This document contrasts the typical day of a real estate broker in 1997 versus 2017, highlighting how technology has changed and streamlined many aspects of the job such as using smartphones, tablets, and social media for work tasks like prospecting properties, communicating with clients and other brokers, and managing listings and transactions, compared to 1997 when these tasks relied more on faxing, calling, and mailing documents.

1. DAY IN THE LIFE
OF A BROKER
1997 2017vs.
1997

2. Clock radio turns on.
Local disk-jockeys joke about a sheep named Dolly “grown
in a test-tube.” Soon, they agree, we will all be designing
our babies in laboratories, that is, if artificial intelligence
doesn’t rise up against us first. Segue into Mariah Carey’s
new high-pitched single. Radio gets quickly
turned off.
1997
7:30am
7:30

3. 7:30
Cell phone alarm goes off.
Email checked, morning spam deleted. A quick Twitter
check leads to reading a short article about a new cure
for genetic diseases, accomplished by splicing
a another person’s DNA.
2017
7:30am

4. Breakfast gets made.
Eggos and instant coffee to save time for the professional
on the go. Local newspaper gets looked over, Good Morning
America plays in the background. Joan Lunden reports on
Microsoft, the surprising tech company that
just became the most valuable in the world.
1997
8:00am

5. Walk to work.
Stop for an almond milk macchiato and
gluten-free pastry at a local cafe. Use tablet
to browse new listings. Send promising
properties to different presorted client segments.
Use HootSuite to plan out the week’s social
media outreach schedule.
2017
8:00am

6. Drive to the office.
Call made from new AT&T mobile phone
to title company to check in on an escrow.
Cords still hang out of the dashboard in the
space that used to house the car phone.
1997
8:45am

7. Arrive at work.
Log into CRM and track progress
of current deals. Notice some
required documentation and
add electronic signatures.
2017
9:00am

8. Arrive at the office.
Hot sheets are printed and ready to look at.
Promising new listings are marked with pins
on the giant city map that hangs on the
lunch room wall.
1997
9:00am

9. Go through the prospect list,
sending emails to all that have not had
recent correspondence.
2017
9:30am

10. Daily calls are placed.
Assistant and broker work to ensure that all
current sales/leasing transactions are checked in on.
Necessary documentation is faxed and filed.
1997
10:00am

11. 2017
10:00am
Engage with fellow brokers
and influencers on social media.
Edit photos and videos
for new listing.

12. 2017
11:00am
Call listing broker to negotiate for client.
Use current comparable data to negotiate for a reduced
price per square foot. Advise client to take a larger
space and sublease to freelancers until they
are able to grow into it.

13. 2017
11:45am
Pre-lunch Facebooking.
Comments on the cuteness of a
client’s new baby.

14. 12:00pm
Lunch.
Group of brokers from the office decide on the new Applebee’s
for its convenient location off the freeway. Oldest broker orders
a margarita, others follow suit. Brokers with children share
baby pics, brokers without children share pics of their cats.
Woman from accounting tallies everyone’s bill,
counts the cash and credit cards.
1997

15. Lunch.
Brokers decide on hole in-the-wall ramen shop on the other
side of town with 1,200 Yelp reviews. OpenTable reservations
made while in the Uber on the way there. Youngest broker
orders a Japanese whisky with lunch, older brokers follow suit.
A woman from accounting pays with Apple Pay
and everyone sends her their contribution
through Venmo.
2017
12:00pm

16. Back to the office.
Calls are made to listing brokers and clients to
schedule the day’s tours. Best route is mapped
out on a Thompson Map.
1997
1:00pm

17. 2017
1:00pm
Calls start coming in from clients
about the morning’s new listings.
The most motivated is available to go see a
location right now.

18. 1997
2:00pm
Drive clients around to eligible properties.
Paper with lock box codes is retrieved from wallet.
Business card is left in every entryway. Clients instantly
dislike all but one property, which is out of their price
range, of course.

19. 2017
2:00pm
Meet the client at the location that they like.
Use a passcard to open lockbox. After walking around, the client
decides that it is perfect for his needs and wants to write an offer
on the spot. Relevant, local comps are instantly accessed on CRM
mobile app to confirm lease’s relative affordability. Offer is
generated, electronically signed and submitted
by phone. Client offers to take you out to new
tiki bar if the deal closes.

20. Negotiation call.
Listing broker seems unwilling to budge on price, saying
that the asking rate is below comparables. After reviewing
personal database, no similar deals are found. Decide to
advise client to sign a longer lease in order to lock in a
lower price per square foot.
1997
3:00pm

21. 2017
Property owner calls to praise new
document tracking system.
Says he just had lunch with another prominent
property owner that is interested in collaborating.
Break for a cold-pressed juice and
some pistachios. Another Facebook check.
3:00pm

22. 1997
3:30pm
Property owner calls wondering
about a tenant's insurance.
Calls to the tenants and their insurance
companies are made. Proofs of insurance
are faxed in and re-faxed to the owner.

23. 2017
3:30pm
Prospects that have been emailing
throughout the day are responded
to and added to the database.
Another interested tenant schedules
a walkthough of property via Calendly.

24. Back at the office.
List of prospects from recent cold-call
campaign are contacted. Several long
voicemails are left complete with
details of new listings.
1997
4:00pm

25. 2017
4:30pm
New property is prospected.
Photos are taken and instantly
uploaded to the electronic listing.

26. 2017
Arrive at an industry happy hour
hosted at a hip craft cocktail bar.
New contacts are met and LinkedIn
connections are made.
4:45pm

27. 1997
5:00pm
New property is prospected.
Pictures are taken with new, filmless camera to be used in
sales flyer. Anticipate deals that will roll in once the flyers
get made and sent out in the coming weeks.

28. 2017
Back home.
Dinner from a nearby Thai restaurant is
delivered by Amazon PrimeNow,
followed by an evening walk and a couple
of pirated Game of Thrones episodes.
6:00pm

29. Back home.
All of the new contacts are logged. TV dinner gets
heated in the microwave, eaten while watching JAG
and reading the Wall Street Journal.
1997
8:00pm

30. See how you can be a more efficient,
tech-savvy broker by visiting apto.com