How to Find a Virtual Assistant

Have you found yourself spending too much of your valuable time doing mundane tasks? Scheduling meetings, chasing down signatures, data entry, or managing social media accounts?

A real estate virtual assistant could take all these tasks (and many more) off your plate. When it comes to hiring a real estate virtual assistant (VA), you have many options. One is bound to suit your needs and free up more of your time to do what really matters.

Where to Find a Virtual Assistant

The process of finding a real estate virtual assistant can be overwhelming at first, but understanding all of your options can help. First, you need to decide if you want a dedicated virtual assistant or a task-based one. A dedicated VA will work with you on a long-term basis, and will require training on how you specifically conduct business, just like any other employee. Task-based VAs are hired on a project-to-project basis, and only work when they are needed.

Next, you need to decide if a US-based or overseas VA will be more beneficial to you. If you have a smaller budget and are looking for someone to cover the behind-the-scenes work, an overseas VA could be perfect for you. Mytasker is an India-based general virtual assistant company that has affordable hourly rates and great reviews. Myoutdesk offer VAs specifically trained in real estate but at a higher price. US-based VAs are more costly, but if would like them to interact with clients and have the refined English skills to do so, then a US-based VA may be favorable to you. You also have the option of hiring a freelance VA from sites like Fiverr. These can take more time to vet and interview, but can be more affordable help.

It is important to consider hiring a general virtual assistant and training them to meet your specific needs. A virtual assistant that has real estate experience and credentials will be much more expensive and still require training on how you specifically do business. It is worth your time and money to do some investigating to see if a general assistant with training could accomplish the tasks you need done.

Specialized Real Estate Virtual Assistants

There are a few different types of virtual assistants that specifically assist you with real estate business. The first is a virtual transaction coordinator. Transaction coordinators can be a tremendous help with the mountain of paperwork that is associated with real estate. Taking your worry and time off the paperwork allows you to spend more time making sure the client is happy and taken care of. You can find a helpful transaction coordinator today from companies like Transactly.

Another helpful real estate virtual assistant is a virtual outbound sales assistant. The job of these assistants is focus on generating leads. They do this by cold calling, contacting expired listings, or other potential sources. This can be extremely beneficial to you because it provides you with new leads without spending your time finding them.

On the flipside, another type of virtual assistant is a virtual inbound sales assistant. These assistants solely focus on cold, inbound leads until they are ready to buy or sell. It can take a long time for people to actually buy or sell a property, even after contacting an agent, and these assistants work on nurturing those leads with email drips and marketing material.

Tips on Hiring a Freelance Virtual Assistant

Many VAs are associated with a freelancer company. This can make life a lot easier for you, because depending on the company, they can track your VA's hours, what they have been doing, and handle payment processing. However, if you have never hired from a freelancer company, you don't want to find yourself unprepared. Make sure you find an applicant that you trust as they could be handling sensitive information.

Include a test the applicants must complete.

Creating a small task that is consistent with the work you want the VA to do can help weed out applicants that are unable to help you. This task should only take a few minutes and then you are able to evaluate them on efficiency and quality of work.

Interview the applicant.

Hopping on a video call to talk with your potential VA is a good step in evaluating their English and overall communication skills.

Start with a trial period.

Explain to the applicant that there is a paid trial period for the position, such as two weeks. This allows you to assess the work the applicant is capable of and if it benefits you. If you are not satisfied with the applicant's work, it is easy to let them go and begin your search again.

Be absolutely clear.

When hiring a VA, you want to be very specific on the tasks you want completed and the hours you would like them to work. This ensures they are always available when you need them and there is no miscommunication on their job.

What a Virtual Assistant Can Do for You

A real estate virtual assistant has the ability to do a lot for you. Below is only a short list of some of the tasks a virtual assistant could complete. Not having to do these tasks gives you more time to focus on closing sales and building clientele.

1. Lead Screening
2. Cold Calling
3. Scheduling and Calendar Management
4. Manage Social Media
5. Edit Writing
6. Listing Research
7. Improve Customer Service
8. Data Entry
9. Contract to Close Tasks

At the end of the day, having someone to do the tedious and time consuming tasks that are associated with real estate allows you to focus on more important work. Whether a specialized real estate virtual assistant or a general virtual assistant would be more fitting to you, it is easy to see that a VA could benefit you. It can take some time to find a VA that is best suited for you, but if you are willing to put in the effort to find one, the advantages of having one could greatly outweigh the costs.

To view the original article, visit the Transactly blog.

Further Reading

• Detailed Guide to Hiring an Assistant for Your Real Estate Business
• Thinking of Hiring a Virtual Assistant? What You Need to Know