Setting up a Home Office

Unlike other professions, the real estate industry offers you the luxury to work from your home. Whether or not you choose to take advantage of this option depends on many considerations including space available and your ability to ‘stay on task’ in a home environment.

Space

It is crucial that the room you choose for your home office be used solely for your business. This room shouldn’t be used also as a play room, hobby room, etc. Many of the documents you keep will be confidential or contain private financial information. And the sheer number of papers involved in both farming activities and the listing/buying process require organization. If you have people playing with your computer, or rearranging your files, you will quickly realize your office will become disorganized. Look around your home and make a vital decision about where to create your home office.

Create your environment

Office Furniture- If you do not intend to meet with clients in your home office, don’t get carried away with this. You’ll need a desk, couple of chairs and a sturdy filing cabinet. New office furniture can be quite pricy. Consider a used desk or filing cabinet from a flea market, or yard sale, or a used Office furniture store. Both the Dispatch and Trading Post can be great sources of used office furniture. If you have the luxury, spend your dollars on a good chair as this item will have the greatest effect on your physical ability to stay at your desk working.

Lighting – Make sure your computer screen faces away from any window to reduce glare. The light provided by a standard overhead light fixture often is gloomy, creates additional computer glare and will likely produce shadows in your primary work spaces. Don’t use it. Consider a standing lamp that directs light toward the ceiling and thereby provides softer, refracted illumination. Then add a desk lamp. As you spend a great deal of time on the computer, these details will make a world of difference.

What will you need?

Telephone - Communication is vital in this business. In addition to your cell phone, get a separate telephone line for your business and set it to ring only in your office. That way, the answering machine can take your messages instead of family members or when the office is ‘closed’.

Computer/software – If you have children of ‘internet age’, get your own computer. Sharing will be a problem. Consider purchasing a laptop for portability. And don’t assume that the necessary software comes with the computer. Most common, and perfectly adequate, is the Microsoft Office Suite.

Printer/Fax/Scanner/Copier – Today, a machine that does all four is available, affordable and makes great sense for the real estate professional. If you go this route, get a laser printer, if possible. Lasers are faster than ink jets.

Internet Access – Get high speed access. Your time is too valuable to waste on dial up connections. And you’ll be a hit with the kids! Have the cable connected to your family computer. Then purchase a wireless router and notebook adapter so your laptop can access the internet from anywhere in your home – including the back deck on a warm, sunny morning. If high speed access is not available in your area, consider satellite. This is more expensive and slower, but it beats 56K.

Back up your data!

This is a standard business practice which, should you establish your business in your home, you should not overlook. Make sure your new laptop has a writable CD or DVD drive and schedule an automated backup – at least weekly. In case of fire, store these backups in another location.

Establish Home Office Rules

You will find that when you are working from home, your family expects you to accept deliveries, consult with repairmen, throw in an extra load of wash, etc. Keep these distractions to a minimum. Do only those things that you would do if you were at the brokerage office. Don’t go to the grocery store or hairdresser in the middle of the day, even though it may be less crowded. You must think of your time away from the office as time and money lost, otherwise you will become less of a business person and more of an errand runner.

Make sure your family understands the importance of your ‘office time’ and establish rules for when they may and may not interrupt you when in your office.

Working from home can and should be a rewarding experience. However, as is par for the course in this industry, many real estate professionals fall prey to overworking, and neglecting families. A home office can further feed this potential problem as you will be tempted to return to your office regularly to check e-mail, file, call, or write down one more task to do. Be careful of these tendencies as they may create greater stress for you and your family.