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Getting Started with Becoming a Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Virtual work setup has increased because of the pandemic. Businesses are now trying to recover and adapt to the “new normal.”
The real estate industry is not a stranger to this setup. Hence, it stayed on its ground despite the challenges of the COVID-19.
Real estate is an industry on lands and properties. Though seemingly it might require face-to-face interactions to close deal after deal, this isn’t always the case, more so when the pandemic has made almost every face-to-face business interaction impossible.
Real estate has been finding its way around the remote work setting. Virtual assistant (VA) jobs, among many others, have been making their rounds in the digital world for quite some time now. The demand for real estate virtual assistants started to help the real estate businesses in the remote market competition.
However, considering its nature, how is it even impossible to work as a virtual assistant in a remote industry? It might be a relatively new setup, but it is efficient in making their businesses grow, as found by agents, brokers, and property investors.
Real estate virtual assistants have the same tools and skills that non-VA’s have. The only thing different is that they work remotely, are more cost-effective and more efficient.
If you want to learn more about becoming a real estate virtual assistant, it will be described comprehensively moving forward in this article.
What do real estate virtual assistants do?
For the most part, virtual assistants handle the general administration tasks. For real estate virtual assistants, make these admin tasks specific to realty sale and real property management.
To give you an overview of the tasks of an online real estate virtual assistant, here are some responsibilities to consider:
Data Entry
Verifying, editing, and inputting necessary data is one of the primary tasks you’ll have to work on. Data entry is required in almost every industry, including real estate, virtual or not. Entering customer data or filing documents accurately will help you and your employer manage the real estate business.
Setting appointments and confirmations
Organizing appointments and confirming schedules is crucial in the real estate business. To close a deal, setting meetings or scheduling viewings is an essential process to achieve a feat. As a real estate virtual assistant, you’ll have to coordinate effectively with clients in setting real-time appointments, dealing with cancellations, and rescheduling.
Calendar Management
Following the previously mentioned responsibility, calendar management is also a critical task. You have to make sure that you can schedule appointments without conflicts.
Property Research
Clearly, doing several types of research on property listings is also a key area you’ll have to work on. As a real estate VA, you will be tasked to research on a regular basis. It will connect you and your employer or client on a personal level.
Helping clients in the primary and general tasks makes a real estate virtual assistant significant in the industry. Conducting research and analysis to help grow the business is also a must. There are definitely many more tasks that real estate VA’s do, but the indicated tasks are the most important ones.
Who do Real Estate VA’s work with?
Real Estate Virtual Assistants primarily work with real estate agents. These are people who run real estate-related businesses. They can be Property Investors, Agents, Brokers, or Sellers themselves. Since real estate VA’s help their clients make calls, follow-ups, closing deals, and documentation, any real estate business owners could use their skillset.
They hire real estate virtual assistants for the following reasons:
- Lack of time in managing admin tasks. Real estate agents often ask for help because they lack time to handle the general and basic tasks.
- Needs to prioritize the business for growth. Real estate agents have to prioritize their business; hence, instead of allotting time for admin tasks, they could expand their business.
- Needs someone to handle basic tasks in the real estate business. Managing paperwork, organizing files, communicating with clients are just some tasks that real estate agents find draining. Hence, they ask for help from those who can organize and create a system for them.
- Too busy establishing a presence in the market. Since the real estate industry is very competitive, growing a business can be challenging, especially startups. Most agents are too busy establishing their marketing campaigns on social media and other relevant platforms.
The Growing Demand for Virtual Assistants in Real Estate
The real estate business has been gaining more and more competition in the market, and staying on top of the game is a must. With the COVID-19 pandemic, property investors and agents have found it tighter to manage their businesses. It resulted in the increase of real estate virtual assistants demand.
Delegating tasks alone and thriving in such a competitive market demands hiring a practical assistant. As a busy real estate business owner, having a real estate virtual assistant is a big help, especially in areas that need active management. They are there to handle the work and help you save time to spend on growing your business.
Compared to real estate agents, those working in the digital world will also help you cut down unnecessary expenses. Hiring a real estate virtual assistant will reduce your office and other costs in hiring an in-house. With a remote VA, you can hire a skilled and professional VA from a vast talent pool!
Real estate virtual assistants work online, which means you can communicate with them on the go. It will help you get more work done in just a matter of time. It will improve the overall productivity and focus of your business.
How much does a Real Estate VA earn?
For property investors and agents, hiring real estate virtual assistants will cut some costs. However, this does not mean Real Estate VA’s are earning less. They are one of the highest-paying online jobs in the market at the moment.
The payment model for Real Estate VA’s is usually billed by the hour and not in a fixed monthly wage. Though it varies depending on your skill and country, the average annual pay of a real estate VA is $40,000.
Not too bad, considering how you can still manage your time and personal life. With more experience, you can earn a lot more as a real estate virtual assistant. It’s all a gradual process.
How many hours do they work?
If you are working full-time for a client, rending 30 to 40 hours per week is usual. However, for freelancers, it could be reduced to at least 10 hours per week. Nevertheless, working remotely still gives you the freedom to manage your time and win back your focus.
