There are no emergencies in Real Estate.  I've found that when you respect yourself and your family, others will do the same.  People will only be rude and intrusive if they're allowed to do so.

We don't. You have to set boundaries with clients. You have to set boundaries with people.

I believe it is all about setting expectations with clients ... up front. And we agree, for example, if you call me at 9pm I will most likley not pick up the call. 

If you don't answer, the next agent will.

Agents have drank the Kool-Aid they sell.

Believe their own lies.

It starts with those who buy Internet leads. "Respond in 9.6 nanoseconds and conversion rate increases 80%. It ends with which agent can devalue themselves the most by reducing their value to FREE.

When an agent suddenly realizes this is not sustainable for them, they start responding in a more responsible manner.

As Kathleen Daniels correctly stated, It's about setting expectations. That is different that dictating behavior. 

Agents need to invest their energy clearly into the 20% that pays off and leave the rest to their systems.

Even if an agent focuses on the 90 day market, they are not required to let everyone jerk their chain. What they do is allow the citizen to invest more deeply and focus on the 20% that is important.

Karen,

Those who think they will miss out do.  They miss out on living their lives and enjoying their families, friends and their lifestyle.  How sad is that?

One has to realize that this is not a 24/7 business, no one is in danger of dying or bleeding to death.  A

As Kathleen Daniels says it's about setting expectations up front and if you don't you are in trouble.

You are conditioned to think that way. It's been proven that people that set time boundaries with their clients do not have less business. They just do more business within a set amount of hours.

No calls after 7pm for me & I tell them straight out 'I'm an old lady & have to have a cut off time'.  or I say flat out 'I'll be in my jammies' & say nothing more which means don't you dare call after 10pm.

There isn't anything that needs to be talked about really after business hours if you think about it. Why beat something to death when the attorneys have to settle it? They have regular business hours right?

I used to think that, but now no longer. I work manly by referral and explain to all my clients my hours, time, epectations etc when they hire me

Not all agents think that way.

Buyer Agents are under more pressure

That is a business decision.  Not everyone works like that.

   I have a life outside of real estate.  My wife.  Church.  The beach.  Road trips around Florida.  I don't want to miss out on those things!

I don't believe we all think we have to be 'on' 24/7 Karen Jones Lewis, MBA, Realtor.  Many have a cut-off time in the evenings, and some are off on Sundays - all family and/or personal time.  We do take calls, as many of our snowbird clients live in a different Time Zone (HA!), and are not local.  We also have a wonderful back-up person if we are out of the area/state that can assist.  We need to find what works for us, so that we too, can have A Life.  :)

I don't. I am not afraid to let a call go to voicemail or to answer it the next morning. If I lose some business as a result then it is probably with no patience that I don't want to work with anyway.

Some of the best advice I heard early on in the business was to let your clients know times you are NOT available for them - that you have another appointment. That appointment could be personal time for yourself or your family, but your clients don't need to know this. Setting boundaries can keep you sane!

I have never worked 24/7/365 and I don't take phone calls after 6:30pm unless in negotiations or unless a long distance client makes an advance appointment with me. I also don't take phone calls befor 9:00am unless I'm negotiating. I don't know why agents think they need to be available 24/7. I set expectations up-front with my clients as to my availability and have never had an issue. If someone has an issue, they need to work with another agent.

Prospects expect you to be responsive. If not, they move on to another agent.

I have voicemail and email for a reason, I answer only when I choose.

I did take all calls.... I owed that to my builders.... they had a tremendous amount of money on the line.... it was my job to make sure the deals flowed.... and I did...and I took all calls... that's good service.... just my opinion, but I owed it to everyone who listed with me...not only new home builders, but the majority of my inventory was new construction....

It is the professional thing to do.

WE have to work longer hours because we have a society that is and instant gratification  so if you don't answer your new client just went to your competitor

Susan Emo has exactly the perfect answer. Set your boundaries they will respect your time, expertise and family time..I promise!

I am a "natural" workaholic and love to work, so I do my best to take all calls, however, I also have control of the off switch and if I am with family or just not wanting to take the call, I let it go to voicemail.  That's what it's for right? 

You don't have to, it's your choice.

This is a customer service business that charges premium fees and people are starting to realize that more and more as to what their money can buy

I vacation at least 30 days out of the year and will probably up that to 45 this year. The red badge of real estate courage is not 80 hour work weeks, if you do that you are doing it wrong.

We don't have to.  And, we may lose some business, but might also gain.

Karen Jones Lewis, MBA, Realtor - they call us 'anytime' because we let them!

I set limits.  I don't respond unless I want to or it's emergent after 7pm.  I may check the email though, since it comes to my phone.  If it's an active transaction related, then I'll take the call.

For us as a "mom & pop (and son)" company, we don't have someone to take the day to day calls when we go on vacation, so we have to do it.  Usually check email once or twice a day at the hotel.

Over the last few years, I have been diligent in letting my clients know of my work hours.    Unless something is critical, I do not deviate from them either.

I know right? I did similar - my husband put his foot down and now I only answer late calls if I know who it is!

When building a business, it's important to be available for clients. With real estate, clients needs us during the nights and weekends. Eventually you can learn to slow down, regulate your hours, and occassionally say no!

Most Realtors have no business experience, they have job experience. They have no boundaries. We all go through it I suppose, I did. I'm divorced due to it. No more. Happily re-married 15 years and taking regular days off and vacations-no work time off by the way.

Well, Karen,  I think it's inherent that we want to help everyone - but, the reality is, we simply can't.  If we try, we have no life outside of our businesses and that's certainly no way to live. 

I think the longer we're in the business, the better we get at prioritizing those calls. I will say the OCD in me loves having them all addressed and being completely 'caught up' but, it's not healthy and I am in a constant struggle with that. Just FYI, the OCD is losing at the moment!!  LOL

As the years go by my hours are more limited!