December Recap + January Goals 2026

Hi guys, what's up? It's Natalie. Welcome to, or welcome back to, my YouTube channel. If you've never seen my face, hi, my name is Natalie Nicole, or Natalie Barnes. I am a full-time real estate agent, content creator, and a toddler mom to a 3-year-old. I share my journey with real estate, and then I also do a little lifestyle videos and a whole lot of Disney trips because we live only an hour away from Disney. In today's video, I wanted to do kind of like an early recap of December slash what I'm planning in December, and then also talk about January. I have a whole entire— I have a whole entire like schedule of what I want to talk about today because I feel like I haven't really been doing a whole lot of recaps of my month lately because life has just been so crazy, and I feel like we are well overdue for one. And why not? This would be fun to look back on. I also wanted to go over my December and my January goals for myself in real estate and, and my personal goal. If you enjoy watching videos like this, please don't forget to comment, like, subscribe, whatever you want to do. I post a ton. I try and post 2 times a week on YouTube, and then I also have other social medias like TikTok and Instagram, and we'll get into like what my goals are for that as well. But yeah, subscribe! So December has been flying by so fast. I'm actually filming this video and posting it today as well, on Sunday. Um, December has flown by. We're already on the 7th, which is so crazy for me. Normally I like to do Vlogmas on Instagram, but this year I'm actually doing Vlogmas on my TikTok channel. I'll put it right here. Definitely go follow me on there because I'm posting every single day, multiple times a day normally, on that platform. We kicked off the month by decorating the whole entire house. We put up the tree. Arabella literally had the best time helping. I feel like she's at an age where everything is so magical. We're also doing Elf on the Shelf, which if you're a mom, you understand it's a full-time job. Literally. Our elf Nina, she actually moves around the house if Arabella's listening, so she'll like write little notes, she'll pop around. So that's a full-time job as well. We've also had some really, really fun Disney moments this month so far. We went to the Mickey's Merry Christmas party. I always say it's Merry Merry Christmas party, but I know that's not right. It's the Christmas party. We went with my sister Kenzie, which is my sister's daughter, my mom Arabella, and myself, and we had the best time. The girls looked so cute, and I think that'll be my next video too, showing you guys that whole entire trip because I did vlog it. I feel like this time of year in Disney is just someone matched. It is literally the best time. And if you live in Florida and you have little ones, you have to go. So let's jump into real estate. So real estate for me has not slowed down. It's already the 7th of the month and I've gotten one contract out, which is really, really amazing. And this was a really special contract because I got to help Sam's coworker. They're really, really good friends of ours. They're actually in our same exact community, which I'm so excited. And they are super excited about that house. So that's under contract right now. I feel like December is just one of those months that everything happens really quickly all at once, especially in real estate, that you don't really have a moment to breathe or think. You just have to like go, go, go, go, go. I've been working with a couple builders, new construction, showing them houses, um, talking about price outs and just negotiating for them the best I can. I'm also guiding everyone through their timeline. Since the year is wrapping up and we're either closing on ones or all my deals that I have like working right now are closing in the beginning of the month or the beginning of the year. So I'm kind of just following a timeline with everyone, keeping track of everyone's momentum basically. So right now I only have one active listing. I technically have two, but one's pending and we'll talk about that one in a little bit. But I have one house that's pending and we actually have time because the sellers for that house— I'm under contract with a builder in Palm Coast for their to-be-built house, so we definitely have time. I'm not really worried about it. Um, obviously the market's gonna pick up, so we're still having conversations. We might do a price drop, but all good so far. Even though the holidays are here, I feel like people are so motivated, and a lot of out-of-state buyers come in and they start looking and imagining their life here when they visit family. So I always say holiday season's a hit or miss because it can go really, really fast, and for some agents it can go really, really slow. And of course, content has been full steam ahead. I've been posting consistently on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. I missed like last week's upload, but that's okay. YouTube, Pinterest, I am working my tail off on being consistent. That's one of my goals for next year is to be consistent. And I said that I was going to be consistent. I always say this every single year, but back in May when I decided to go into general real estate, that's when I decided to really, really also focus on content creating because I feel like there's so many people that want to get into real estate or they are planning their next Disney trip or whatever the case may be. I feel like I'm the type of person that looks at other people on social media and try and envision my life like them, or if they're being productive, that makes me productive. So that's what I'm really trying to focus on and be more quality-driven more than, more than quantity-driven. Like, yes, it's nice to post every single week, twice a week on YouTube, but if the videos aren't great, I post. You guys have been loving the Disney vlogs, the Christmas videos that I've been doing on TikTok, the day