Your bags are packed and you’re ready for some much-needed relaxation away from the real estate market.

Spring and summer tend to be busy in real estate, so you may be gearing up for a late summer or early fall retreat.

Whether you work alone or as part of a team, take a few minutes to look over this checklist of things to do for your business before a vacation or time off.

Have a backup plan

You’re ready for some time off, but your clients might not be. Inform your broker and brokerage office of your planned time off. If you have an assistant, you may be able to rely on them to manage the day-to-day requests, however it’s still a good idea to find someone else at your brokerage who can deal with any transactional issues or opportunities.

Find another REALTOR® you trust who can handle any immediate business if you can’t while you’re away. While the pandemic has shown us that almost anything is possible in a virtual world, it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to completely disconnect. Maybe your Wi-Fi doesn’t quite make it to the lake! Having an agent you trust on-call means you and your clients will never miss a beat. You can make this a quid pro quo relationship and agree to look after their business the next time they need some time off.

Make sure whoever you’ve asked to be your substitute knows about any transactions that are in the works or could be. Take detailed notes and prepare a handoff document.

Organize your contacts

Whether you’re using a customer relationship management (CRM) system or not, make sure you have an accessible list of contacts to pass along to whoever is overseeing your business while you’re away. This is especially important for any clients who are in the middle of the home buying or selling journey. Who are they and what other shareholders are involved? You should also note your relationship for each contact and how you interact with them. Do you text one client but email another? Do you have a go-to contact for tech problems or mortgage questions? Organizing your CRM isn’t just about keeping a contact list up to date, it’s a way of establishing how you run your business. Your CRM can include details like how you met the contact, when you last connected and the status of any projects you have with them. You can hand this off to your brokerage or the agent you’ve asked to keep an eye on your business for any emergency situations.

Tell your clients

Don’t just put an out of office alert on your email. If you have clients in the middle of their home buying or selling journey, they need to know when you will be away and who they can contact if they need something during that time. Communicate all these details clearly, and preferably in writing.

Also get in touch with any leads you may have. It’s a great reason to send off another email, text or call before you “hit the road”.

You should also establish some boundaries with your clients. Can they still email or text you in an emergency? Are you disconnecting completely? These boundaries might be slightly different on a client-to-client basis. For example, you may still answer the phone for a client in the middle of a negotiation, but will let your substitute handle calls from a client at the start of their journey.

Schedule your mail and marketing materials

Just because you’ve stopped doesn’t mean your business needs to. Schedule any closing gift deliveries or thank you cards in advance. You can also schedule social media posts, ads and another other marketing material you may have (like postcards or flyers) to continue while you’re on vacation.

An out of office alert on your email is still important and you may also want to consider setting up a chatbot on your social media channels, so you don’t miss out on any potential leads.

Bonus: Schedule a catch-up day

Avoid the post-vacation blues by scheduling yourself a designated catch-up day or two—one for personal things like laundry and cleaning the house and one to read all your emails, listen to voicemails and create a to-do list. Setting aside an entire day to organize what you need to tackle before you get to new business will make your transition back to the “real world” a lot easier.

In real estate, you’re used to being available to your clients outside of the traditional 9 to 5, but prioritizing time for yourself and other areas of your life is important, too. Resist the urge to work and focus on a little self-care instead.

Enjoy the last days of summer!