Work hours in virtual businesses are usually monitored with time management applications. As a real estate virtual assistant, you are still required to submit your daily worked hour reports. However, unlike in-house real estate assistants, being a VA gives you more freedom in your job.
What are the skills and training required?
To be an effective real estate virtual assistant, experience in real estate is not a must. You do not have to be a pro in the industry either. As long as you have the basic knowledge of how real estate businesses work, you can start there.
For starters, reading or joining virtual assistant courses could help ease your worries. However, most virtual assistants are self-taught. There are many available resources you can find online nowadays.
Watching videos on how property deals work and the documents needed could also give you basic training. Be confident when speaking with your clients or possible employers too. It will provide a good impression of your communication skills.
Additionally, learning about the property market on the location where your client might invest is a good grounding for a real estate VA. It will help you get a better picture of the ins and outs of the real estate business.
Learn about ROI’s too — this is crucial! Basic knowledge of ROIs for every property you’ll assess is a must. Luckily, there are real estate process cheat sheets and tutorials to help you learn more.
Is this job suitable for full-time moms at home?
Definitely! Full-time homemakers mostly find it hard to find profitable work-from-home jobs. However, with opportunities such as becoming a remote real estate VA, they can now start that side hustle at the comfort of their own homes.
Busy single moms or not, working from home as a realtor is a great opportunity. It has a lot of pros and is manageable according to one’s lifestyle. If you don’t want to be constrained by time and compromise your lifestyle, this might be the gig for you!
What kind of person is ideal for a real estate virtual assistant role?
Being motivated and staying true to the vision of the business will keep things going. There can be challenging parts, but real estate will work for you as long as you are eager to learn and have the right passion for your job.
There is no specific kind of person that we can say is ideal for a real estate virtual assistant role. Some traits are unique to one person and some to others. As long as you know the basics and work hard to meet your clients’ demands while helping them grow their business, then you’re just right as you are.
What are the challenging aspects of becoming a real estate virtual assistant?
All jobs have their challenging aspects, but some things that are specific to real estate are:
Finding available listings
One of the hardest things about real estate is finding a good listing, if not any listing at all. There could be countless listings available in the market right now but finding the right one is more complex than it sounds. Some available listings are sold at a high price, and some haven’t been taken by other realtors already. But that’s just how the competition works.
You can still keep your listing inventory and look beyond those available. Off-market listings could be your go-to in these situations. Several good properties are being sold but not listed in the market. So this is where your connections and transactional skill comes in.
Managing transactions and deals
As a real estate virtual assistant, you’ll be tasked to take on deals and transactions further. It meant responsibility, and with that, a significant challenge. Dealing with a variety of personalities in the real estate market can be challenging on a different level.
Some buyers, agents, or sellers could magnify undesirable behaviors. However, always remember to maintain professionalism in business transactions. The best way to close deals and handle tricky transactions is to preserve the aspect of business throughout.
Communication
Though this may sound like a basic task and challenge, communication could still be a huge problem. Besides being good in spoken and written communication, you also have to have good customer service to customers needing help or asking queries about properties. Basic knowledge of real estate terms will help you communicate with people in the same field more effectively.
Time Management
Becoming a real estate VA will teach you how to manage your time wisely. Having clients here and there with loaded meeting schedules can be confusing. But as long as you have the discipline, you’ll be able to set them up accordingly.
Competitiveness
Competitiveness has nothing specific to do with real estate per se. However, because of the growing demand for real estate VA’s, it is challenging to be at par with your competition. Many individuals aspire to become virtual realtors, so it’s always important to improve to keep up with the available skill sets.
Where to find work as a virtual real estate assistant?
Upwork
Upwork is one of the most popular freelancing platforms available for real estate virtual assistants. If you want to find yourself a client directly, you can start from here. It is a trustworthy site that provides numerous job opportunities for real estate virtual assistants. You can also bid more for more than a single job, build your skills while having the freedom to manage your own time.
Fiverr
This site is similar to Upwork; it is also a great platform for finding clients and working as a real estate virtual assistant. It is best suited for project-based tasks as a real estate virtual assistant.
Indeed
Opportunities might be rare but Indeed is a great reliable platform to find a great real estate virtual assistant job. Most jobs posted on this website offer full-time positions with benefits. So if you’re not into freelancing, you can watch out for real estate VA jobs from this site.
Building connections with like-minded people could lead you to the right real estate VA job. Many buyers look for VA’s from this site because it gives them an initial overview of your experience and background in real estate. Though not required, building skills and training experience in real estate could easily attract clients from this website.
Agencies
If you are looking for long-term real estate virtual assistant jobs, opting for an agency might be the best bet. Agencies will help find the client for you and at the same time offer you work once the project is done or your client leaves. Agencies are dedicated employers, and you could be hired within a day!
Final thoughts and advice for aspiring Real Estate Virtual Assistants
If you aspire to become a real estate virtual assistant or are planning to hire one, getting an insight into what they do is essential. To be a real estate virtual assistant, you have to have the guts to go for it first. Motivation will kick start any career you have in mind.
The desire to learn, passion for helping your client, and motivation towards growing the business will convince them to hire you. Everything can be learned, so do not be afraid of the challenges or the long list of possible tasks.
There you go. These are everything you need to know in becoming a real estate virtual assistant. I say — just do it!
