Want to be successful in real estate and not have to work 60-70 hours each week? That’s the focus of the most recent Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinar, “Build a Big Business in a Short Amount of Time and Still Have a Life,” featuring Wendy Papasan. In the webinar, Papasan explains how she and her team have been able to close $50 million in residential real estate this year, while still leaving the office by 5:30 p.m. each day.
In this informative webinar, Papasan offered tips on how to balance a proper home and work life and still be a success: “I run teams, I’m a wife and mom, and like many, sometimes I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but anyone can do this,” she says. “You just need to be smart and put habits in place to cultivate your business.”
Papasan began her real estate career back in 2009 and quickly learned that those who subscribe to the notion that “big is bad” were incorrect. During her six-year career, Papasan has seen her transactions and commission rise considerably. To help achieve this, each year, she hired help to keep her home and family commitments (she has two kids and a working husband) manageable.
Moving from E to P
According to Papasan, it’s important to move from entrepreneurial to purposeful in your thinking. She explained how there have been times when she was overwhelmed and wanted to quit—something every REALTOR® has probably faced in his or her career—and the way to alleviate that stress was by moving from “e to p.”
“Ask yourself, ‘What’s going wrong?’ ‘What can I do in my personal or professional life to help?’” she says. “Hiring a new person or creating a new system allows things to flow more efficiently will help.”
By putting these things in place, Papasan never felt overwhelmed by work again: “Be okay with the chaos, commit to models and systems, get accountability and hire as much help as you can afford,” she says. “The bigger your life gets, the crazier it will feel and it will probably get worse before it gets better.”
Secrets to Buy More Time
One secret that the rich seem to know is that it’s okay to buy time, and doing so can make your life easier. Time is the great equalizer—we only have a certain amount of time during the day so it’s important to use it wisely and buy more of it when you can. Papasan understands that for some, buying time at home is hard because you don’t want to give up taking care of your children or running the household, but doing so will actually give you more quality time with the family in the long run.
By hiring help such as a housekeeper, personal assistant, baby sitter or paying for services like having your dry cleaning and groceries delivered, you are allowing yourself more time to concentrate on work, and freeing up hours that are better spent with family. Papasan even knows one REALTOR® who hired a local college student to drive her kids to activities, which most parents know is usually quantity time rather than quality time.
Other things to look into, she says, are Amazon Prime delivery (which will automatically deliver household staples so you don’t have to think about it); hiring a pool cleaner, dog walker or even someone to clean out the fish tank; and creating a list with your spouse and assistant so everyone is synced together and knows what items are needed if someone goes to the store. “Create little systems to make your life easier. Sometimes it’s as easy as getting an app on the phone,” she says. “Once you start buying your time back, you want to make sure you use it wisely.”
It’s also important to buy time at work. Papasan encourages anyone not getting someone to help on closing contracts to do so immediately, as it’s a small percentage of a sale and saves you plenty of time.
Finally, Papasan says it’s important to pay attention to your schedule and not deviate too far from your plan—“Follow your schedule. Do it, delegate it or dump it and be with your family when you are home,” she says.
To learn even more time-saving tips, watch Papasan’s full webinar. For more free real estate education including best practices, visit Secrets of Top Selling Agents. Be sure to sign up for the upcoming webinar, “7 Key Trends In Real Estate: Marketing Intelligence and Strategies for 2016!” featuring Tom Ferry on Wednesday, October 28th at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT.
