The best way to become more efficient and organized in growing your real estate business is through delegation. Hiring a virtual assistant (VA) can help real estate professionals save time, money, and energy, while also increasing productivity. But you may not know how to hire a virtual assistant for real estate.
As a real estate agent, you might find that you end up spending more time sitting at a desk than prospecting for new properties and buyers. It’s unlikely that you got into the real estate business to do admin work and marketing, but these are inevitable parts of running a successful business. So, having a remote employee to take care of these things will help you focus on what matters—closing sales and helping people find their dream home or property.
In this guide, we will discuss how to hire a virtual assistant for real estate, including determining your company's needs, identifying desirable industry-specific skills, estimating the time commitment needed, and how Wing Assistant can link you up with an expert real estate virtual assistant who can support you as your grow your real estate empire.
Determine Your Company's Needs
Before you even start the process of hiring a real estate virtual assistant, you need to determine what your business actually needs. Getting clear on your company’s needs will help you identify the specific tasks you want to delegate to your VA. By doing so, you can hire the right person for the job who specializes in the areas you require.
Identify General Tasks the Assistant Can Perform
The most impactful way to utilize a real estate virtual assistant is to offload any general tasks that you find filling up your schedule. These are usually quite easy to perform but often tedious and time-consuming. Here are some of the general tasks a real estate VA can take care of:
Administrative Tasks
As a real estate professional, you may have to manage multiple tasks, including scheduling appointments, organizing files, and managing emails. A VA can help you with these tasks, allowing you to focus on your core responsibilities.
Marketing Tasks
Marketing is essential for you to continue to attract new clients, but it may not be your area of expertise. A VA can help with marketing tasks, such as managing social media profiles, designing flyers, and creating newsletters. Your VA can create and execute a social media marketing plan, increase your online presence, and help you attract more clients.
Researching and Contacting Potential Clients
A virtual assistant can help with lead generation, reaching out to potential clients, and contacting them to schedule meetings. They can also perform market research and analysis, helping you understand the real estate trends in your area.
Client Support Tasks
Your virtual assistant can provide customer service support by answering phone calls, responding to emails, and handling customer inquiries. Providing excellent customer service will help you build trust with your clients and boost your reputation.
Identify Desirable Industry-Specific Skills
The real estate industry requires a very specific set of skills. While a general virtual assistant can still be beneficial to your business, you want to work with someone who understands real estate inside and out. When looking for a specialized remote real estate assistant, here are some of the industry-specific skills you should be looking out for:
Familiarity with Real Estate Software and Tools
Your VA should be familiar with the real estate software and tools you use in your business. They should have experience in using software such as Multiple listing service (MLS) software, also known as internet listing service (ILS), CRMs like WiseAgent, LionDesk, or Realvolve, and document management systems.
Knowledge of Local Real Estate Laws and Regulations
Real estate laws and regulations differ by country, state, city, and even neighborhood. So your real estate VA should have an understanding of the particular laws and regulations in the area that your business operates. This knowledge will help you avoid any legal issues and ensure compliance with the law.
Experience in Conducting Property Research and Market Analysis
Property research and market analysis is the key to the success and growth of your real estate business. Without properties and knowledge of the current market, you have no business. Your VA should be able to gather and analyze data related to properties, including property value, market trends, and sales history.
Understanding of Real Estate Terminology and Jargon
As with every industry, there are specialized terms used by those in the biz. Understanding these niche terms helps to build authority and trust in your services. Your real estate VA should have a thorough knowledge of real estate terminology and jargon, which will help them communicate effectively with your clients and other real estate professionals.
Estimate Time Commitment Needed
Before hiring a virtual assistant, it is essential to estimate the time commitment needed for the tasks you want to delegate. That way, you can effectively allocate budget towards their salary, instead of overpaying for more hours than needed or not giving them enough time to complete tasks to a high standard.
