Sometimes you have to push. Today was one of those days. We had a large, unexpected shift occur today in our company. It’s very heavy and requires much processing.

Then the listing agent on a rehab-loan deal is all but begging me to convince my buyer client to let the seller stay for a few days after closing. This never seems to go well, and the agent took three weeks to contact me about it. Too late. I suggested we hold back $25,000 in escrow and then credit the buyer $300 per day after the weekend if the seller’s not out.

He called back a couple hours later to say that they figured out a way to make it all work and we don’t need to hold back the money.

Sometime in this same time period, my assistant called, frantic, because the final payoff hadn’t been received by the title company on another deal (Nightmare Deal) and the bank wouldn’t release it to anyone other than the seller. Closing is the day after tomorrow.

Mrs. Seller said the mortgage isn’t in her name and they won’t release it to her either. Mr. Seller is traveling for work and I can’t get ahold of him. To make things worse, the HOA contacted the title company in the meantime and told them that the outstanding compliance issue with the unit hadn’t been remedied yet either. Think we’re going to close on Friday?

Stress Fest.

A sense of overwhelm. The company issue is what clouded my thinking and feelings more than anything today. Couple that with new fires on two of these soon-to-be-closed transactions and I wanted to bury my face in a pillow and scream.

I have a new listing that wasn’t supposed to go live for another three weeks, but the sellers let me know they want to go public asap when I saw them the day before yesterday. So, now I’m working until after midnight to get it prepped to push the button tomorrow.

Finally, my other listing is in super rough condition and the showing feedback is indicative of that. New-listing-and-maybe-we-won’t-be-able-to-sell-it fears. Ever get those?

I had dinner with my family and tried not to obsessively think about the work thing. Dinner was good. My wife listened to me while my little children interrupted me repeatedly to talk with her about nothing.

She suggested we go for a walk. Just a short one, knowing that I had a lot of work still to do. It sounded like a refreshing idea after four hours in the car, difficult news, and firefighting the deals.

We walked, and I left my phone at home. My two-year-old son was riding his balance bike, as was my very recently turned four-year-old daughter. Watching them was when I first felt a flicker of a smile on my face. Then I noticed that at one point in the relatively short walk, the tension vanished. It was just gone.

I didn’t will it away. I didn’t figure out the solution to the myriad problems of Day In The Life of a Realtor. I just walked with my little family. And it went away.

I frequently spiral into this overwhelming state. I mean that relatively. A few times a month, probably.

But it’s the kind of thing that happens to a guy like me who’s doing things like these. This work can be really high-stress, and if we don’t find effective ways of dealing with that stress, it will kill us.

It will kill me.

And I know there are more stressful situations to be in. Trust me, I get it.

But it’s all relative to the person experiencing it. I have to take care of myself so I can continue to grow and evolve. That means short walks with my family even when there’s a ton of shit to do.