Juggling the demands of reality TV and a thriving real estate career requires top-notch assistance and taking advantage of lulls when they become available. Find out how “Selling Sunset” stars Jason Oppenheim and Mary Fitzgerald do it all in this exclusive ICLV sit-down with Kofi Nartey.
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(L to R) Kofi Nartey, Mary Fitzgerald, Jason Oppenheim
“Cautiously optimistic” is how Jason Oppenheim described his view of the current market based on better-than-expected economic news. He and Mary Fitzgerald, both of The Oppenheim Group and Netflix’s Selling Sunset, sat down with author and HGTV’s Selling LA agent Kofi Nartey at Inman Connect Las Vegas to discuss what’s on the horizon for real estate.
When asked how he finds time to pay attention to what’s going on in the market, Oppenheim said that he uses down times in the market to focus on those things that go by the wayside during busier times of the year. “I used to think vacations were not productive in business,” he said, but now he finds them rejuvenating. Use slow times to dial in your marketing, find a great assistant, and focus on relationships, he advises.
“Delegating is a big thing,” Fitzgerald advised. She said that the demands of her business overwhelmed her first assistant, and she had to split up work subsequently between a social media assistant and a real estate assistant and provide more focused tasks to help them avoid burnout.
Nartey asked how the show has changed Fitzgerald and Oppenheim’s business.
It has provided opportunities that we wouldn’t have had otherwise, but you’re also trying to manage everything, Fitzgerald said. To continue to grow, she emphasized the importance of having a trustworthy team in place.
“My clients expect that I’m busy,” Oppenheim said. “I’ve got a really strong relationship with my clients. They call me when they need help. I’ve become a confidant and adviser to my clients. They know I’m an attorney so they call me about legal disputes.” He feels fortunate that his clients continue to proactively reach out because he doesn’t always have time to reach out to them with the demands of the show’s shooting schedule.
Watch the panel’s entire session via the video at the top of this post.
Christy Murdock is a Realtor, freelance writer, coach and consultant and the owner of Writing Real Estate. She is also the creator of the online course Crafting the Property Description: The Step-by-Step Formula for Reluctant Real Estate Writers. Follow Writing Real Estate on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
