Summer break has officially hit Birmingham, which means two things are happening simultaneously: the housing market is moving at warp speed, and my once-quiet home office has been fully annexed by a roaming pack of neighborhood children.

Right now, it’s 5:12 AM. I am typing this in the dark because it’s the only time my house is quiet, and I need to get this out before someone wakes up and asks me where the tape dispenser went.

If you aren’t in the industry, you might think real estate slows down when the temperatures hit 95 degrees and everyone heads to the beach. But after 25 years in this business, I can promise you: summer real estate is a full-blown contact sport.

Buyers and sellers are in a frantic sprint to get the closing papers signed and the moving trucks unloaded before the first day of school in Homewood or Vestavia or somewhere in the Greater Birmingham Area. They are sweating, they are stressed, and they just want to be settled.

And as an agent, you just have to adapt.

Here is a loosely timestamped look at my descent into yesterday’s summer market madness:

5:30 AM: The Pre-Dawn Peace

The house is asleep.

I am drinking coffee and answering inspection amendment emails with the clarity of a woman who hasn’t yet had to break up a fight over a pool float.

This is my prime strategic thinking time.

9:00 AM – 12:00 PM: The Realtor Olympics

The kids are dropped off at a three-hour day camp.

The clock starts now.

In exactly 180 minutes, I manage to stick three signs in front yards, wrestle two lockboxes onto doorknobs, and translate a batch of unfiltered buyer feedback — which basically means figuring out how to tell a seller, “Your house is great, but it smells like despair and a wet pet,” without detonating our relationship.

I review two contracts, hit send on a counteroffer, and somehow execute a curbside grocery pickup.

I am unstoppable.

12:45 PM: The Nugget Negotiations

The three-hour camp window has closed.

I am now brokering an intense negotiation over a cracked driveway while aggressively flipping dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.

The buyers want a $5,000 credit.
My kids want more ranch dressing.

Only one of these parties is willing to compromise.

2:15 PM: The Office Supply Heist

I walk into my home office to print a very serious legal addendum.

Instead, my printer is currently spitting out a highly detailed, 16-team wiffle ball tournament bracket for the neighborhood kids.

I look for my scissors.

They are gone.

The packing tape is also gone.

I later look out the window to find them being used to construct some sort of homemade sports equipment in the driveway.

4:00 PM: Poolside Professionalism

We have migrated to the neighborhood pool.

I am on the phone trying to save a deal over a 15-year-old HVAC unit while a child does a cannonball three feet away.

I am nodding seriously, dodging splashed water, and praying the listing agent can’t hear the lifeguard blowing a whistle in the background.

Nothing humbles a grown adult faster than an inspection report — except maybe trying to explain an escalation clause while a kid screams, “Mom, watch me do a handstand!” for the fourth time.

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The Practical Reality of Summer Real Estate

Here is the honest truth about buying and selling in the summer: everyone is distracted, but everyone is highly motivated.

Sellers, your buyers are actively trying to pack up their lives while their kids are out of school, which means their patience is thin and their timelines are rigid.

Buyers, you are competing against other families who have a hard deadline of mid-August before the school bells ring.

My advice?

Give everyone a little grace right now.

The market is moving fast, the heat makes everyone cranky, and the emotional toll of packing up a house full of memories is heavy enough without the added chaos of summer break.

If we hit a snag during negotiations, we will figure it out.

Just let me flip these chicken nuggets first.

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TL;DR for People Reading This While Hiding From Their Children

• Summer real estate doesn’t sleep.
• Buyers are racing the back-to-school clock.
• Be ready to move fast.
• If you are selling, price it right and be prepared for buyers on a tight timeline.
• Hide your office supplies.
• My printer no longer belongs to me; it belongs to the wiffle ball league.

At the end of the day, balancing motherhood and a real estate career is messy, wildly unpredictable, and totally unscripted.

But I wouldn’t trade this beautifully chaotic ride for anything.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, the sun is coming up, the house is stirring, and I need to go see if I can buy my packing tape back from an eight-year-old.

If you need to move before school starts, let’s talk. I’m ready when you are.

– Roxanne