’24 Hours With’ takes a look at a day in the life of CORE’s agents. Ben Jacobs talks about time management and the occasional neck-tie.
I wake up at 6:45AM and head to McCarren Park for my 7AM-8AM work-out class called Tribal Fitness. The workout is a mixture of kinesthetic and plyometric training. After my work-out session, I head home and cook two scrambled eggs. While eating, I respond to emails and answer phone calls. Often times the phone calls start before 9AM. Once I’ve completed my morning management, I shower, shave, and dress for the occasion. If I’m showing in Uptown Manhattan, I’ll wear a suit but if I’m showing in Downtown Manhattan or Brooklyn, I’ll wear jeans/trousers with a button down. The tie comes out occasionally but it has to feel right.
I’m out the door by 9AM. I usually schedule Brooklyn appointments in the morning simply because I live in Williamsburg. After my appointments, I head to the Chelsea office to catch up on more emails. I typically arrive to the office around 11AM.
There are days where I spend hours just scheduling showing requests for my buyers or organizing showing accommodations for my listings. This is the ultimate time management job. I’ve become so good at scheduling that I could probably be Donald Trump’s personal assistant. On a good day, I do Brooklyn appointments in the morning, office catch-up time late morning to early afternoon, and Manhattan showings late afternoon to early evening. But as we all know, life is not perfect and, indeed, the schedule can get out of hand. For the sake of this blog, I am reporting from my “ideal day.”
While at the office, I always try to do an hour of marketing/business prospecting which usually entails building mailers, personal letters to seller/buyers, contact list management, listing email blasts, personal phone calls to old colleagues, and much more. The marketing aspect of this job is overwhelming but it is truly an extremely essential component to building my business. Finding the time to do marketing is challenging because I am constantly running around town for appointments.
My Manhattan showings typically begin around 1:30PM. Because I have to be at so many places at once and be accommodating to so many people at once, I usually forget to eat lunch. The other day I had a pitch at 3PM and I was literally shoving a subpar bodega sandwich down my throat while walking into the building. Definitely not one of my best moments, but you do what you have to do (though recently I have begun carrying protein bars in case of emergency).
My Manhattan appointments vary from listings to buyer showings uptown and downtown. I’ve had days where I’ve taken over 10 separate subway rides to make appointments. I really only travel above ground with clients. The subway is my day to day pound the pavement gritty form of transportation. I love it. My showings will end around 6:30PM and then I’ll spend another hour responding to emails/phone calls either on the street or in one of my listings. By 7:30PM, I am definitely tired and hungry but still have enough energy to do some networking. A few times a week, I plan dinner/drinks with clients, friends, and/or work colleagues. This is how I get the majority of my business – networking and communicating with people face to face in a more relaxing environment.
After dinner, I’ll head home to my apartment in Williamsburg off the Lorimer stop. I probably get home around 10PM. I’ll spend an hour or so watching TV, reading or just relaxing. It’s important to sometimes just turn-off. And then before I know it, it’s time to pass out and do it all over again.