This week is about time. Yay! I'm going to be a real estate agent so I can set my own schedule! Uh, yes and no. Let's start with the 'yes'.
Can the agent set his/her own time schedule? Absolutely, and the agent should. They should schedule vacations, family time, and personal time before they schedule anything else. Agents have different ways of scheduling but what works for me is to sit down every Sunday evening and time-block the upcoming week. As an example, I block out M/W/F from 8-9 for working out. I block out Monday-Friday from 12-1 for lunch. I block out any upcoming appointments I have scheduled for the week. Then I go a step further and block out an hour for returning phone calls and emails, then an hour to catch up on paperwork, and another hour to work on my marketing and advertising. I think you get the picture, and it's a colorful picture because I like color-coding. My calendar is starting to fill in but I leave big blocks of time for appointments with my clients since those appointments usually get scheduled a couple of days in advance. I also leave Saturday and Sunday open because I know the odds are pretty good that I'll be showing houses on either of those days. This is why I don't feel guilty scheduling workout time or personal time.....I can work 7 days a week from 6:30am to 11pm.
Now, on to the 'no'. The best laid plans and all that. Planning is great but when it's a seller's market and your buyer has been looking for months and has lost out on 2 houses already and the 'perfect' house just came on the market and your buyer is afraid someone else is going to buy 'her' house then the real estate agent will usually drop his/her plans to arrange a time to get the buyer in to see the house. Dentist appointment? Bah, I had one last year. I'm good. Hair appointment? Heck. I'll just wear a hat for a while.
Real estate is a very time sensitive business so a real estate agent has to be flexible to accommodate whatever comes up, within reason. I've shown houses on Thanksgiving, Christmas, after my face was stung by a wasp and my eye swelled shut (at the first house of 8 scheduled houses for a couple who were only going to be in town that day), and even with the flu. These were all extreme circumstances, over the last 20 years, not regular occurrences, but these things happen. There should be a balance and it's up to the individual agent as to what that balance is.
So, the answer to the question of whether a real estate agent can set their own schedule is yes and no. Glad I could clear that up for you. :)