A day in the life of a real estate agent…. returning from vacation.

travel bags and airplane in sky

Sunday night I arrived back in Denver after eight days on vacation. I came home to an empty refrigerator and a weeks worth of emails and calls. Not to mention the cold, windy weather in Denver. Enter Monday, the first day after vacation and the responsibilities slap you across the face. Is there anything worse than the first Monday back from vacation? Everything just seems harder. No matter how much you try to plan the day, or rather, the week after a vacation is usually just pure chaos and catch up. Here is how my Monday back after vacation looked:

5:36 AM Wake up.

6:15 AM Head to the gym

6:18 AM First minute of running a mile above sea-level. Think I may be dying.

6:23 AM Five minutes of running, decide that is plenty. My lungs are burning anyways.

6:25 AM Head to the Stairmaster because it seems like a better idea.

6:28 AM It wasn’t.

7:30 AM Head to the grocery store (on an empty stomach).

8:10 AM $150 later I have groceries. ($23 of which were salmon because I just returned from an island and salmon sounded good).

8:18 AM Realize I forgot garlic. Head to another grocery store to pick up garlic.

8:20 AM Grab minced ginger instead of garlic. Realize this when I get home.

8:25 AM eat breakfast #1

8:30 AM Unpack groceries and meal prep for the next two days as I make calls.

10:00 AM Attempt #1 of catching up on emails.

10:45 AM Eat Breakfast #2

11:00 AM Weekly call with the BEST business coach. A majority of the conversation was how to survive the day after vacation. A To-Do list may have been helpful a few hours ago.

12:30 AM Eat lunch and email.

1:00 PM FINALLY get to shower

1:30 PM meet with my accountant in order to file taxes. She applauds me for getting to her so early – I forget three forms for her on my “vacation brain”.

3:00 PM Make a run to Starbucks for gift cards.

3:30 PM Realize the invites for my brunch on Sunday didn’t go out properly. Decide to reschedule the event to the following week and make it St. Patrick Day themed.

4:00 PM Make calls to clients to check in.

4:45 PM Blog for the upcoming week. Although it ends up being one blog.. six more to go later this week.

6:00 PM Show homes in Cherry Creek.

7:00 PM Eat some of the salmon for dinner. 🙂

Still to be done – unpacking or at least moving the suitcase from my front door, cleaning the mess I made while “meal prepping”, preparing for the interviews I have tomorrow for assistants, and all those emails. For now I will just laugh at the chaos and plan my next vacation.

Liz works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with LUX. Denver

 

Building Wealth through homeownership.

plant growing out of coins with filter effect retro vintage style

I have become quite intrigued with wealth and how to build wealth. I think it is incredibly fascinating, especially in this current landscape – creative and unique ideas are making many people self-made millionaires (or billionaires). One of my goals for 2017 is to start the conversation on how to build wealth. In Denver, we are in a huge movement of change – more and more companies are moving here, real estate keeps appreciating and the entrepreneur spirit is quite strong.

You do not have to be a entrepreneur or all that creative to build wealth for yourself. There are many tried and true opportunities to build wealth – stocks, bonds, insurance policies and real estate. Real estate is an excellent way to build wealth and it doesn’t necessarily need to be with a huge portfolio of investment properties or flipping properties.

I recently read this article, and the point was quite simple but so strong. For many years, home ownership was something people strived for. Currently, many millennials are opting out of homeownership instead are choosing to travel and/or are paying off large student loans. But as the author of this article points out, “If millennials don’t buy a home, their chances of actually having any wealth in this country are little to none. The average homeowner to this day is 38 times wealthier than a renter.”

The Denver real estate market has averaged a 10% appreciation for numerous year now. Imagine if you purchased a home just three years ago, now you would be able to sell it for 30% more. That is not a bad return on investment. Of course, hindsight is 20-20 and there is still plenty of opportunity if you did not get in the market three years ago.

Here are a few tips if you are entering into the real estate market in hopes to build wealth:

  • Be realistic. Know what you can afford and stay under that. No matter what, you cannot build wealth if you are spending more than you can afford.
  • Start small. Often your first home isn’t your dream home, and it doesn’t need to be in order to build wealth.
  • Leverage. Think of wealth as a long term game. Leverage is crucial to building wealth. Sell a home? Use that money to buy another one (or two). Use your successes to fuel more opportunity.

Opportunities exist everywhere and you can still use a home to start building wealth!

Liz works full-time as a Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC. She works with buyer and sellers building generational wealth through real estate. Contact Liz to see how she can help you.