No day is the same for local realtor

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

As a part of our look into the daily lives of different people and professions here in our community, we at the Citizen spoke with Caledon realtor Jennifer Jewell recently to live a day in her life. 

When Jewell wakes up, the first thing she does is check her emails and complete her first work task of the day. Second of course, is making breakfast. 

“I can't speak for everybody in my industry, we're all different, but for me, I wake up and the first thing I do is check my emails. I think like probably most people in any business, I check my emails and I respond to my emails, and I also check to see if there's any new listings that may be appealing for my buyer clients,” she said. “Then I get up and have breakfast.”

Realtors and real estate agents' days vary from non-stop busy from beginning to the end of their day, or sometimes steady, but are never the same. 

“This is the thing with real estate. There really is no daily routine. My routine is getting up in the morning, checking to see what's going on, and I'll check in the afternoon as well,” she explained. “If I see anything great, I send it off to my clients and I do a follow up with them. But, in our industry, our days change so quickly.”

Jewell's schedule never looks the same. Each day shows different or new clients, and new or different homes. Sometimes days are slow, and sometimes they are quick. 

“For example, last week I was taking Tuesday off, I try to take one day off a week, so I was taking Tuesday off and I went to bed, it was midnight and I still had nothing up on Tuesday. I started looking at my emails at seven, and didn't leave the office until 8:15 p.m. that night,” she said. “You just never know when a house comes on the market, you've got to get out and see it right away because they're moving so quickly.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted businesses in all kinds of different industries whether it be hours, staff, procedures and health and safety measures. 

Jewell says she has been one of the lucky ones who has only seen minor impacts to her and her business.

“For me, I have not slowed down. I've been very blessed that my business is continuing on throughout the pandemic,” she explained. “The changes were how we met clients, having masks or gloves. We try to do as much as we can virtually, so there's a lot more video tours.”

“It's weird to meet new clients now too. Obviously when you've never met them before, and you're wearing your mask, it almost doesn't seem as personal in the sense that you can't see them smile. It's really odd too because I'm also a hugger. So for me, it's been like, okay I'm so happy about the house, but we can't hug,” Jewell added.

First time homebuyers are some of her favourite clients, because she gets to experience that first time feeling with the new buyers. There's a special feeling with being there for a person's first ever purchase, and a home is one for the books.

“My first-time homebuyers are my favourite. Because it's nerve-wracking, but it's exciting, I always say it's a little sweeter,” she expressed. “It's the first time, it's the one they're going to remember forever.”

Though Jewell's days are sometimes time consuming, full of clients, viewings, meetings and emails, her work, often times, doesn't feel like work at all. She considers real estate to be her “forever passion”. There's nothing more she can imagine herself doing, then helping people find their homes and working with a great team at the office. 

“I love what I do. My husband says I eat it for breakfast. It's just one of these things that I've taken to and I enjoy it, and I enjoy all the people I meet. All the people I work with, I truly like,” she explained. “I want to find my clients the best home, and I want to sell their house for the most amount of money. I just want to do my best for them and get the best.”

She added, “I've formed so many great friendships with my clients. That's got to be my motivation. It just doesn't feel like work.”