Can Real Estate Agents Work From Home

Can Real Estate Agents Work From Home?

Posted on by Henry

Real Estate Agents work from home more in today’s business environment than ever before. While there is still the occasional open house, realtors conduct a lot of their admin work from the comfort of their home office. Fundamentally, working from home can create a great work-life balance. However, it is important that realtors find a brokerage that allows remote work and encourages a healthy work-life balance. This will set you up for a purposeful career as a work-from-home realtor. 

Today, working remotely is common across all industries. In 2021, 55% of companies offer work-from-home and remote-hybrid options. Additionally, WFH employees make on average about $4k more annually and 30% of all remote workers save about $5k a year from commuting expenses. 

The pros of a remote lifestyle (home comforts, flexibility, etc.) are wonderful. However, if you have false expectations for this work style. working from home as a realtor can be extremely difficult. 

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Find The Right Work From Real Estate Brokerage

If you are considering a career as a remote realtor, your journey will start with the right brokerage. It can be very difficult to convince leadership to work from home if the agency works in the office. The best companies to work with, as a work-from-home realtor, are brokerages that encourage this lifestyle.

In some cases, this may be a specific team where all the realtors work from home. In other cases, this will be a fully WFH brokerage that hires you to work as a remote realtor. Additionally, this brokerage may have a hybrid work from home situation where you come in for team meetings once a month. 

There is a misconception that remote brokerages have a bad company culture. Often,  the real estate agencies that work from home have lively cultures with events, team-building exercises, and purpose-driven leadership. Additionally, these brokerages often have dedicated staff whose job is to create a culture among a remote workforce. This can be accomplished through effective mission statements, team workshops, town halls, and hands-on mentoring.

All in all, finding a remote real estate brokerage is vital to thriving in a WFH environment. If you are looking for a WFH position, ensure the companies you are considering are forward-thinking in this avenue. Below is a chart with a few remote real estate positions across the U.S. Conduct a simple google search, scan indeed, and talk to realtors in your market to find a good fit. 

Company Website  Type 
Realtor.com www.realtor.com Full-Time / Part-Time
RedFin www.redfin.com Full-Time / Part-Time
Better www.better.com Full-Time 
Open Door www.opendoor.com Full-Time
Ylopo www.ylopo.com Full-Time

Tech Tips For Success as a Work From Home Realtor

To be successful as a remote real estate agent, it is important to have a good tech stack at home. High-speed internet is the foundation of your remote lifestyle. Every day, realtors have to send out emails, hop on video calls, post on social media, and the list goes on! Without fast internet, it will be difficult to get into a good work-from-home groove where you are effective and efficient. While you do not need the most expensive tier of internet, you need to ensure your workflow is uninterrupted. 

If you do not know where to start, purchase an internet plan that can handle 100 megabits per second. This gives you the ability to have uninterrupted Zoom calls, download large contracts, and stream training videos. If the cost is becoming an issue, talk to your brokerage about an internet credit. However, many companies will not cover internet expenses so do not expect this from leadership. 

In addition to high-speed internet, it is important to configure a workspace that allows you to be an effective realtor. Your workspace can have multiple monitors, ipads, a wireless mouse, speakers, or any piece of technology that helps your workflow. However, if you are more comfortable with a minimalistic setup, just invest in a good laptop and you should be good to go. Ensure your work from home set up is reliable and will not negatively impact your work. 

Most brokerages that hire remote realtors will lend you everything you need to make an impact from home. Often, you may even get a small bonus to purchase additional office comforts. Either way, make sure your technology setup is as good as an in-office set up and you will be ready to go. 

Lifestyle Tips For Success as a Work From Home Realtor

If you have worked in-office for most of your career, making the change to a remote lifestyle can be challenging. If you are used to commuting to work, your day starts up to 2 hours before you walk in the door. From getting ready to grabbing breakfast, and all the way to the drive to work, this type of lifestyle can create a rigid schedule. Inversely, working as a remote realtor is a drastic change on your schedule.

If you need your rigid schedule to stay productive, try to keep your morning routine the same. Obviously, the only difference will be the commute. Although, I know some remote workers that take a morning drive to start off their day. If you need rigidity to your day, don’t be afraid to do things unconventional to kickstart your daily productivity. 

On the other hand, many remote realtors like to work from home because they do not like the rigid nature of their work schedule. In this case, you can get up right before you have to sign in for the day, get ready at odd hours, and work intermittently throughout the day. This type of workstyle can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. If you like to work flex hours throughout the week, try to ensure your work does not consume your personal life. This is a common issue with work-from-home realtors that struggle to unplug. 

