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September 30, 2025 16 mins

Can you really grow a real estate business part-time—especially when you’re also a full-time mama or have another full-time job? Absolutely. In this episode, Lindsay Dreyer shares the honest truth about what it takes to build momentum on limited hours without burning out or beating yourself up.

You’ll learn how to:

  • Reframe part-time as a strength, not a weakness
  • Manage your time and energy to focus on income-generating activities
  • Delegate smartly (without breaking the bank)
  • Integrate lead generation into your everyday life
  • Navigate childcare, family dynamics, and the big decision of when to go full-time

Whether you’re balancing kids, another job, or just the season you’re in, this episode will give you the clarity, strategy, and permission to keep moving forward.

*****************************************************

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Hey there, I am Lindsay Dreyer coach, real
estate brokerage owner and momof three, and I am so happy you
are here.
If you do not follow me onInstagram or Facebook, please
find me Lindsay Dreyer onFacebook and lindsaydreyer on
Instagram.
Today we are talking aboutsomething that I feel like

(00:56):
affects so many real estateagents in the business, which is
being part-time, and how do yougrow your business into
full-time.
You do not need 40 hours a weekto build momentum in your real
estate business, but you do needa plan.
You need a clear north star andif you didn't listen to that
episode, go back a few.
It's a good one and a strategythat fits your life right now.

(01:19):
So I personally didn't startpart-time, but I have coached
agents who have, and I've seenfirsthand what's possible when
you stop waiting for more timeand just start working with what
you've got.
In this episode we're going todive into time management,
strategic lead generation, howto know when to delegate and
what to do about child care and,ultimately, how to know when

(01:41):
it's finally time to go all inon real estate, quit your day
job and go full time.
Let's dive in to some keys tosuccess.
The first is we need to own theseason that you're in, and that
can be really hard, especiallyfor those type A perfectionists
out there, because you want tobe doing more, and it is hard

(02:05):
for you to not be going justballs to the wall, because that
is just your like state you justlove to go all in.
So I know this seemscounterintuitive, but you can
reframe your part time identityas a strength, not a weakness
Like this is actually great thatyou are working the hours that
you have and not the ones thatyou wish you had, and that is
enough.
So comparison will kill yourmomentum.

(02:29):
So you need to focus, stay inyour lane and you are not behind
, but you are in building mode.
So be real with yourself.
You don't have to beat yourselfup, but you are just working
with what you have, and that hasto be enough.
I find that this mindset of Ishould be doing more, I should,
should, should I know you'veprobably heard like you should

(02:50):
all over yourself, so likeyou're probably shoulding all
over yourself, like I should bedoing this, I should be doing
that, I should, should, should.
But a lot of times you'reshooting yourself against
full-time agents or againstpeople who have staff, or
against people who've outsourcedor against people who, honestly
, are just lying on social media.
So you need to stay in yourlane and focus on what you can

(03:12):
control.
And what can you control?
Time management, that's a bigone.
So, really knowing what is youractual availability to work in
your real estate business thisis a hard one, especially if you
have children but reallyknowing where can you find five
to seven really focused hoursfor your lead generation and for

(03:36):
client service.
So what not to do and this iswhere I see a lot of people just
like go down a rabbit hole isyou should not spend your best
hour designing your logo, butyou should be spending your best
hour prospecting and callingyour warm leads or hosting an
open house or doing somethingthat's going to actually make it

(03:58):
so you generate income.
That's the key is that you needto generate income, like focus
on the things that are going tomake you money, because that is
the flip.
That needs to happen is youneed to find what works for you
to generate money, because thatis going to allow you to make

(04:20):
the switch from full-time inyour other job to full-time in
real estate.
So how do we set theseexpectations to clients.
I am available evenings andweekends and I check messages
twice a day, at noon and at 5 pm.
I'll make sure you're alwaysupdated, or it's just I am
available via text.

