How to Balance Parenting and a Real Estate Career

Many parents turn to real estate because it offers flexible work hours and the ability to set your own schedule. Still, balancing parenting and a real estate career is not a walk in the park. With that in mind, if you’re a new parent or you’re new to the business, keep reading. We are sharing five tips on how to create and maintain a work-life balance that works for your whole family.

Here are five tips to help you balance parenting with a real estate career

1. Commit to maintaining a work-life balance.

Maintaining a strong sense of work-life balance is going to be your most important tool in juggling parenting and a real estate career. Put simply, both your child and your career are important facets of your life that deserve your full attention. After all, while your child’s needs will likely take precedence (as they should), you will still need to put enough effort into your career to make sure you’re able to pay the bills.

Here, establishing boundaries is going to be key. When you are with your child, they should be the center of your attention. Put down your phone and make sure that you are present for them. Let calls go to voicemail and return them later. Make an effort not to schedule appointments while you’re acting as the primary parent.

Likewise, when you are at work, that needs to be your focus. Ensure that your child is being well taken care of and then put your energies toward your clients and your business. Do your best to put family matters on the back burner until you are ready to leave the office for the day.

2. Do the bulk of the work during school or daycare hours.

One of the biggest benefits of choosing a real estate career is that you have the freedom to set your own schedule. However, when you’re a parent, your work schedule really needs to revolve around your childcare options. To that end, It’s a good idea to try and do the bulk of your work while your child is at school or daycare. That way, you’ll know that they’re in good hands and you should be able to focus on growing your business.

Once you have your childcare schedule figured out, the next step is to dedicate that time to your career. Purposefully schedule any inspections, showings, and closings during those hours. However, make sure to also leave time in your schedule for administrative tasks, such as writing up offers, working on lead generation, and doing other forms of marketing.

3. Find quality childcare — a must-have for balancing parenting and a real estate career.

All that said, one of the downsides of a real estate career is that often you are at the mercy of other people’s schedules. For instance, there may be times when you are not able to schedule a showing during your dedicated work hours. On those occasions, you’re going to need reputable child care. You’ll want to have at least one person that you can call on in case of an emergency. However, the more people you have on your roster, the better.

In this case, It may be a good idea to team up with other parents in your brokerage. You may be able to share childcare responsibilities or form an arrangement where are you agree to watch each other’s children when one of you has to deal with a spur-of-the-moment appointment.

4. Join a team or form your own.

If running your own business while being a parent is too much for you to handle, you may want to consider joining or forming a real estate team. Often, team members will share responsibilities among themselves or only take responsibility for a certain portion of the transaction. For example, a listing coordinator may be responsible for conveyance, but not for showing available properties to buyers.

Overall, joining a team can cut down on the amount of work that you have to do in order to earn a living. At the same time, it may also help you to be able to establish firmer work hours. Ultimately, the main advantage to being on a team is that there are several people that can handle problems as they arise. The buck does not stop with you.

5. Accept that life throws you curveballs sometimes.

Finally, as a parent, you have to accept that life throws you curveballs sometimes. When you least expect it, your child will catch a cold and you will be unable to hire child care. Alternatively, it may be your time to be a homeroom parent at your child’s school and you may need to miss an inspection or reschedule a showing. When that happens, you just need to go with the flow and give yourself grace for doing your best.

The truth is that no one person can be everything to everyone all the time. They are going to be instances where you drop the ball and that’s okay. You’re only human.

The bottom line on juggling parenting and a real estate career

At the end of the day, balancing parenting and a real estate career may be difficult, but it can be done. All you need is some excellent time management skills and the willingness to work on maintaining a work-life balance. As long as you have those, you will be able to make it work. Use these five tips to help you get started on figuring out a balance that works well for you and your child.