in the life as a realtor content— that's been really doing good. And then also all the new construction homes that I've been doing tours with— everyone loves those. So I'm glad everyone likes those. It's always fun to see what video performs the best and which one just doesn't catch the viewer's eye. So I'm definitely going to be analytical based on what you guys are liking. And also, if you guys have comments on what you guys want to see, let me know as well. But honestly, I truly love bringing all you guys along for the journey because my life has been up and down the past couple years, and I'm just so thankful I have basically a video diary of my life. And when Arabella gets older, she gets to see it. When Kenzie, my niece, is older, she gets to see it. I know she watches my videos every single week, which is so cute. So I just love to have this whole entire series series available for me and them. Okay, so let's talk about what's coming up for the next part of the month because it is only the 7th, but we do have a couple weeks left of the month and they are extremely packed. I have a few buyers going through the process of homeownership, getting pre-approved, negotiating with builders, and trying to get the best deals possible, which I love. We have inspections, we have paperwork, we have closings. This month I have one closing which is in the middle of the month. Hopefully everything goes good. We are doing a new build with Meritage Homes, and we just finished our inspection. So we actually had to switch lenders, which was great, um, and she also got her incentives that she wanted transferred to the new lender, um, and we are good to go for closing on the 15th. I'm also prepping things for early January because that's when the market starts to pick up a lot more after the holidays. So I want to get my ducks in a row now so when January comes I'm not stressed out, I'm not burnt out, I'm ahead of schedule. On a personal note, and Arabella We are doing Nights of Light soon. We are doing another Disney trip soon. Um, we just have a lot going on. We're meeting Santa as well. I don't know if I'm gonna vlog it, but I'm so excited. Content-wise, I have a lot of videos planned and in the works. Um, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to share about wedding stuff. I haven't really talked about anything wedding with you guys, but we are getting married in April. Um, I've been going through the whole wedding process, and this is so weird to say. I thought I was never gonna like say I was doing the whole wedding planning thing. I thought I was just gonna announce it online and that'd be the end of it, but I kind of want to show you guys the process of what an out-of-country wedding looks like because we are not getting married in Florida or the United States. We're actually getting married in Europe, and I'm so excited, and it's in April, and I already found my dress, so There's a lot to get into, which I'm not going to say it in this video, but we have a lot of planning to do. So my goal for the end of the month, obviously I wanted one sale for December. I have my one closing happening this month, but my personal goal is to stay consistent and to stay extremely organized because I do have a lot going on in my life right now. If I can stay extremely organized and plan ahead for 2026, I feel like I am just setting myself up for success next year. I'm trying to have my biggest year yet in sales, my personal life, and everything like that. I feel like 2026 is definitely going to be extremely crazy and life-changing for me, which is exciting. Okay, so let's talk goals for December. My real estate goal is to close out my transactions for the month. Like I said, I have a closing on the 15th, and then we are pending on a sale which will happen closing— hopefully in January, mid-January. So like I said, I, I still need to schedule— we just did an inspection and we got to get what was found in the inspection fixed, so I'm trying to stay ahead on that. I would love to get another contract out by the end of the month, but I also understand how families are and starting the whole, whole home ownership thing during Christmas is kind of stressful. So I am working with a couple buyers and sending them floor plans and what they might like and what they might want to go see. Like, I just had an appointment yesterday. We, we toured Taylor Morrison house. We figured out that's not the floor plan they want. It's a little bit over budget, and I switched them to another builder. We might go see them, so I'll keep you guys updated on that. I also want to tighten up my system, so my CRM, my follow-ups, all of that. I feel like I have a good grasp on it, but I feel like I could always get better at it too and get more organized. I have my calendar on my iPad. I'm a digital planner girly. I have my personal planner, my content creating planner, my Bible, um, journal on here too. My whole life is on my iPad, and I highly recommend— I say this all the time whenever I talk about my iPad— I highly recommend getting one because it is just life-changing. Um, I'm a very type A person. I like to be extremely organized and know what's going on all the time, and I carry this all the time. Like, when we went to Disney, I was so happy I brought my laptop and my iPad, obviously my phone, because I was literally in the middle of Main Street and I was doing a contract. So I'm glued to my technology. My personal goal for December going into January is I want to slow down a bit. Like I said, I want to get my stuff together this month so come January I'm not as stressed out. I'm not saying that I'm very stressed out right now. I mean, I am but I feel like it's manageable. And with my closings next month, if all goes well, I have 3 closings all at the same time with one deal. So I have buyers buying my listing, my listing is buying a new construction home, so— and I'm representing the buyer and the seller, and then the buyer for the new construction. So it's all 3 deals, and