(04:40):
If we need to do a phone call,I can do that at noon or at five
.
So just setting expectationscan be a really, really crucial
part of being a part-time agentis setting expectations with
your client on when you areavailable and when you are not.
Another piece of being apart-time agent is you have to

(05:01):
delegate.
You're not going to necessarilybe able to do this alone unless
you have just a massivelyflexible full-time job, which
some of you do.
So big ups.
But I know a lot of thepart-time agents I've seen do
not have that flexibility.
So, while you don't need to goand hire full-time help because
you probably can't afford it,you may want to have a

(05:21):
transaction coordinator.
You may want to have a showingagent who can be there for
showings or inspections whenyou're not available, and you
probably want to have a strongprocess or system that you are
running your clients through,which includes templates for the
different phases.
Honestly, huge fan of AI, so,like chat, GPT saves me a ton of

(05:44):
time on client communications.
But I want you to really startthinking about where can you not
show up in your business andthen building support around
that.
So maybe it's marketing help,maybe it's that TC, but just
really thinking about I'mbuilding my business with these
limited hours and I want to stayin the zone of genius, like

(06:07):
where I spend the best time andis the most valuable to my
business.
It's going to bring in the mostcoins, honestly, and most of
the time that's client facingstuff.
So just really making sureyou're honing in on that.
The next piece is leadgeneration, which I know is
probably a struggle for everysingle real estate agent out

(06:30):
there, but I feel like it's evenmore of a struggle for
part-time agents because youhave limited hours and limited
budget.
So really focusing on spheremarketing low-cost, high-return
activities that are sustainable,activities that are sustainable

(06:52):
.
And I believe that lifeintegrated activities are the
best ones, because you can goabout your full-time job, you
can go about being a mom, a dogmom, whatever bucket you're in,
but you're basically integratingyour real estate into those
life activities.
So you could sphere market atthe PTA, it could be at a mom
group, it could be on theweekends, it could be at your

(07:15):
kids sporting events.
So really starting to thinklike, how can I market myself
where I'm already showing up?
Because that is the lowesthanging fruit and a lot of times
it's people already know you,they already like you and they
already trust you, so of coursethey're going to transfer that
into real estate.
Also, when you are out and aboutdoing your life stuff, it could

(07:36):
be like texting some peoplefrom your school pickup line.
It could be handwriting notesduring your practices for your
kids' sports.
It could be email batching yournewsletters for the entire
month on like a Sunday night, ormaybe it's just a short video
update from your car.
But what you want to avoid isbuilding a super complicated

(07:57):
marketing plan or funnel whenyou really aren't even texting
your database or your sphere oryour past clients.
One of the biggest struggles ispeople come to me and they say
I don't have a sphere, I don'thave a database, and that's a
challenge for you to reallytackle.
And again it goes into theselife activities.

(08:18):
So it could be like hey, I'mgrowing my real estate business
and putting together a list ofpeople I want to stay in touch
with.
Can I add you to my monthlyupdates and then get your
monthly updates out.
So really just getting outthere any way you can in ways
that are low cost, high returnand sustainable.
Those are the keys.
When you are part-time becauseyou don't have the budget, you

(08:40):
don't necessarily have the timeand you need to do things that
are consistent or easy to do ona regular basis.
This whole episode would beincomplete if we did not talk
about the child careconversation.
You cannot build a businesswithout support if you have
children.
Period.
Real estate is not magicallyflexible and it really only

(09:03):
works if you have a real childcare plan, and this obviously
depends on how old your childrenare.
Mine are four, seven and 10.
So I have been through it.
I understand the baby years andbudgeting for child care was so
important for me to keep my realestate business running and

(09:24):
I've seen a lot of moms just notgive themselves enough support
when it comes to child care.
It is so hard to focus when youhave kids around you.
I don't care if they'rewatching Bluey or they're
reading a book or they'replaying Legos, but it is hard to
focus when you know you'regoing to be interrupted at any

(09:46):
moment.
Just I can't do it.
That's why I have the officeoutside of the house, like I
just can't.
So your schedule needs to bereal.
Where you're working needs tobe ideal and you just have to be
realistic with yourself.
So what can you budget forchild care as an expense?
Who can you ask for helpunapologetically, like we need

(10:08):
our village in this instance,and then also just consider
creative solutions.
Maybe there's another realestate agent who has kids that
you guys could do a kid swap,babysit each other's kids, take
turns could be sharedbabysitters with other moms in
your office.
I know the YMCA was a huge one.
You can pop in and work fromthere and it was like three

