The Ultimate Guide to Hiring the Perfect Realtor Virtual Assistant

Real estate is a very dynamic industry. It changes by the day. Under such circumstances, it is essential to be organized and efficient. However, to manage an entire real estate business all by yourself, sometimes organizing does not feature on your list of things to do. Such people can benefit greatly by hiring a virtual realtor assistant who can help manage administrative burdens and pave the way for you to close the deals and get your business growing.

Here’s the perfect guide to finding, hiring, and working with a virtual assistant to fit your real estate needs perfectly.

Understanding the Role of the Realtor Virtual Assistant

Before you start looking for the perfect virtual assistant for your realtor business, it’s essential to know what a realtor virtual assistant does. Typically, the tasks for a realtor VA usually include:

Scheduling appointments and managing calendars

Handling phone calls and email correspondence

Updating property listings, posting new properties, and maintaining the MLS database.

Managing social media accounts and other marketing activities.

Preparation of paperwork, including contracts, leases, and closing statements.

Market research to gather data on a comparative market analysis.

Finding the Right Realtor Virtual Assistant

1. Define Your Needs

First, list the tasks you intend to outsource. This will help you know what kind of experience or skill your perfect realtor Virtual Assistant should have. Do you require administrative, marketing, customer service, or a combination of all three types of support?

2. Look for Relevant Experience

Hire a client who is either experienced in real estate or has some experience in related services. This candidate should be familiar with the jargon of the industry, as well as with the general procedures involved. Easy places to find potential VAs are Upwork, Freelancer, and those VA services specifically advertised as geared to realtor businesses, such as MyOutDesk or Belay.

3. Assess Skills and Competency

Once you have selected three or four potential candidates, it is time to assess their skills. For example, a perfect realtor Virtual Assistant should master the following:

• Real estate CRM
• Social media marketing
• Communication skills
• General knowledge of terms pertaining to the sale of real estate

Hiring the Perfect Realtor Virtual Assistant

1. Conduct Interviews

Videos can be sent out in combination with calls to assess the candidate’s communication skills and level of professionalism. Ask the candidate about previous experiences, what they did in the past with regard to certain tasks, and what they could bring to your business.

Sample Interview Questions:

Can you tell me about your experience with real estate management tools and CRM software?

How do you treat confidentiality, especially related to contracts and client details?

Describe one time you had a tough client. How did you manage to solve the problem?

How do you prepare or plan to ensure that you can accomplish several things at once?

2. Reference Checking

Always ask for and check references. Contact previous employers to verify that the VA has worked for them and that they are reliable. This will let you know how effective they are at work and whether they can be trusted for your needs.

Working with Your Realtor Virtual Assistant

1. Set Clear Expectations

Once you have employed a perfect realtor virtual assistant, you need to clarify what you expect of your VA. This would include discussion on tasks, priorities, deadlines, and quality of work expected. Clear expectations right from the start may help avoid misunderstandings and ensure that you have smooth workflow.

2. Designation of Communication Channels

Determine how you will communicate with your perfect realtor virtual assistant. Tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, or standard emails and phone calls may be used effectively. This is also a good time to choose regular check-in times for discussing tasks and obtaining feedback.

3. Use Collaborative Tools

Leverage technology to stay in sync. You can share documents, track workflow, and stay organized using Trello, Asana or Google Drive. Ensure that the VA has the same set of tools updated.

4. Feedback

Feedback in any working relationship is important. Provide constructive feedback periodically to the VA and encourage them to do the same. This will increase your efficiency level as well as the job satisfaction level of the VA.

5. Long Term Relationship

A long-term relationship will last longer with time, and the efficiency of the work will grow accordingly.

If your VA is performing well, then think about what can motivate them and drive them; they likely would have their career goals to talk about, professional development opportunities, and rewards for outstanding work.

Tools and Apps Every Perfect Realtor Virtual Assistant Should Use

1. CRM Software: Managing Client Relationships

HubSpot: The most widely used CRM system, HubSpot offers a full suite of service management for interacting and engaging with clients, automating marketing, and offering a means to organize customer data. It is very user-friendly and integrates well with other systems, making it perfect for perfect realtor virtual assistant to use when managing large numbers of client details and interactions with them.

Salesforce: Known for its deep functionality, Salesforce is another great choice of CRM for detailing client information. It boasts rich customization options and a great way to make the experience specific to a real estate business.

2. Communication Tools: Staying Connected

Slack: Slack is a very powerful messaging app that makes the collaboration in teams super smooth, hence easy to communicate for perfect realtor virtual assistant with the real estate agents they will be supporting. Other than creating channels around different topics, it also allows for direct messaging besides integrating many other productivity apps to bring all communications into one platform.

Zoom: Especially for video meetings with clients or team members, Zoom provides a reliable video-conferencing service for virtual property showings or client consultations.

3. Document and Transaction Management

DocuSign: Almost every agreement and contract requires a signature. With DocuSign, clients can sign documents online, which can accelerate this process and provide greater convenience to the buyer and seller.

Dotloop: All-in-one transaction management solution that provides real-time visibility into transactions and manages the easy flow of offers and closes deals. Quite effective for VAs who need to oversee the workflow of compliance document.

4. Marketing Tools: Marketing Properties

Canva: A graphic design tool that is so intuitive; perfect for the marketing production of flyers, brochures, and social media posts. With drag-and-drop operations and an incredible library of templates, it can get the message across very rapidly through professional quality visuals that pop.

Mailchimp: You almost cannot finish your email marketing without Mailchimp. It let VAs create, automate, and manage email campaigns that could be helpful in driving more engagement and attract potential buyers or sellers. It also offers analytics to gauge the success of every campaign.

5. Productivity and Organization Tools

Trello: Trello is a project management app to help you organize tasks and projects with boards, lists, and cards. A perfect realtor virtual assistant can use Trello in terms of managing everything from listings to marketing campaigns to keep it all organized and on track.

Google Suite: The set of productivity tools that includes Google Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Drive are all very important tools in the VA portfolio. They essentially enable services such as scheduling appointments, creating and distributing documents, data analysis, and file storage among many others, and it is essential to the operations of any business in real estate.

6. Social Media Management

Hootsuite: Managing many social media profiles is one of the most popular tasks assigned by realtor VAs. Hootsuite enables scheduling posts, engaging with followers, and even monitoring performance across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter from one centralized dashboard.

7. Financial Management

QuickBooks: QuickBooks is very efficient with managing invoices, expenses, and financial reporting. It gives you a clean view of the health of the financial real estate business and can save you precious time that might otherwise be involved in bookkeeping.

Conclusion

Hiring a virtual assistant can multiply your productivity in the real estate business and allow you to spend more time on sales and other client relationships. As long as you are aware of the role, select the correct candidate, and keep a good working relationship, you can get the most out of the benefits that you will reap by having a perfect realtor virtual assistant. Remember that success with a VA depends solely on communication and clear expectations. This is a way of maximizing the effectiveness of your real estate business fuelled by a pool of expertise coming from a skilled, dedicated virtual assistant. For more information & if you need perfect realtor virtual assistant, you can contact MyVirtualTalent.