Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Whatever can be done on a computer or over the phone can be done offshore
You got into real estate because you love the business. You’re driven by a passion to get the best deal for your clients. You’re a people person and so is everyone on your team. So why are you spending so much time in front of the computer, following up emails, sending invoices, doing paperwork, and making phone calls?
A Real Estate Virtual Assistant can do all of those tasks and more.
Imagine if each of your property managers and salespeople had their own personal assistant. Someone to update their calendars, send reminders, draft emails, follow up leads, update your databases, edit photos, and create and place ads. Imagine how much time they would have to get on with the business of selling homes and delighting clients. And imagine if you could do that at a fraction of the cost of hiring someone local to support the whole team.
Why are you spending money on boring repetitive tasks that can be handled offshore? Stop wasting time and start focusing on what you do best – selling and managing properties.
What is a real estate virtual assistant?
A Real Estate Virtual Assistant is an employee who works for your company from an offshore location. They are 100% dedicated to your business and can take on a variety of tasks.
Usually, a real estate VA doesn’t specialise in one specific area. They will be a generalist, supporting one member of your local team. The VA is responsible for appointment setting and confirmations, calendar management, data entry, and any other task that is thrown at them. Their job is to handle and free up the time of the person they are assisting.
Although they are remote, they work the same hours that you do. They are there to assist you.
Globally, more and more businesses are using Real Estate VAs. In a competitive world, hiring offshore staff makes sense. Not only are local staff expensive, but often they don’t like being bogged down in administrative tasks. Your dedicated Real Estate Virtual Assistant will take care of those time-consuming admin tasks for your real estate business.
What tasks can a real estate virtual assistant do?
The first thing you want to know is how much money hiring a virtual assistant is going to save you, right? And it’s an important question. But before we get into that, you need to think about the sorts of things you can hand off to your virtual assistant.
The tasks that your VA can do will vary depending on your sales or rental model. Below is a summary of the most popular admin tasks you can take out of your office and send offshore.
Social media management
Social is one of those tasks that seems to fall to ‘whoever has time’. But in a connected world, that’s exactly where your customers are. Are you using the right hashtags? Are your photos Insta-worthy? What does your posting schedule look like? Maximise the power of social by having a professional handle it for you.
Data mining and updating lists
This is one of the most time-consuming tasks in your office, and yet it can provide the most value to your business. We know that digging through old listings or finding ones that are about to expire can be a gold mine. Leave it to your VA to do the research – leaving you the time to follow up the leads yourself.
Qualify leads and setting appointments
How you generate leads is up to you – it could be through cold calling, web enquiry forms, inbound calls, or collecting emails at events. Your VA will contact each of those leads and set up appointments for the qualified ones. Then it’s up to you to close the deal – easy.
Data entry
Keeping your databases up to date is essential. Whichever property management systems you’re using, whether it’s for Trust accounting, applications, or maintenance schedules, your VA will process incoming information and update your systems. No more trying to snatch a few hours in your hectic day to do it yourself.
Appointment scheduling
Sometimes it feels like you need to be everywhere at once. Keeping your calendar sane is tough when you’re fielding calls, reaching out to potential new clients, and organising viewings and open houses. Count on your Virtual Assistant to keep your schedule on track so all you need to do is show up and be where you’re needed.
Blogging
The saying these days is ‘content is king’. Keep your website relevant and improve your SEO rankings with ongoing updated content. Your virtual assistant will create posts that engage with your customers, providing information they find interesting and relevant, and building trust with your company.
Arrears management
People fall into arrears for all sorts of reasons, and often all that’s needed is a quick phone call or email. Of course, a few ‘quick’ calls every day takes time, added to the fact that you’ll probably need to update your database to record the call, or schedule another follow-up. Yes, your VA can handle that too because calls look like they come from your office. One less stress.
Drafting emails and letters
Real estate professionals are great at what they do because they’re brilliant at leveraging their networks. They love to talk. They don’t always love to write. Your REVA can take on the tedious task of drafting emails and letters to clients. Don’t face the blank page. Start with a draft that says exactly what you need to say and then all you need to do is hit send.
Database Management and CMA Preparation
You’ve already figured out by now that your virtual assistant will help you keep all your data up to date. And that goes beyond just your sales and property management databases. You need to be the expert in your core location, and that means knowing every school and supermarket in the area, every new approved development, changed traffic conditions, and which houses in which streets have sold and for how much.
