The ultimate real estate agent schedule to set you up for success

We all have the same amount of time, yet how you utilize your time and energy will make or break your business. Creating and following your schedule in a purposeful, strategic way is the key. And once you get a routine going, your business (and personal life) can run on autopilot.

Check out our ultimate guide to creating the most effective real estate agent daily schedule and finding balance to avoid burning out as you build your real estate career. You’ll learn why a schedule is so important, what to include in your schedule and time management tips for controlling your time.

Why following a schedule is important

Some real estate agents wake up every morning and have to decide what they’re going to do that day. That’s a recipe for failure. Instead, wake up knowing what you’re going to do and follow the plan. Following your schedule is critical for these reasons:

• To improve your customer service. Make sure nothing falls through the cracks and no steps get missed when you’re working with a buyer or seller. Best practice: check in with all current clients at least once per week. If this isn’t in the schedule, it’s likely to get missed.
• To improve your conversion rates with leads. Lead follow-up is so important that I recommend scheduling it before your lead generation each day. Most leads require multiple follow-ups, so carve out and protect time for this, and you’ll see your conversion rates get better.
• To stay accountable. Ensure you are consistently looking for new clients and refilling your real estate pipeline with buyers and sellers. If it’s not in the calendar, it’s easy to skip this step, and then you’ll end up with no future business.
• To avoid burning out. The flip side of not having enough business is not having enough personal time. When business is good, many agents struggle with taking time for themselves and their families, which leads to burnout. Avoid this by guarding your personal and family time in your schedule.

What to include in your real estate agent schedule

There are certainly a lot of tasks real estate agents have to fit into the schedule, especially as your business grows and you become more successful. Here are the most important things to include in your calendar:

1. Time off

Time to schedule: 1-2 days per week

Schedule your time off first. This includes vacations, family time, date nights, days and/or afternoons off. It’s important to schedule time off before anything else and to protect it, as it can be tempting to relinquish your personal time to do more business – and that’s how agents burn out.

2. Self-care

Time to schedule: 2-3 hours per day, not including sleep

Exercise, eating (yes, we love skipping lunch!) and breaks throughout the day. The basics tend to go out the window when people are self-employed and don’t have the structure of a nine to five job. You’re a human, though, not a real estate robot, and it’s critical to take care of yourself so you can better serve your clients. It can also be easy to skip self-care when you’re simply not thinking about it; that’s why having it in the schedule is helpful, as a reminder to go take a quick walk or eat something.

3. Lead follow-up

Time to schedule: 1 hour per day

I see this all the time – agents do all the work to generate a lead, follow up once, never hear from the lead then stop following up. All that work was for nothing, since most leads need multiple follow-ups. I’d argue that following up with existing leads is even more important than generating new leads. So give follow-up its own time in your schedule.

4. Lead generation

Time to schedule: 2-3 hours per day

Of course, in order to refill the pipeline, lead generation needs to be part of your schedule. Whether you’re networking, cold calling, inviting clients to your next event or planning a first-time buyer seminar, scheduling your lead gen time has to be a priority in your calendar.

Save time and effort with Market Leader’s suite of lead programs. You can purchase leads using Leads Direct, use the HomeValue tool to own your zip code exclusively or even automate your follow-up with Network Boost. Market Leader is a great option to connect with more leads and add to your pipeline.

5. Education and training

Time to schedule: 1x per week for newer agents, 1x per month for experienced agents

Continuing to educate yourself and sharpen your real estate skills should be part of your schedule. In the first year or two of your career, I’d recommend attending training weekly, whether in your office or through other coaching/training platforms. For more experienced agents, plan to attend an educational event at least once a month, to keep up to date on the current market and changes in the industry.

Your state’s licensure board will require a certain number of continuing education credits to be completed in order to renew your real estate license. Here in MA, where I’m located, it’s 12 credits every two years. Check out The CE Shop and Colibri Real Estate for state-approved continuing ed classes you can take online at your convenience.

6. Client work

Time to schedule: 1-2 hours per day (this will be less in the beginning of your career and once you have a TC or assistant)

If you don’t have a transaction coordinator or assistant, you’ll need to set aside time for client work – contracts, paperwork, client check-in calls, etc. Much of this can be leveraged later on, when you can afford to hire help.