Here are some tips to help you determine the proper time commitment needed from your remote assistant:
Calculating the Number of Hours Needed for Tasks
To determine the number of hours needed for tasks, first, create a list of tasks you want to delegate to your VA. Estimate the time it takes you to complete each task, then multiply that by 1.5 to account for your VAs initial learning curve. Obviously, you will complete the tasks faster than your VA since you know exactly what is to be done. But once your VA becomes more proficient, they will be able to work faster.
Once you’ve got an approximate amount of time per task, multiply it by the number of times you need the task completed per week or month.
Estimating the Workload During Peak Periods
Peak periods are times when you have more work than usual. There are different times of the year when there is more work to do than others. Often open houses are hosted on weekends, so you may have offers come in immediately after and have an influx of emails expressing interest.
According to a recent report from Attom Data, summer months are also much busier in general for real estate agents than October to December. Keep these factors in mind when determining what you need to delegate to your VA.
Determining the Flexibility Needed in the VA's Schedule
As with any employee, you need to account for the flexibility needed in your VA’s work schedule. Do you need your VA to work a set schedule with specific hours required each day? Or do you need a VA who is available on an as-needed basis, with more hours required some weeks and fewer hours the next based on the workload?
Post Listings on Real Estate-Specific Job Sites (e.g., Realtor.com)
Posting your job listing on real estate-specific job sites such as Realtor.com can help you find the right virtual assistant for your business. These sites specialize in connecting real estate professionals with qualified virtual assistants who have experience in the real estate industry.
Posting on generic job sites like Upwork, Indeed, or even LinkedIn can make it much harder to find a specialized industry professional. There is still quite a bit of work involved in running interviews, choosing a candidate, and onboarding/training them, but it’s a viable option.
Post in Relevant Social Media Groups and Pages
Posting your job listing in relevant social media groups and pages can help you reach a tailored market of real estate virtual assistants. Look for groups and pages that cater to real estate professionals or virtual assistants to find potential candidates that check your boxes. Again, like posting on a job board, you will have to take care of the interview and training process yourself.
Ask for Referrals from Colleagues or Other Agents
If there are other colleagues or other agents that you trust, it’s worth asking them if they are currently working with any quality VAs or have done in the past. This is a much easier process than weeding through hundreds of applications online and trying to pick someone randomly. Getting referrals from colleagues or other real estate agents means they already understand the industry and will likely be an asset to your business.
Hire through Real Estate Virtual Assistant Companies
The best and most effective way to hire a virtual assistant for real estate is through a real estate virtual assistant company like Wing. We specialize in connecting real estate professionals like you with qualified, experienced, and vetted virtual assistants to support your real estate business. Our virtual assistants are specialized in the real estate industry, and they will be dedicated solely to you so that they are available to handle all of your tasks.
We customize a package for you based on your specific task requirements, plus we manage the assistant for you so you can focus on high-level tasks. You’ll also get a customer success manager and work management app to streamline everything into one place. No weeding through resumes and conducting interviews, no long hours of onboarding, and you can change and customize the hours needed based on peak periods in your real estate business.
Hire a virtual assistant for real estate through Wing
Hiring a virtual assistant for your real estate business can help you save time, increase productivity, and focus on your core responsibilities and high-level tasks. By determining your company's needs, identifying desirable industry-specific skills, and using a real estate virtual assistant provider like Wing to hire your VA, you can find the best person to fit your needs.
Book a call with Wing to discuss your requirements and see how to hire a virtual assistant for real estate that will support the success and growth of your real estate company.
Kandice is a content writer & strategist with over 5 years of experience in digital marketing. She specializes in SEO-optimized content for the SaaS and tech industry. She’s a digital nomad, currently based in Mexico, and is passionate about helping other business owners and freelancers increase their productivity when working remotely. When she’s not behind her computer you’ll find her at the beach snorkeling, playing volleyball, doing yoga, or cooking up a delicious vegan meal.