That’s a lot of data. That’s a lot of lists.
Your VA can set up alerts and constantly check countless websites, ensuring your information is always 100% up to date. Having all that information and important data ready and available makes preparing a Comparative Market Analysis a breeze and makes you sound like the total professional that you are.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is one of those essential tasks that is entirely done on a computer. There’s simply no need for your bookkeeper to be on site. Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant will keep track of your expenses, bills, reimbursements and payroll and make sure that everything is organised in a coherent system. You’ll be able to constantly check on your company’s financial health instead of hoping for the best each quarter.
Answer all phone communications
People are often surprised that a real estate virtual assistant can handle incoming and outgoing phone calls. Your VA will have excellent English and will have no problems talking to customers. Think about it – most calls are people asking about a viewing time or to see if a property is still available. That’s information that can easily be dealt with by your VA.
Respond to emails and chats
The same goes for emails and live chat. Those little emails sure do build up. Imagine if they were just taken care of, almost automatically? Your real estate virtual assistant will deal with the minor communications, leaving you time to chase up the important stuff.
Live chat is another area which is growing in popularity but it’s one of those tasks that no one in your office has ownership of. Your real estate VA is the person for that job.
Design advertisements
Your real estate ads probably follow a fairly consistent format. Photo, text, icons for bathrooms and bedrooms. But making it look gorgeous every time can be time consuming. Your real estate virtual assistant will give each ad the care it needs so that every pixel is perfect and looks completely professional.
How much management will your VA need?
By now, you’re convinced. You’re drawing up a list of all the tasks in your own office that you can outsource. The next question to answer is how much time you’ll need to invest to manage your new VA.
This is something you need to seriously consider. Like any employee, you need to set clear guidelines about what tasks your VA will do and what the expectations are. Create a schedule that makes sense for both of you, and make it clear that sometimes urgent things will come up. Do you work consistent hours? How about weekends? Which things should happen on which days? Are some tasks daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly?
Never fear. ShoreAgents can guide you through this process. We’ll consult closely with your business to establish job descriptions, guidelines and best practice. Once you’re all set up, we’ll take care of the employee management side so you don’t have to worry about payroll, attendance and tax.
As you set up your routine with your VA, you’ll both be learning. Some processes will be tweaked to keep everything running smoothly. But very quickly you’ll see tremendous payoffs and you’ll wonder how you ever got by without your real estate virtual assistant.
How much can my real estate business save by outsourcing?
This is a tough question to answer as it depends entirely on the size of your business. Here are some questions to consider.
How much time each week do your salespeople spend on admin?
What would it mean to your business if they used that time to meet with people, build networks, and sell properties?
How many properties does each of your property managers handle?
How many more could they handle if most of the repetitive admin was done by someone else?
In our experience, a property manager with a real estate virtual assistant can go from 150 properties to 300. Yep, you read that right.
How much does it cost to keep a staff member on site?
When you hire a real estate VA, you get the whole package. The cost includes their salaries, pensions and health insurance, but it also includes the desk, computer, internet, air conditioning, and all those little overheads that build up as costs to your business.
We Have A Success Story to Share
Steve Lovegrove
Hi, I’m Steve Lovegrove from the Professionals, business owner. If you’re thinking about outsourcing and you want to get a life in your business then you need to call Stephen Atcheler at ShoreAgents. Stephen and his team will really help you save money and save time. We’ve saved a total of $200,000 of overhead costs per year by getting our team set up at ShoreAgents in the Philippines with Stephen. It’s been a great move for our company. We now can rely on things to get done efficiently cost effectively and on time.
So have a chat to them. It can change the dynamic of your business and certainly make you way more competitive in this very demanding market of real estate right now. Cheers.
- Lower your wage bill
- No quality compromised
- Streamline your systems
- Increase productivity
Steve Lovegrove saved
$200,000 in over head costs!
Ready to hire your first Real Estate Virtual Assistant?
Hopefully, by now you’re convinced the value that a real estate VA can provide to your business. So what is the next step?
Hiring your first REVA can be a big step. The best thing to do is to work with an agency that hires and sets up offshore employees. At ShoreAgents, we specialise solely in real estate virtual assistants. We know the real estate business inside and out and we have deep knowledge of the needs that are specific to the industry.
Get in touch with us for an informal chat about how your first real estate virtual assistant can start helping your business immediately.