Automate some of your client work with ListedKit AI’s real estate assistant AI tool. Cheaper than a human transaction coordinator or assistant, ListedKit AI can analyze contracts, schedule emails and help with task management and reminders to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

7. Appointments

Time to schedule: 1-2 hours per day

Listing appointments and buyer consults take priority in your appointment time blocks. Reserve time in your calendar for buyer showings, inspections, appraisals and final walk-throughs, as well.

8. Open houses

Time to schedule: 2-4 hours per week

Since open houses are typically held around the same time on the weekends, set aside time for your open houses in advance. If you end up not hosting your own open houses one weekend, you can attend other open houses to check out the inventory or use that time to catch up on anything left over from the week.

9. Drive time

Time to schedule: 1-2 hours per day

Don’t forget to schedule drive time to and from any appointments, showings and networking events. I made this mistake early in my career, ending up rushing to appointments and even double-booking myself sometimes. Give yourself more time than you think it will take to avoid stressing out or being late.

10. White space

Time to schedule: 1-2 hours per day

White space is key! This is your catch-up time. Time to return texts and phone calls, check email and handle the fires that pop up throughout the day. Always include at least one block of white space each day (two blocks is ideal – one in the morning and one in the afternoon).

Sample real estate agent schedule

Wondering how to put this all together? Here’s an example of a successful real estate agent daily schedule:

Notice the time blocks and color-coding system in place here. I always use colors to organize my calendar and make sure that my week is balanced, not too much work and not too much personal time. Here’s a key to the colors used above:

• Pink = personal time
• Yellow = white space and drive time
• Green = lead generation and lead follow-up
• Purple = real estate client activities

Pro Tip

I lead a group discussion on time blocking and color coding as part of my free weekly book club. Click the links to watch the videos on YouTube.

Time management tips

Of course, creating and following an ideal schedule in real estate is much easier said than done, so here are our best tips for time management for real estate agents:

• Aim for consistent mornings. Things will come up throughout the day to distract you and pull you away from your intended schedule, but if you can find consistency in your mornings, that will set you up for success throughout the day. For most agents, it’s best to get the most important tasks done early in the day.

• Allow for flexibility. Once your lead gen and lead follow-up are done, the rest of the day can be more flexible. Allow for flexibility and be ok with moving things around because in real estate, there is an element of unpredictability. It’s important to be ok with that and anticipate it. Showings get scheduled, closings get moved, an offer falls through on your listing and you have to schedule more open houses, for instance.

• Determine your non-negotiables. That said, determine which things in your schedule are non-negotiable. What are your top priorities each day? I’d suggest self-care and lead follow-up, if I had to choose two. Decide what those are for you and allow everything else in your schedule to be flexible except those things.

• Make one small change at a time. If you’re an experienced agent and already have a routine yet want to tweak your schedule to make it more effective, start by changing one small thing at a time. Maybe it’s getting up earlier or taking a midday walk. Don’t try to overhaul every aspect of your daily schedule at once, though – too much change isn’t effective.

• Take at least one day off each week. Sure, it can be two half-days, but get in the habit of taking time off. This will make you more productive, less stressed, more clear-headed and an overall better real estate agent, as well as a healthier human being.

• Set boundaries. Decide on your working hours and stick to them. It requires confidence to do this, but setting boundaries with your clients is key to longevity in the industry. Your clients will be ok if you don’t text them back at midnight, and if they aren’t, they may not be an ideal client in the first place.

• Automate where you can. Utilize systems to automate wherever you can. This will save you time and energy. Schedule emails, create social media content in batches and automate your lead nurture process with cold leads.

Looking for an all-in-one CRM and lead management system? CINC is a helpful tool to help you handle all of the time management tasks above. CINC is also designed to grow with you, as your business grows and you add team members.

The full picture

Creating and managing your real estate agent schedule is not an easy task, yet it’s a critical element to your success. Those agents who master their schedule and follow it are at the top of the industry. Enjoy the freedom of being your own boss while using your calendar as a tool to keep you on track towards your goals.

About Ashley Harwood

Ashley Harwood began her real estate career in 2013 and built a six-figure business as a solo agent before launching Move Over Extroverts in 2018. She developed training materials, classes, and coaching programs for her fellow introverts. Beginning in 2020, Ashley served as Director of Agent Growth for three Keller Williams offices in the Boston metro area. She’s now the Lead Listing agent for the Fleet Homes team in Massachusetts and a regular contributor to Vetted by HousingWire. She created The Quiet Success curriculum and has taught thousands of real estate agents nationwide. She has also been a guest speaker at top industry events and has been named a leading real estate coach by prominent industry publications.

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