Smart City Work Diaries – Meet Amanda

Welcome to the work diaries of Smart City – a collection of entries showcasing the hustle and grind, rise and shine, start-your-day-with-coffee-and-end-it-with-wine individuals who make up our unique workforce in Houston.

There’s no cookie-cutter process to how and who we hire, and we’ve come to find that’s our “secret sauce.” Amanda, for example – commonly referred to as “apartment lady,” and a human hub for all Houston apartment “hot goss;” is our local firecracker. You can oftentimes find her power-walking into the office at the crack of dawn ready to talk business, workouts or Leroy (her cat), and she is never one to shy away from a candid conversation. She’s always good for some unsolicited input bookended by a solid air-grab and attitudinal cranked head-nod. She’s damn good at what she does, she’s ready for anything that’s thrown her way, and she’s got the five-star Google reviews to prove it.

Sales Representatives at Smart City are licensed real estate agents here to connect clients with their ideal Houston apartment. The volume is high and the requests are many, and we’ve got a few tried and true best practices to fulfill all that’s asked, but it takes a special person to be an agent. Instead of telling you, we thought it’d be better if it comes from the horse’s mouth (no, Amanda, we are not calling you a horse). So, here it is – a week in the life of a Houston Sales Representative, as told by the sass queen herself.

MONDAY

5:15am – Wake up for Pure Barre (low key trying to cancel my class but I can’t because I’ll get charged for missing). Go downstairs to grab my keys and my cat Leroy follows me meowing because he knows I’m going to feed him. Joke’s on him because he’s super fat and has a bunch of food left in the bowl, so I just shake the bowl and he thinks I filled it!

7:00am – Done with class, blasts T-Swift the whole way home; now it’s time for coffee, breakfast, and the deeply anticipated blowout i’m going to do with the new blowdryer I bought from a blogger (still cringing that I actually did that; don’t judge me)! After that, I head to the office (bye, Leroy), make more coffee and chat with one or two other early birds, and get ready to hop on lead rotation.

1:00pm – I’ve been in work mode for a few hours now, Uber-eats’d my go-to Cafe Express salad and have probably made upwards of a million phone calls to follow-up with clients and check-in with properties around town. I begin working on a list for a client who’s looking to move in December. It’s a little far out to gain accurate pricing for that timeframe, but it opens the opportunity to possibly get them in with a brand new property, so I’m getting all those options ready for them to see! Next client needs to move this week – she just got a job offer (yay!), so I am sweeping the market for the best deals for her so she can get touring tomorrow.

7:00 pm – Finally home and greeted by Leroy, per the usual. After he’s gotten the attention he needs (demands), my husband and I make dinner together, aka he’s making ME dinner, but I help by taste-testing. Now it’s time to watch Bachelor in Paradise and chill on the couch with my cat and husband. PLOT TWIST – BIP wasn’t on today because the Texans are playing, so I opt to read my Legal II course information that I need for my real estate renewal courses.

TUESDAY

6:30am – Up and at’em! I get to the office early (like I usually do) and make my rounds chatting with my comrades and getting pumped for the day. It’ll be time to hop on rotation at 9am, so I get ready to start client follow-ups and take care of my most pressing clients first thing.

12pm – I’ve spent the morning conducting follow-ups with my current clients, confirming move-ins, and getting oriented with new leads, now it’s time for some lunch and a chat with my mom. I’ve also got a hair appointment scheduled today (sounds lame, I know, but these roots need work), then I’ll touch base with more new leads and make sure we have a game plan established before the day is done.

4pm – I finished Legal II and did half of my first 30-hour TREC course, now it’s time to make dinner; I’m cooking this go-around! I’ll make sure I have everything ready for tomorrow because we’re touring a new property out in Katy – I worked with them to coordinate a private tour for our Smart City agents, so I’m excited for everyone to see what they have to offer our clients!

WEDNESDAY

8:30am – Survived my Pure Barre Empower class this morning (thank God); coffee is already made and I’m ready to hop on rotation! Today, I need to make sure I have all my follow-ups completed by noon so I can tour that new Katy property with a clear mind and comprehensive wherewithal of client lists.

2:00pm – The Maddox (that new property in Katy) hosted us for a private luncheon and tour– it was amazing! The property was gorgeous and the perfect addition to a few lists I’ve curated for clients interested in moving into a brand new spot. Touring Houston’s latest-and-greatest is something that really gets me hyped for my clients!

4:00pm – I’m working on lists and communicating with clients who have questions about touring this weekend. I want to make sure I get them set-up for success by providing tour tips and context for each tour. Tomorrow is Thursday, which means it’s going to require a lot of heavy lifting to curate tour lists for my clients, so I’m working into the evening to prepare!

THURSDAY

9am – I’m on rotation and taking new leads, exchanging texts and phone calls with my current clients, and doing any other general follow-up so my day is clear to make lists!

1pm – Client lists, client lists, client lists!! Thursdays are huge lists days. So, I’m finding options for clients touring this weekend. We want to get the most updated info before the weekend while still having enough time to make changes and discuss it with our clients, which is why Thursdays are such big list days. Each list takes about two hours and I have three lists to do today, so it’s going to be a busy day!

7pm – I’m finally wrapping-up tour info and client lists, and now it’s time for happy hour! Heading to Local Foods with a girlfriend to have a glass of wine and decompress a bit, then heading home to Leroy. It’s been a long week and his desperate meows at night are starting to ring in my ears!

FRIDAY

8:00am – Lists are made, discussions have been had, now it’s time to create guest cards and help clients navigate their apartment-touring weekend! I communicate with each property my clients will visit, make sure guest cards are established and ensure that everyone has a plan of action for tour-time! I get a few last-minute follow-ups done and hop on that 9am rotation to build out my client pipeline. It’s Friday, but the week isn’t over until clients have toured and applications have been submitted!

2pm – Quick salad and Macro bar for lunch because I need to get touring cheat sheets done and ready to text out first thing tomorrow morning. This is something I do to help clients feel totally prepared to tour and it helps us just as much as it helps our clients! I’ve got five clients touring, so the weekend will be filled with lots of follow-up texts and calls!

5:30pm – Time for me and my husband to hit up a new spot for dinner! We live in the Heights, so it’ll probably be somewhere in that area. Everything’s ready to go for tomorrow and a glass of sparkling rose is screaming my name (don’t judge)!

9:15pm – Review on deck! We ended up venturing over to EaDo and got a table on a whim at Nancy’s Hustle, which was a BIG surprise since this place stays super-booked, especially on the weekends. 10/10 recommend trying the snapper and octopus – they were LITERALLY out of this world. And if you go for cocktails, ask for Olivia at the bar – your drinks will be off the chain!