At some point, many moms regain (at least some of) their free time and that leads many moms to think about a career, specifically a career as a real estate agent.
And for good reason. Early on, many moms are looking for a career or business that offers flexibility and the perfect balance between their family and work life.
Real estate can provide that flexibility and balance, while earning a decent amount of money.
In this article, we’re going to talk about why real estate is a great career choice for many moms — stay-at-home-moms, single moms, empty nester moms and all moms in between — and how to be a mom and a real estate agent at the same time.
Why Real Estate Is Great For Moms
A Balance Between Career And Family
As a real estate agent, you’re treated as an independent contractor, which means you call the shots. You decide when you will work and how much work you will do.
This allows moms of all stages to find the perfect balance between their career and family. Moms who have kids in school can work during the school day and after the kids go to bed. Mommas with little babies at home can work during nap times.
Even the best part-time job won’t offer the flexibility you will find as a real estate agent. Part-time jobs typically still have specific hours you have to work.
Plus, calling off because a child is sick might not be the easiest thing to do at a part-time or full-time job.
With real estate, you can stay home with that sick child, and heck, probably still do some work because a lot of real estate tasks — with the exception of showings and appointments — are pretty location independent.
A mom has the flexibility to work from home or the office — whatever environment suits her best.
Low Barrier To Entry
Real estate has one of the lowest barriers of entry when comparing it to similar paying jobs. In many states, like Michigan, to become a licensed real estate agent you only need to take a pre-licensure course and an exam.
It doesn’t require going back to college full-time for years before you can start earning an average salary of around $50,000 per year.
The average mom who becomes a real estate agent is further along in their life and they don’t have the time or money to invest into a full-time college education nor the desire to find themselves stuck in a full-time soul-sucking job once they graduate.
It’s possible to get licensed in a few months and start earning an income a few months later.
Great Lead Sources
Being successful at real estate requires you to be good at marketing to generate leads or have a built-in sphere of influence.
Many moms have a large sphere of influence. These are people at various levels that like, know, and trust these moms. It’s your friends, family, and the other parents you see at your child’s swim practice and PTO meetings.
I know of moms who have closed a handful of deals by wearing a real estate related t-shirt to their kid’s sports games. All Things Real Estate sells some great products for promoting yourself without having to awkwardly go up and talk to people. They will come to you.
This also creates a better balance between family and career. Imagine getting clients and growing your real estate career doing everyday activities you would do regardless of your career.
To me, that’s a cool opportunity you can’t find in many other careers.
How To Be A Mom And Real Estate Agent
Let’s not sugar coat a real estate career. Like any career, it has its pros and cons. There will, at times, be a struggle as a real estate agent and mom.
So, let’s talk about how you can be successful as a mom and real estate agent and overcome some of the challenges you will face.
Create Proper Boundaries
As a real estate agent, you will have pressure put on your weekday evenings and weekend times, especially as a new agent. These are the most common times buyers can tour homes, and it’s also the time your kids are home.
If you don’t set up the right boundaries and communicate them, your career in real estate will pressure you to sacrifice your family time for your career.
Exactly what you’re trying to avoid by getting into real estate. Most moms pick real estate as a career because of the flexibility. Not to have their time eaten up by their clients.
It’s a fine line you will have to balance. You will constantly face pressure and have to make decisions about who to be present for and when.
For example, should you give up your weekend to show a client a home? Or, is it better to stay home with the kids and family?
It’s easy to get caught up in our phones and computers. Since there are no work hours, every agent (not just moms) have a hard time putting the phone down at work.
How can you be present if you’re locked on to your phone?
My Personal Experience Finding Balance
As a new real estate agent and father, I struggled with this big time. At first, I was alway glued to my phone and the office; getting to work before my kids woke up and working until after they went to bed.
I would hold open houses and do showings every weekend. There was a lot I missed out on with my kids for a year.
