Have you ever heard a real-estate agent complain that they never have time of?  They are choosing to not take time off. The real-estate professionals in my office that make more than just a living work all the time; days, nights, weekends, and holidays. So how can a real-estate professional ever take time off to go fishing? I would solve, how could I run my real-estate business and go somewhere (out of town) to catch fish. These are the steps that I took to make an amazing fishing trip happen.

The Steps to Finding Lady Slipper Lodge

My father taught me how to fish when I was young. I have loved every moment of time spent fishing. I was determined to find a way to go fishing. I live in Phoenix, AZ and I choose a cooler climate to enjoy this past time.

Step 1 – Research the local small airport and see what locations they fly to that were cooler than Arizona in June.

Step 2 – From that list, pick a location near fishing lakes. I choose MN, I had heard that there are lots of lakes where the fishing was good.

Step 3 – Find a home with internet to rent for a few days that was within walking distance to a fishing hole.

Lady Slipper Lodge in MN fit the criteria. The weather was between 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than Arizona. The property was ~ 5min from town for food supplies. Here is the best part, it was ¾ surrounded by a lake with lots of fish!!!  I fished off the dock(s), yes there were multiple docks. The fishing action was great. For example, as soon as you drop your line I, a fish immediately took the bait. Most of the fish caught were sunfish and bluegill. They were great for eating.

Checklist for your real-estate business

Plan ahead of time with real-estate teammates and current clients. I would let your clients know with as much time in advance that you will be out of town and what phone and internet availability you will have. On this adventure, I had access to phone and internet in the morning and in the evenings when I was in the lodge.

Here are the top 6 items for your business. These are simple.

• Give the teammate(s) that are covering for you, access to your e-files, should an emergency take place.
• Give the contact information of the covering teammate to your clients.
• Give the contact information of the covering teammate to the cross agent in your transactions.
• Update your voicemail to let people know what time of day that you are checking voicemail’s and emails. Also, include an emergency number of the covering teammate should someone need immediate attention.
• Update your email to vacation mode and include the same information as your voicemail.
• Back up your laptop or working device before you leave, just in case something happens to the device.

I would like suggestions on how to have an auto-respond for when someone text messages. Otherwise, they just think you are not responding.

Fishing Paradise

The goal was to find a place that had internet access for doing real-estate and to be able to fish and relax in the woods. The Lady Slipper Lodge was this and more. As I sat on the dock, I would be listening to the birds singing me a song. The toads gulped in time with the birds. There was no car or plane distracting noise. I highly recommend visiting Lady Slipper if you are looking for a quiet place away from it all, yet close enough to a store for a late night drinking water run.

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