15 Tasks for a Virtual Assistant in Real Estate

Lots of marketers get into actual property due to the fact they need to paintings smarter, now no longer harder—and one of the quality approaches to do this is to lease a digital assistant to assist with a number of the tedious duties which might be essential to maintaining and developing your commercial enterprise, however that don’t require an actual property license or quite a few specialized information to execute.

That said, it’s now no longer continually smooth to inform while you’re prepared to take the step to lease a digital assistant. A more recent agent won’t have sufficient commercial enterprise to hold an assistant busy and engaged, and it wouldn’t be really well worth the cash you’re spending on that assistant to have interaction with them. On the opposite hand, in case you wait too long to lease an assistant, you then definately’ll virtually be spending time on duties which you have to sincerely be outsourcing, which is likewise a waste of your cash!

For the functions of this piece, we’re thinking about digital assistants exclusively, now no longer inner income marketers (ISAs), who're certified actual property professionals; digital assistants aren’t as specialised, and they are able to’t put together contracts or paintings carefully and without delay on transactions, however they’re simpler to lease and greater affordable—consequently greater available for maximum marketers.

Step 1: Track Your Time Spent on These 15 Tasks

To determine while it’s time to lease a digital assistant, spend every week or two (or a month, if you may) monitoring the quantity of time you spend on those distinct sports. Use a time-monitoring app that works throughout your computing device and cell devices (RescueTime, Toggle, and Clockify are 3 famous options.)

1. Managing your calendar

A actual property agent’s calendar is, well, busy! Virtual assistants can assist locate exact instances for marketers to fulfill with customers for list displays or buyer’s introductions, and they are able to make certain that any very last walkthroughs or closings are on an agent’s calendar and they’re now no longer double-booked.

2. Helping with scheduling

Isn’t this the equal factor as handling your calendar? No, now no longer exactly. An agent’s basic agenda additionally consists of activities and duties that they aren’t going to be for my part gift for due to the fact there’s no want. 

For a list agent, this could consist of scheduling domestic showings for involved consumers, making sure that everybody has adequate time to stroll through, there’s no overlap, and the dealers additionally have the cappotential and bandwidth to vacate the belongings at the same time as the consumers are looking.

Agents who assist their customers with distinct offerings, which include inspections or restore paintings, may additionally need a few help scheduling the ones activities, particularly if it seems they’re spending an hour or greater each week managing information round scheduling.

3. Responding to (a few) electronic mail

A digital assistant won’t be capable of solution all of your electronic mail (there are a few transaction-associated communications that they aren’t certified to contact), however in case you installation your electronic mail inbox with suitable filters, then an assistant can clean out plenty greater than you’d imagine!

4. Updating your internet site 

One factor is continually proper approximately each entrepreneur who hosts a internet site: No one updates theirs often sufficient! Whether it’s marketplace information and facts, new listings, well timed weblog posts, or different internet site improvements which you’ve were given your eye on, for lots marketers, preserving up with their internet site can sense like a complete-time activity in and of itself.

In a great world, how plenty time might you spend updating your internet site on a weekly or month-to-month basis? While you’re monitoring a while, do your quality to stay as much as that best vision; it'll assist you higher decide whether or not a digital assistant might be a profitable investment.

5. Handling your bookkeeping

Agents must contact quite a few distinct debts for you to do their activity, or even in case you’ve were given automated bills installation and prepared to go, it nevertheless is probably beneficial to have a person overseeing your debts as in case you’re, well, a commercial enterprise! 

Using a digital assistant to assist together along with your bookkeeping can assist save you you from persevering with to pay for subscriptions or offerings which you by no means use due to the fact they definitely slipped your thoughts, in addition to keep away from any past due charges for forgetting to pay on time. Heck, you may even ask them to assist tune charges and mileage for tax functions in case you need!

6. Handle social media posting

Love it or detest it, social media has grow to be an an increasing number of critical a part of a actual property agent’s day. While a few marketers can pop onto Facebook and Instagram and create that ideal list submit that receives a ton of natural engagement, reputedly with out even trying, others warfare to make the time spent on social media paintings for them.

If you’re leaning greater in the direction of the latter camp, then having a digital assistant manipulate your social media can be extraordinarily beneficial for you, particularly in the event that they have a few form of specialised revel in (many do). 

7. Listing advertising

From making the appointment for the purifier or the stager to shine up the list, to reserving the photographer for the photos, to writing the list descriptions, to getting the entirety prepared for importing to the MLS, your internet site, and social media—the ones are all vital commercial enterprise sports that may in all likelihood be carried out, and carried out higher, through a person else.