Eventually, I woke up and realized I couldn’t keep doing real estate the way I was doing it. I needed to set boundaries.
At first, I was scared I would lose clients. I needed and wanted those commission checks. But, since I set boundaries I’ve never lost a client over it.
And, I have some uncommon boundaries because of my lifestyle and religious choices.
I don’t answer the phone after 7pm. I’m not available at any point on Friday after 2pm until Sunday morning. I will do weekend showings on a Sunday only.
On rare occasions, I may compromise on these boundaries if there is something truly time sensitive, but most clients respect these boundaries. In fact, they appreciate it.
They know when to expect my calls or when I will answer the phone.
Set your boundaries, communicate them, and stick to them. You will thank me.
Deal With The Mom Guilt
Every parent experiences guilt, but moms often seem to have it much more than fathers. In your career as a real estate agent, you will need to deal with mom guilt.
It’s a very real emotion. Don’t try to fight it. Acknowledge the guilt, but don’t accept it. Just because you feel something that doesn’t make it true.
No matter how much you’re doing, there is always going to be a sense of guilt that you could do more.
Listen momma, you’re a great parent. You don’t need me to tell you that. You keep rocking motherhood and a career.
In reality, the mom guilt isn’t isolated to one career. You will experience it in any profession that you choose.
You will always want to be there more for your kids, give them more, and love them more. The guilt is strong when things go wrong and it can be easy to feel in real estate because we work on commission.
To make a little sales plug, mental well-being is one of the reasons I love Exit Realty for myself, others, and mothers.
Exit Realty believes in strengthening the agent in all areas of their lives. As a result, they have a lot of mind-set training and recently invested a lot of money to provide content and learning experiences about mental health through their “Focus On Good Health” Blog.
It’s their philosophy to create agents that are healthy, wealthy, love and wise. You will find most real estate companies just care about the “wealthy” part.
Learn To Time Block
There is one thing that’s clear about a career in real estate, it’s this: if you don’t take control of your schedule, someone else will and it will control you.
Related to setting boundaries, you need to learn the skill of time blocking.
Time blocking is a time management technique where you divide your day into blocks of time. Each block on your calendar represents a specific set of activities. They’re too specific, like a to-do list, but they’re not too narrow that you don’t know what to do during that time.
Here are some example of time blocks a mom and real estate agent might have in her calendar:
- Client Transactions – paperwork involved in getting an accepted offer to closing
- Client Showings and Appointments – time for listing presentations or showing clients homes
- Marketing and Lead Follow Up – the process of generating leads and following up with them to turn them into appointments and clients.
- Time With Kids – you will designate time with your kids rather than just letting it happen.
These chunks of time tell you what to work on during that time. It eliminates the need to constantly make choices about your time and what to focus on.
Time blocking will help you set boundaries and stick to them. It’s an opportunity to prioritize and make sure the important things — like spending time with your kids — are in your calendar. Otherwise, you will be at the mercy of your career.
Pick The Right Brokerage
Every mom and real estate agent needs to pick the right sponsoring broker for them. You have a lot of choices for where you work and hang your real estate license.
If you’re looking for balance in your career and family life, then you need to align yourself with a brokerage that will support you at the highest level.
This means they provide various things like:
- A family-oriented culture
- Training on how to be an agent and better person
- Mental Health support
- Administrative support
The more you’re left on your own, the harder it is to be a mom and real estate agent. You don’t want to find yourself drowning in your career and trying to be there for your kids.
For that reason, I don’t recommend brokerages like Keller-Williams or eXp for moms. These companies tend to require dedicated, self-driven real estate agents who don’t mind making great sacrifices.
The right brokerage, like Exit Realty, can support you in your effort to find balance as a real estate agent and mom.
With a focus on people, not profits, you become part of a collaborative family-oriented culture when you join Exit Realty.
Exit is a home for moms. Consider joining Exit today.
Need your real estate license? Consider getting your license with Aceable Agent.