it's not real— I mean, obviously money is important, but my biggest, biggest thing is I want everyone to be happy. I want everyone to get what they want.. I want them to be in the home that they want. That's my biggest goal. That will always be my biggest goal in real estate. Yes, the money is fantastic, but it's about being there for your buyers and being part of that process for them that makes it all worthwhile. I think I want simple mornings with Arabella. She's only in school 2 days a week now, Tuesdays and Thursdays. So we have gotten in a groove of mommy school, which we do work during the morning and I make her breakfast and then I start cleaning the house up and we do something different every single day. So sometimes you go to Starbucks, sometimes— some days we go for a walk, some days we go to the park, or some days we just chill at home. Then other days we just go to Disney. So I want things to be a lot simpler, and I want a more structured schedule in terms of balancing my real estate and being a mom all at once. And of course, I want to finish holiday shopping. I haven't even gotten started. My sister asked me what Arabella wanted, and I literally had Arabella going Amazon and pick out what she wanted it— wanted and put it in a list so I can just send it out to family members and tell them to delete whatever they buy so we're not double buying anything. Social media goals. So my social media goals is to say stay consistent. I've already said this, but I have a planner for content creating all on my iPad. Um, I have a schedule. I know what days I'm supposed— I'm supposed to upload. Like TikTok is every single day. I try to do it because it's Vlogmas. YouTube Thursdays and Sundays. And then I have an Instagram for my real estate page and then a personal Instagram. My personal Instagram, I don't really care about. It's more for family and friends and it's public for anyone, but I post a lot about like family. My real estate page is a lot of reels, a lot of content about real estate, obviously my closings, my sales, my going under contract stuff, all on that page. That page I post every single day. I'm also trying to build a stronger engagement on all my social media platforms. I'm trying to figure out what works, what doesn't work, what works, what doesn't work. I mean, every single social media platform is completely different. So a tiny little bit of a wedding update. December is kind of a lighter month right now. We're going through the process of getting a vendor for the florist. We're pricing out everything. I've sent them my mood board. We just signed contract for the venue, and then we also signed contract for the catering. So now we're looking at videographers, photographers, and also florists. That's where we're at right there. That's all I want to say about the wedding planning. Um, the good thing is we have hotels booked, we have our flights booked, everything's booked. Um, it's just like the details now about the wedding. So that's our wedding update. All right, moving into January, this is where I really want to refocus on my goals. So for January, for my business, I want to get at least 2 sales, obviously 3 closings, but I'm pushing for at least 2 closings. That's my biggest thing right now is those 3, those 3 closings. It's been such a headache, those deals, and I just want them to get to the finish line. Um, I'm really trying to lean more back into new construction. That's been my passion. I love, love, love, love, love new construction and the process of it. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with resales, it's just my passion has really been new construction. I love the bonds that I've made throughout Palm Coast with all of the new construction agents. So easy just to text my friends, my colleagues, saying, do you have a 2-story house with 3-car garage with a study? And then wait for their response. And if they do, they send me the floor plan and I can send it out to my buyers. So that's been a really, really, really good home base for me lately, and that's what I'm trying to focus in most in January and in 2026. My personal goal, like I said, I really, really, really want to stay on a schedule, a routine. I want to get fit again. I want to plan dinners ahead of time. I want to just be on a schedule I know I can maintain that's easy and natural for me. Um, I work best in my mind. My mental stability is best on a routine-based, um, schedule. So I definitely want to kind of make or tweak the schedule I have into more productive for next year and next month. I just want January to feel comfortable and calm but productive. On social media and YouTube For YouTube, like I said, I'm still sticking to that Thursday-Sunday schedule. I want to bring in more real estate educational videos and also day-in-the-life videos and really grow on all my platforms altogether. I have really big content goals for 2026 that I'm so excited for. You guys have no idea. And I feel like January is really the foundation for that. And that is it for my December recap. Obviously there's going to be more that happens throughout the month, but I just wanted to share where my mind is, get you guys a recap video on how everything has been going and where I want to shift 2026 into, and also bring in my January goals as well so I can hold myself accountable for my goals in January now that I have it on camera. And thank you guys so much for watching and being here with me. Like, you guys have no idea how much it means. Even if it's just 50 views, 100 views, 1,000 views, it's still people watching me watching me progress and wanting to stay up to date, which just means a lot to me. If you guys have any January goals, please leave them down below. I would love to hold each other accountable and follow each other throughout this journey. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe like I said in the beginning of the video. It helps me a ton. And yeah, let's see where 2026 brings us. Anyways guys, thank you for watching. Bye!