(10:29):
hours of childcare Heck.
Yes, there are sometimesaftercare, preschool, daycare
centers, just co-op programs,actually through rec departments
.
Get creative and I know so manyof you feel guilty because
you're like I'm not going to payfor childcare if I don't have
any money coming in.
But this is how you invest inyour career and this is how you

(10:52):
build that path to becoming afull-time real estate agent.
The other thing is that momguilt sets in, which is I'm
choosing work over my kids.
But I challenge you to reframethat, which is you're not
choosing work over your kids.
You're choosing long-termstability for your kids.
That requires focused time tobuild.
You are going to be building acareer and a wealth plan and a

(11:16):
wealth journey.
That needs your focus.
I know this is really hard ifyou don't have a partner who is
fully on board.
I remember I knew an agent whowas making like $150,000 to
$175,000 a year and she had herfirst child and she had this
discussion with her husbandabout putting her daughter in

(11:38):
daycare and he said absolutelynot.
And I was talking to her andI'm like you make enough money
to pay for yourself.
Like why?
Like this is crazy.
And she was like he won't letme.
I'm just going to have to be astay-at-home mom.
And it was really sad for mebecause it was clear she loved
her real estate career and shedid not have a supportive
partner and he basically had hergive up on her career.

(12:01):
Like she gave up her realestate career to become a
stay-at-home mom, which istotally fine, like if that was
her choice, I'd totally supportit.
Like we need moms, obviously,but this wasn't what she wanted.
Like this wasn't what shewanted, this wasn't her dream

(12:21):
and it was just really sadbecause we don't oftentimes
understand that we need to alsohave our partner on board when
we flip the switch to going fulltime.
So really understanding whatyour family dynamic is going to
look like and talking through itwith your partner is another
crucial step.
Not only the financialimplications, but the time and
schedule implications and themental load implications of

(12:43):
who's going to need to beavailable on nights and weekends
and who's doing the laundry,who's cooking dinner and all of
that.
So I've seen that not onlycause some really severe
problems, I've seen it causedivorce because women basically
build this massively successfulreal estate business, but they
didn't take their partner alongfor the ride with them.

(13:04):
So that's another consideration.
It's not just childcare, butalso how is this going to shape
your family in the future andhaving a plan for that and
making sure that your partner ison board with it.
So, lastly, I want to talkabout when can you flip the
switch and go full time?
So there are some signs that youmight be ready.
You are consistently closingone or two deals every other

(13:26):
month.
You have three to six months ofsavings.
You're financially have thosein reserves.
You have that emergency fund,because it does take time to
ramp up and you have systems anda lead generation rhythm that
is actually working for you.
And the probably the mostimportant sign is that you're
actually turning down businessbecause of your job, because of

(13:47):
your limited capacity.
So I know it can be hardsometimes, but it's okay to tell
yourself that I've built thesystems, I've saved the cash
cushion and I've proven I can dothis.
So now it's time to take a beton me.
Now, if you're in the boat whereyou want to stay part-time, you
can still win, and not everyonewants to go full-time and

(14:08):
that's okay.
Real estate can be a powerfulincome stream and identity
identity even if it's not yournine to five.
But I think that there's fourthings you need to have if you
are going to stay part-time youneed to be clear about your
availability with clients.
You need to be consistent inhow you show up.
You need to be visible withyour sphere and then be honest
about your capacity For all youpart-timers out there.

(14:33):
I want you to hear this as wewrap it up you are not behind,
you are not doing it wrong andyou're definitely not less of an
agent because you're buildingyour business part-time and
honestly.
You might even be building itsmarter than some agents,
because you're being intentionalwith every single hour, every
single client and every singledecision that you're making.
The path can absolutely bemessy, especially if you're

(14:55):
raising kids, working anotherjob and doing both, but you
don't have to wait for theperfect moment to go all in, and
I hope this episode opened youreyes to that.
You just really need a plan andyou need permission to honor
the season that you're in whileyou're still moving forward and
making progress.
So, whether you stay part-timefor now or decide to make the

(15:16):
leap soon, I hope that thisepisode gave you some clarity
and, hopefully, some confidenceto trust where you are and that
you are on track to buildsomething sustainable.
I am 100% cheering you on and Iwill see you next week.
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