Fundamentally, every realtor that works from home will run into a situation where the line between work and life becomes mirky. Specifically, it can be too easy to reply to emails, hop on a call, and send a contract after hours. If you prioritize your personal life over your work life, try to make definitive boundaries and keep yourself accountable. If not, you could feel overworked and looking for a change of pace before you know it. 

Mental Health as a Work From Home Real Estate Agent

Working from home as a real estate agent can be a great fit for your work style. With that said, if you allow yourself to get overworked, a remote lifestyle can lead to loneliness, anxiety, and depression. Fundamentally, there are mental health concerns about working from home as a realtor that needs to be discussed before you jump all. 

First off, it is important to separate work-life from personal life. If the line is blurred, you can completely lose the simple things about life that bring your comfort. While many realtors can easily separate their work life, it is vital that you create a semi-rigid work schedule that allows you to distinguish personal time versus work time. 

In conjunction with creating a schedule, it is important to connect to your colleagues. One of the biggest mental health challenges for remote realtors is loneliness. In an office environment, realtors are used to creating relationships with colleagues and developing a community of friends through work. This can still be a reality when working from home. However, it takes more intentionality than if you were in office. Specifically, set up mentoring calls with other realtors and make time to just build relationships. Additionally, realtors often co-work a day a week at a local coffee shop with other agents. These tips will protect you from self-isolation. 

Additionally, working from home as a realtor can often create a stagnate lifestyle. As a remote agent, you will be stationary throughout your day -you may not even leave the house for 24 hour periods. While you used to commute to work, grab a coffee during lunch, and drive to showings, your day will naturally be simplified. Because of this, it is important you get outside, go on a walk at lunch, or even run out for a coffee break. Getting outside helps refresh your mind and will keep you productive. 

That last tip is pretty straightforward and can apply to in-office realtors as well, try to limit your screen time after work hours. This could mean putting your phone in the other room while you prep dinner, going outside instead of watching TV, or just reading a book throughout the day. Increased screen time can lead to anxiety and depression. Because of this, try to step away from the screen after work hours. 

As a work-from-home real estate agent, you will run into different issues than you would be working in an office. This is completely normal. Try to prepare your mind and your workstation for this adjustment and be ready for the mental health challenges that could arise.  

Building Relationships While Working Remotely

Like I mentioned earlier, working from home can often lead to self-isolation. Often, this self-isolation is unintentional and subconscious. Because of this, it is important for work from home realtors to create a community of other like-minded agents. 

By developing a community, you will naturally get out of the house more, grow your business, and enjoy your life as an agent. This can lead to a healthy work-life balance that you look forward to every day. Whether you go out once a month for lunch, or grab coffee weekly with a realtor-friend, it is vital to find people you can live life with. 

By creating a community, you will be a more productive agent and enjoy a healthy work from home balance. Fundamentally, relationships are an important part of life that cannot be tossed aside, even when working from home. 

Saving Time as a Real Estate Agents that work from home

Can real estate agents work from home? There is not a quick solution to this question. Fundamentally, this will depend on your work style, personality traits, and environment. With that said, there are a lot of pros to this lifestyle for realtors. This work style can be very flexible and forgiving if you have a busy personal life. For example, if you are working multiple jobs, taking care of a newborn, and the list goes on, a remote work environment will be a good fit. 

Additionally, many work-from-home real estate agents credit the lack of commuting as a huge benefit. By cutting out your daily commute, you can save a lot of money a year on car maintenance, gas, etc. Also, you will not spend hours a day stuck in traffic – giving you precious time back every day. This can lead to higher rates of productivity and efficiency in your daily workflow. By decreasing your annual commuting hours, you will have more time to invest in things that matter to you – leading to a better work-life balance. 

Negatives for Real Estate Agents that work from home

For some agents, their in-office relationships make up a huge part of their community. These relationships become close friends, get you out of the house, and can be extremely meaningful. If you depend on your office for friendships and community, working from home may not be a good fit. Working from home as a real estate agent requires you to be away from your colleagues for the majority of your workweek.  No more lunch in the breakroom or impromptu coffee runs. If you are not okay with this, consider a hybrid WFH schedule. 

Also, if you have a large family that is commonly home, a remote lifestyle may be difficult. Often, kids and partners can be big distractions. If this is the case for you, again, working from home may not be a good fit. However, if you have a quiet office space or can co-work from coffee shops, you may be able to work around this hurdle. 

At the end of the day, working from home is not for every real estate agent. Look at your personality, office relationships, and home life to assess if this is a good fit. Also, you can test out a remote lifestyle for a week or two to see if it is a productive way to get your work done. 

Closing Thoughts

When real estate agents work from home, there are a lot of pros and cons. Ultimately, it is important that you understand what will increase your productivity and lead to the best personal work-life balance. 

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