Setting Up a Productive Home Office

BY MICHELE LERNER

Realtors® have a knack for working anywhere: the office at their brokerage, a coffee shop, or even a car. When the pandemic hit and many of those places were off-limits or less desirable, many Realtors® turned their attention to replicating the resources they were accustomed to using at their brokerage office in their home office. For some Realtors®, a home office has been their prime place of business for years, while others were forced to adjust to a new central command for their real estate enterprise.

I have a laptop and a cellphone that I use at home if I have to, but frankly I prefer to work in one of our offices,” said Jeff Montemarano, a broker and Realtor® with Century 21 Preferred Realty in Kinnelon. “Even before the pandemic, though, we’ve been set up so agents can work from home. We’ve been doing virtual floor time so that calls can go to agents who aren’t in the office.

Cindy Lombardo-Emmel, a Realtor® with Coldwell Banker Preferred in Moorestown, has worked from a home office since she started working in real estate in 1997. She designed a more functional office for her home in 2006.

I have an executive desk and built-in shelving in the office, and I use it only for real estate,” said Lombardo-Emmel. “I shut the door and leave to eat lunch in the kitchen and even if I want to order something from Amazon, I leave the office.

While Montemarano and Lombardo-Emmel are polar opposites in their appreciation for a home office, many experienced Realtors® have designed home offices where they can build their business and focus on providing stellar customer service.

Must-Have Technology

When setting up a home office, the most important thing agents must do is ensure they have reliable internet access, said Montemarano.

We’re a paperless office, so for agents to work at home, all they really need is access to Dotloop and to know how to scan documents from their cellphone,” said Montemarano. “We’ve even written contracts from our phones.

John Swartz, a Realtor® with RE/MAX Community in Williamstown, rarely used his home office before the pandemic, so his first move was to upgrade his internet service and to purchase another monitor for his computer.

A lot of agents relied on the support team from their office for technology, so I think this has taught everyone that they need to learn to use things like Dotloop on their own,” said Swartz.

Seemona Fuchs, a broker associate and Realtor® with Coldwell Banker in Wycoff, uses her laptop for listing appointments, but she now has a desktop with a large monitor and a combination printer and scanner purchased after the pandemic began.

Lombardo-Emmel recently upgraded her computer with more memory and a bigger monitor with a convenient phone charger.

My favorite app is the Genius Scan, which uses my smartphone camera to convert documents into a crystal-clear pdf,” said Lombardo-Emmel.

Andrea and Harry Mesh, Realtors® with Century 21 Action Plus in Freehold, each have a home office, but they admit they work everywhere in their home.

We have multiple computers, an iPad, two iPhones and a printer,” said Harry Mesh. “We also love the Fast Scanner app, which lets you take a picture of any document and convert it to a pdf or JPEG or print it.

Andrea Mesh said the most important technology they need are outlets where they can charge their phones and iPad, since they work in at least four different rooms of their home.

Design Elements to Enhance Productivity

Creating a comfortable home office was a priority when the pandemic began for Orly Chen, a Realtor® with RE/MAX Properties Plus in Tenafly who usually worked from her office or her car before the COVID-19 lockdowns began.

I set up an office on my first-floor that duplicated what I had in the office, but I made it cozier with art and music,” said Chen. “I added a nice painting in the background for Zoom calls, a comfortable chair, a nice wide desk, plenty of lighting and even a small sofa so I can lay down with a laptop when I want to switch positions.

Creating a space that is comfortable and reflects your personality can be motivating when working at home. Before she and her husband downsized in 2017, Fuchs worked from a desk in her kitchen when needed to work at home.

Now I use a bedroom as a combination real estate office and art room where I can display my work,” said Fuchs, who creates wearable art by painting on silk. “Real estate can be stressful, so I find it helps to take 10 minutes to work at the art table I have in my office.

Fuchs’ office has a convertible desk so she can stand or sit to work, file cabinets for her real estate business, plus a cart for art supplies. Lombardo-Emmel purchased an ergonomic chair for lumbar support and added a shade to the office in her window to cut down on glare during Zoom calls.

Swartz is converting part of his home to make it easier for his team to work together.

We’re making our formal dining room into a conference room and turning our formal living room into a space like a hotel lobby where our team can meet in the daytime and my wife and I can use at night,” said Swartz.

Best Practices for Home Office Efficiency

Staying productive at home can be a challenge for agents whose work is inherently social. Many people new to working at home embraced working in sweats or pajamas, but Swartz said he gets dressed for work every day even when he is at home to give himself an edge and to stay motivated. He also talks frequently to his networking group to stay in the right mindset, he said.

Chen relies on getting plenty of natural light through big windows in her office and keeps to a regular routine of rising early, exercising, eating well and putting on nice clothes and makeup to convey a positive message to her clients. Maintaining a schedule can also be helpful.

I don’t multitask because I think that makes it too easy to miss something,” said Lombardo-Emmel. “People get tempted to do their laundry when they’re working at home, but I find it works best to focus on one thing. I block out specific times for prospecting.

Fuchs, too, blocks out time for business development tasks and exercise.

I keep two trays on my desk, one for urgent paperwork to do with our home and one for urgent work items,” said Fuchs. “Everything else gets filed in a cabinet so I’m not distracted by it.

Andrea and Harry Mesh have multiple home offices and lack a set schedule because they said they “work constantly,” but they also listed and sold 50 homes in 2020.

The lesson? The best home office set-up is whatever works best for you.