Best Virtual Solutions: Would a Virtual Real Estate Assistant be a Good Match for You?

Many real estate agents are currently working with a virtual real estate assistant and loving it. Is it different than working with someone right in your office? Sure. Can it be just as effective? Absolutely! The trick is in finding the right person with the right skills. Let’s talk about what a good virtual assistant match would look like for you as a real estate agent.

Knowledge

You may think that your best virtual assistant would be a former Realtor, but this is not always the deciding factor. While a former Realtor will come with this specific built-in knowledge, he or she may not have the administrative or social media skills you’ll also need to keep your office in great shape.  A good virtual assistant has a wide variety of knowledge and enough overall experience to quickly come up to speed in a particular area like real estate.  The motto of a great VA is, “If I don’t know, I’ll find out.”

You also may be looking for someone to help you with web design or social media. Here too, knowledge is essential. You wouldn’t hire someone to manage your Facebook account if she didn’t even know the difference between friends and fans or what it means to “like” something. And while you may not need to hire a full-fledged web designer to manage your regular website updates, a bit of HTML and design knowledge is always helpful, not to mention a firm grasp on SEO.

Efficiency

Someone who can take your tasks and accomplish them quickly, accurately, and on time with little direction after the initial request is worth their weight in gold. You will want a virtual assistant who fits this category.

Resources

As much as we wish we did, none of us knows everything there is to know. (Although I will admit I’ve met a few people who sure thought they did!)  Good virtual assistants will have many resources at their disposal. They will possess the ability to research new information, the desire to always improve and learn through training on their own time, the necessary software and tools to handle their client’s work, and a network or team of other virtual assistants with their own unique talents who can collaborate efficiently to get your work done.

Flexibility and Organization

This is where you come in. While it’s important for your VA to be flexible to meet your needs, it’s also important for you to be flexible and organized. While your virtual assistant will make the best effort, things cannot always happen overnight. It’s quite possible that the VA has other clients, and new tasks usually have to be placed behind the ones currently being worked on. This means that if you forgot until 10 a.m. on Saturday morning that you need fliers created to hand out at your 1:00 p.m. open house, then you are quite likely not going to be able to get your VA to make them for you.

Trust

You have to be able to trust your virtual assistant. You will be handing over the majority of your system logins, account numbers, and perhaps even your credit card number. You will likely be paying upfront for work yet to be done. You will not be able to hover over her desk to make sure she is entering your new listing exactly as you wish. These are thing you will have to trust her with. It can be stressful to let go of the control of these things, but it’s vital that you do. If you find that you are the sort of person who can’t relinquish control of your systems, then you might not be a good fit for a professional virtual relationship.

Communication

This one goes both ways. Both you and your virtual assistant must be able to communicate well with each other and anyone else involved in the operations that your assistant is helping you with. This communication will likely be through email, but it could also include significant phone time, instant messages, faxes, texts, and even occasional snail mail. Everyone is different, and the method that works for someone else might not work for you. Keep a line of communication open with your assistant and you will soon find the method that fits both your personality and that of your assistant.

At Best Agent Business we have qualified virtual real estate assistants who work together as a team. Many of our assistants are or have been real estate agents. When you come on board you will have one or two assistants that work directly with you and many others who will work for you in the background. All of the items I have listed here today are vital to the efficient completion of our client’s tasks. Interested in seeing if you are a fit for our virtual assistant style? Click here to schedule a meeting with Steve Kantor, President and Founder of Best Agent Business.

--Post submitted by Kim, Virtual Real Estate Assistant, Best Agent Business