphere of influence or stay in contact with them or you will not have enough leads to survive as an agent.

Client representation

Real estate sales is characterized by hands-on help to consumers. You may spend long hours searching for homes on your Internet MLS and then emailing the candidates that most suit your buyer's needs. You may spend a long time preparing a listing presentation for a seller, including a Power Point presentation of your company's strong suits, and showing off your Web site, email capabilities, digital camera marketing, and other assets.

Once your buyer is ready to look at listings, you may accompany your client, after first alerting the listing agent that you are on your way. You will get the showing instructions for each home and follow them meticulously.

You will accompany your client to inspections, closings and any activity in which your representation is desired or required. You may personally introduce your client to loan officers so they may start the loan application process.

When there is little activity, you will remain in close communication with your client, updating them on changes in the marketplace, feedback from showings of their home, and other useful information.

Training, continuing education, designations, and licensing

Real estate is a state-regulated commercial activity and agents must adhere to the educational requirements of their state in order to be licensed. Continuing education is a requirement for relicensing.

In order to set themselves apart from other agents and to gain referrals from other similarly qualified agents, most agents pursue some type of certification or designations which are primarily used for marketing to other agents. Most consumers don't know what a CRS or a GRI is until they are told, or that they represent a sub-specialty, and they assume that as a Realtor you are already expert in all areas. Sub-specialties can also include Internet mastery (the e-PRO,) buyer's agency, senior specialists, or relocation specialists. Some designations require extensive experience before the agent is allowed to qualify for a certain designation.

Agents may spend considerable time learning new MLS information system software, or learning to use a computer. Eventually, all MLS information will be available to agents online, so computer-readiness will soon be a minimum requirement in order to become an agent.

Administration

Either using the Internet or office facilities, agents have to do a certain amount of housekeeping, including filing, storing and sharing information, updating and cleaning out old files, creating flyers and other marketing materials, creating newsletters or sending out online newsletters, managing their personal office and creating a budget for yearly, quarterly and monthly operations. Agents have to create an advertising budget for themselves and for their listings, and investigate new areas to market themselves and their homes.

The Internet poses a learning curve for many agents as the broker may have a marketing plan at the local level, but may not be on board with the Internet yet. Agents may find that the broker's advertising may not do them as much personal good as they would like and they have to plan and budget advertising costs for print media as well as the Internet.

A great deal of time is spent on devising marketing plans for their homes, and researching comparables to create CMA reports for buyers and sellers. CMA reports can change daily, so having the most current information is a tool the Realtor uses to better serve consumers. This task also includes double checking for errors as some information in the listings or the tax roll data may not be correct.

Working conditions

Real estate agents divide their time between their cars, their broker's office and their home office, as well as clients' homes. They can set their own hours, but are somewhat dependent on when buyers and sellers are available. Many work long hours in the evenings and on weekends. The industry is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, and agents who do not have cellular phones, laptops, voice mail and email are certain to find themselves handicapped. A nice car to escort buyers to homes is also a necessity.

Part I - So You Want to Be a REALTOR?