Survival Strategies For Working With Your Spouse

Since Tarek and I started flipping houses and since Flip or Flop has become such a success, I’ve had a lot of people ask me how we can work so closely together and maintain a happy marriage. They tell me that they could never go through all of the stress of working together and that, after some of the messes we’ve been through, they’d just want to get as far away from each other as possible. Well, I’ve loved learning how to flip houses with Tarek, but I won’t lie – there have definitely been challenges along the way. It’s not always easy, but we’ve developed a few great techniques for working together on our real estate business without driving each other completely crazy.

Lots of people have been talking about how to work with your spouse, including the Huffington Post and Inc. Magazine, so I thought, why not give our audience a few of our secrets for running a successful business and a happy marriage at the same time?

Divide and Conquer

First, you don’t have to act like a single person. You don’t have to go everywhere together and make every single little decision in the same place at the same time. Running your business like that completely negates the advantages of having two people.

Instead, split up your tasks for the day. Keep in touch via phone calls and texts, and keep in mind that you’re working toward the same goal as you both do all of the separate tasks necessary to make it happen. One of you can check out a property while the other races over to the auction to bid on it. Or one of you can pick up your kids from daycare while the other checks on your contractor’s progress for the day. The more you divide and conquer your daily tasks, the more smoothly your business will run, and it gives you each a little bit of time to yourselves so you don’t feel like you’re smothering each other.

Don’t Fight to Be Right

Next, I know that Tarek tends to underestimate rehab costs, and I know he can get a little bit excited about a property and bid more than I would. At the same time, I tend to want to spend more on kitchen and bathroom remodeling than he usually does. We each have our quirks, and we each make our own mistakes in every flip we do.

If we picked at each other about every little thing and fought about who was right, what we should’ve spent money on, etc., we wouldn’t ever get anything done. And we’d hate each other, too! So, when the workday starts, leave your ego at the door, forget about who’s right and who’s wrong, and go flip some houses!

Leave Work for Office Hours

Also, as much as we love real estate and finding great deals, when we’re done with work for the day, we’re done. When it’s time to leave the site and go relieve the babysitter or pick Taylor up from school, it’s family time. If you let your work take over your life, it will take over your marriage, too.

Make Date Night a Priority

Finally, don’t forget to be a couple as well as business partners. Tarek and I are happy in our marriage not just because we run a successful business together, but also because we make our relationship a priority. We have set date nights in our schedule that we always prioritize. By regularly going out for dinner and a movie and never forgetting to keep “dating” each other, we keep our marriage fresh and fun.

There you go – our secrets for how to flip houses with your spouse and never get tired of each other. Running a real estate business together can be a lot of fun or it can be really stressful; it’s up to you!