TC Lessons Learned #1
Hi everyone! My inspiration for today’s post was an old note I found from a little over a year after I started TC’ing full-time. It was a list of lessons learned and things I wanted to improve on during that time. I thought - what better to share with you all than actual tangible tips I wrote down for myself?! Check out the video and some more details below on some major learning moments I had during the first year of my full-time TC career. I hope one of these helps you not have to learn it the hard way like I did!
If someone asks for a reminder - immediately send a calendar invite, schedule an email or add a task to your task list right then and there!
I still remember to this day so vividly why I wrote this down. An agent had specifically asked me to keep an eye on a certain deadline they had some concerns about and because I didn’t have my current deadline system in place (Checking them first thing in the AM and sending reminder emails!!), I actually let it slip through the cracks. I remembered it the next day and felt so so awful. Luckily, everything went okay with the transaction but I never wanted to feel like I let an agent down, especially on a contract deadline again. This not only inspired me to start checking the deadlines every morning, but I thought to myself, if an agent asks for a specific reminder on a specific day, why not do one of the following:
Send an all-day calendar invite to the agent for that day titled whatever the reminder or deadline they requested is
Pre-schedule an email to go out to the agent first thing the morning of the requested date with the reminder
Set a high-priority task for yourself in your task management system to follow up with the agent on the requested date
All of these items take less than two minutes and it is immediately off your plate, out of your mind and the agent is going to get that reminder!!
Consider scheduling deadline emails at the beginning of each transaction
This was an idea I had also as an outcome of the above situation. However, I have not implemented this. If you check out my How I structure my day post, I go over how I tackle deadlines first thing every morning (Ideally before my day technically starts being on with clients). I could pre-schedule the reminder emails, but sometimes deadlines will get pushed up or back, and so far the method of quickly sending the reminder emails every morning works better for me. I don’t have to worry about forgetting to update a pre-scheduled email if a deadline gets moved. Even at my heaviest file count, the morning reminders never take me more than 15 minutes! Worth it to make sure nothing slips through the cracks!
PROACTIVE
This word in all caps was all I wrote down. In real estate, (and life) there are so many things to REACT to every day, but when I was constantly being reactive instead of proactive, I ended up feeling overwhelmed and underaccomplished. I am constantly working on how I can be more proactive. Here are some things I have implemented for this:
Reaching out about something a day or two earlier than needed
Setting aside 30 minutes/1 hr in the morning to go over my MUST-DOs for the day before I start helping agents with new requests.
Making sure my deadlines and super urgent items are handled before my emails.
Not checking emails/texts/social media FIRST thing in the AM.
Sending out a bunch of emails early in the morning so the agents can see you are on top of it! (This also increases your chances of getting a response from the other party before the end of the day)
Thinking ahead and reaching out to the agent if something seems off, instead of waiting for them to come to you with a problem at the last minute.
These are just some of the things I have implemented to be more PRO-active instead of RE-active. This also helps you feel less like you might be missing something. It can also help eliminate distracting texts or calls from agents asking “Was XYZ done yet?”.
Calm down it’s not NASA
I LOL’D at this one! 🤣 But it is so true. I’m sure many of you feel the same way as I do, really stressing when something goes wrong in a transaction - even if we couldn’t control it! Real estate transactions are highly emotional and expensive for the buyer/seller but it is important to remember it is not life and death. As a TC, we can only do so much to get the transaction to closing. I try and remind myself that if I did my part, to the best of my ability, sometimes things are just truly out of our control and there is nothing we can do except fix the current situation at hand as best as we can for all parties. Easier said than done! Deep breaths! If you feel this way, it just shows how much you care!
All requested tasks handled THAT DAY
I’ve found if an agent specifically asks for something, make sure it is done asap or at a minimum, the same day as requested (or first thing the next morning if it is late in the day). To you, it may seem non-urgent/like it can wait and there are more important things to do, but if someone directly asks for something - it is important/top of mind for them! You want to make sure the agents feel heard and that you are prioritizing their requests!
Add EVERYTHING to your task management system
This is an organization and also a time-saving tip! I used to be so guilty of writing a bunch of sticky notes to leave all over my desk, leaving unread emails as reminders, leaving call notes with an agent open for a week with tasks to do, and felt all over the place! The best way to streamline, feel organized, and not miss anything is to keep everything in one place. I suggest adding everything possible to your task management system (I currently use Open to Close). This allows you to add reminders for yourself to follow up, set new tasks that someone requested, tie things to a specific file, and see everything you need in one place. Also, anytime you need to write down a note - open the specific file and leave a note there! Writing it down on paper and then later typing it into the file is just a waste of time and paper! If you aren’t doing this, implement this first to see a huge change in your business!
Pay attention to leasebacks/Seller’s temporary lease
When I first started I did not have any email templates specific for files where the seller would be staying in the property after closing. When this is the case, you will want to be mindful of communication regarding keys, utilities, final move-out items, etc. Something I have worked on being more mindful of and updating my templates for!
More ownership with new construction
I’m not sure if any of you have felt this to be the case, but I have been guilty of not being as present on new construction deals. Especially if they aren’t closing for several months! If you are busy, it can be tempting to say “That’s not closing until next year, I’ll deal with it later”. I made this mistake several times before I realized I had to make a serious change! Now, I make sure to find out at least one key contact for the builder upfront and introduce myself so that hopefully they keep me in the loop moving forward. I’ve also created a separate task checklist for deals that are several months out. This version of the checklist includes reminders to check in with the builder every 4-6 weeks for an update. Also, handle the compliance paperwork asap! It is embarrassing to get to a week before closing and not have documents signed that you could’ve been working on for the last year!
I hope you guys found at least one valuable lesson in this post! I still feel like I learn something new every single day about real estate or how I can make my business better. Learn from my mistakes so you don’t have to make your own!
