The real estate industry is one of the few businesses still growing and still very profitable.
Following up on deals and other paperwork are just part of the work load placed upon real estate professionals. Is the time spent chasing this paperwork the best use of their time, could they not be out meeting more clients and showing more property?
This is where Real Estate Virtual assistants come in handy. By having a knowledgeable and reliable person to help you out, you can focus on the tasks that require your expertise.
What Can a Virtual Assistant Do?
A virtual assistant can do many tasks that will help your business grow and let you maximize the time spent on each task, here are some example of what they can do for you:
Research
Find the answers to questions your clients will have about a given property:
· How are taxes reassessed in this area?
· Local shops
· Local Schools
· Is the community safe?
· What are the advantages of living in this location?
· Do you have anything that fits my requirements?
It pays to have all the information you need ready when you need them and a virtual assistant can make it happen by conducting an in-depth research, this is time freed up for yourself, time you can now spend with clients.
They can help track market trends and pricing points for a variety of locations, keep you up to speed by carefully analysing your competitor’s strategies, and find property details that will suit your client’s needs.
At the moment these task will be carried out by a real estate professional, is this really the best use of your time, offshore Virtual Assistants can be very affordable and will help you release time that you can either spend with new clients and or with your family, ensuring you have the right balance between work and personal life.
Appointment Scheduling
Real estate professional have a hectic schedule, continually out meeting new clients, setting side time to find new clients and managing your hectic schedules, after all as a Real estate professional the more time you spend with clients the more sales you will make.
It is crucial to stay on top of things so you won’t miss any of these appointments but that’s easier said than done considering your list of responsibilities.
This task is perfect for a Virtual assistant, they can help manage and arrange your schedules and help ensure that you spend your time in front of clients and not getting frustrated trying to manage your calendar.
A virtual assistant can actually do more than just manage your calendar. They can also answer calls and reply to emails to make your calendar more organised.
Your virtual assistant can also send you timely reminders so you won’t miss an appointment, ensure you have all the relevant documentation.
Clerical Tasks
The one sure thing about the real estate business is that there is a ton of paperwork, everything from client details, financial records, and property information, and much more.
As overwhelming as they may be, unfortunately, these tasks are essential but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to deal with them yourself.
By outsourcing your data entry and bookkeeping tasks to a virtual assistant, you can become more productive by focusing on the more crucial aspects of the business.
Social Media Management
There’s no question that social media is more than just a place to “hang out” and reconnect with old friends, most business today and driven by social media and having a social media presences for the real estate professional is definitely key to the over success.
While it’s easier said than done, social media marketing can take a lot of time, something a realtor like you doesn’t have a lot of.
A virtual assistants can be a life saver here, helping you improve your social media presence overall, thus helping find more clients, more clients means more sales. They can run social media campaigns, engage prospective clients, come up with marketing materials, and even perform SEO and write blogs as required.
This is definitely an area that a virtual assistant can help and save a lot of time and money.
Prepare Monthly Reports
Understanding how your business is performing is key to understanding the factors to making it a success.
You need to track your goals against some of your key performance indicators (KPI) and the best way to do this is through regular reporting.
A virtual assistant can help generate reports, Daily, Weekly and Monthly, that would show you all the important numbers relevant to your business, thus helping you make informed choices.
How Much Does A Virtual Assistant Cost?
Hiring an Offshore Virtual Assistant can help save you money, they only get paid when they work, and they only work when you needed them, if you compare
this with hiring somebody that is office based you have a major saving, with a Virtual Assistant you will have no office overheads, electric, computers etc. and if your assistant is offshore the pay-rates will be much lower, for example in the USA you would be paying between $30 to $70 per hour, if office based you will have the setup costs which could be anything up to $5,000 depending on the equipment required.
A virtual assistant based in the Philippines would normally be between $7 to $15 USD an hour, rate is driven by their experience and what you are willing to pay, for some very experienced virtual assistants this rate can go up to $30.
You have to decide if you want to use an offshore individual or one based in your home country.
Benefits of Hiring A Virtual Assistant
What will you gain by using an Offshore Virtual Assistant? This is a key question.
Save More Money
One of the biggest benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant is the amount of money you’ll save. If you compare next to an employee that comes into the office every day, with a virtual assistant they only get paid when you need them, and you could have different virtual assistants for different tasks, one that has accounting experience to help with book keeping, one that you use for social media campaigns, one that helps keep your calendar straight and full. The list goes on, the only limit is what you need and want.
As an offshore virtual assistant you have no insurance obligations, no tax payments, no increased office overheads, such as desk equipment, electric, internet etc. and by using tools such as TimeDoctor you can see what they are doing and only pay for work that is authorised by yourself.
You may have a period of training, but again you will only pay for the specific time spent training, you will not have any costs associated with down time.
Every business looks for ways to save money and hiring a Virtual Assistant is definitely an excellent way to achieve that.
Better Work-Life Balance
All work and no play is no fun, but something I am sure you are aware of. Hard work is always required to ensure your business is a success, you need to ensure that you still have a home life, a personal life. Removing admin tasks from your work load at very affordable rates will not only help relieve some of the stress but also free up time that you can spend away from work recharging etc.
Increased Productivity
As a real estate professional you have always got a lot of tasks on your never ending list. While most of them are considered essential, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to be the one to perform them, especially when you have a virtual assistant to delegate to.
Updating databases, making phone calls to clients, and sending follow-up emails are essential but they can all be managed remotely as well.
Having a virtual assistant will allow you to concentrate on core tasks like closing deals as well as several other business-related activities so you can grow the business faster.
Conclusion
Running a successful real estate business requires a lot of hard work and patience, getting help at an affordable rate and that you only use when required will definitely help your business grow and help you enjoy the fruits of your labor.
If you’re still on the fence on whether to hire a virtual assistant or not, all you have to do is look at the information provided because the benefits of hiring one can make a huge difference not only in your business but your personal life as well.
If you’re ready to grow your real estate business, Virtual Staff is here to help. Unlike other platforms we don’t charge commission what you agree to pay the Virtual Staff you find is the price you pay,
we charge a simple monthly subscription, and that never changes. You have nothing to lose by downloading and registering today, it is 100% free and safe to download and register.
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