For this activity, attempt to file at the least one list throughout a while monitoring, and deliver it your complete attention. If you don’t try this for each unmarried list you contact at the same time as you’re seeking to verify a while spent, at the least you may ballpark a complete primarily based totally on the only which you did display quite a few love.

8. Research marketplace trends

What’s the common days on marketplace withinside the community wherein you figure with the maximum consumers and dealers? How approximately the median? What have expenses been doing? 

No doubt you recognize all of those numbers greater or much less off the pinnacle of your head, however they’re questions that marketers must solution continually and accurately, and you may ensure that the quality and maximum latest solutions are continually at your fingertips through having your digital assistant hold tune of while the brand new information may be to be had out of your favored source, then ensure which you have it.

9. Solicit evaluations and remarks from customers

After a a hit domestic sale transaction conclusion, maximum marketers would like a nice evaluate from their customers—and maximum marketers are running difficult on making sure the following transaction closes, so the closing factor they have got time to do is attempt to tune down their closing consumer, who in flip is transferring on with their existence as a brand new or former homeowner. 

But do you recognize who has all of the time you want to invite glad customers to post testimonials? A digital assistant!

Make a listing of each transaction you’ve closed withinside the beyond month, then verify who’s supplied a testimonial or evaluate for you, and who hasn’t. Did you get any kudos through an electronic mail or textual content message? Reply and ask in the event that they’d be inclined to post it as a evaluate, or if you may use it as a testimonial for your internet site. If you didn’t listen something, attain out to invite properly in the event that they’d thoughts supplying you with remarks both formally or unofficially. 

Decide how normally basic you’d like your assistant to attain out to former customers (greater than 3 might be overkill), and you then definately have to have a honest concept of the wide variety of hours you may allot to this assignment.

10. Create electronic mail campaigns

Once your CRM is wiped clean up and de-duplicated, you may use it for a number of the ones nurturing sports which might be so difficult to locate the time to do, however so beneficial in terms of lengthy-time period lead generation. General electronic mail campaigns on your contacts who're modern-day owners as opposed to renters aspiring to shop for are a terrific beginning point, and as you refine your segmentation, you may optimistically begin to become aware of the individuals who is probably maximum in all likelihood in shopping for or promoting faster instead of later and focused on them with greater precise electronic mail campaigns.

This is all quite time-consuming, and a digital assistant who’s were given revel in growing and jogging electronic mail campaigns can at the least get the inspiration began out for you and cope with the fundamentals at the same time as you iterate and improve. That should contain growing the segments the use of standards you deliver them, writing the emails, setting the campaigns withinside the software, making sure the entirety is despatched with out a snag, or even following up with simple questions, handing customers over to you while it’s time.

11. Prepare advertising substances

From list fliers to direct mailing substances to social media infographics and posts, a digital assistant who has a few heritage in layout or writing (or both) can really create your advertising substances for you. 

Finding one with those specialised abilities isn’t continually smooth, however if that is some thing which you don’t revel in and warfare to do quickly, then outsourcing may be a large time-saver, and your substances will continually appear fantastic!

12. Make your tour plans

This one would possibly look like a tease, however in case you had been working towards in actual property earlier than the pandemic placed the entirety on hold, you then definately in all likelihood don't forget doing such things as attending meetings to study greater approximately the commercial enterprise and studies new tools. Booking your aircraft tickets and inn rooms is any other assignment that a digital assistant can without problems cope with for you.

13. Arranging ultimate and seasonal presents

Do you deliver your consumers and dealers ultimate presents? How approximately Thanksgiving pies or Valentine’s Day candy? A digital assistant may be helpful for arranging the ones presents; on this day and age, a digital assistant can do actually it all for you—consisting of locating human beings to drop off the presents for you, except that’s some thing you need to do your self to get the face time in together along with your customers.

14. Data access and cleanup 

Quick—is your CRM as spick-and-span as you realize it have to be?

The communique that a digital assistant can (and have to) have together along with your customers within reason constrained, as they aren’t certified marketers themselves, however in terms of simple duties like doing away with duplicates out of your database; segmenting your customers into consumers, dealers, owners, or different categories; or making sure touch facts is up-to-date, a digital assistant will let you hold your CRM purifier than you’d be capable of for your own, even though it’s by no means pretty ideal. (Nobody’s is!)

15. Some constrained transaction management

Be cautious here, as you don’t need to provide your digital assistant any duties that might be desirable for an ISA; they aren’t certified or certified to reply sure consumer questions, for example. But a digital assistant can assist hold tune of transaction timelines and provide you with a warning if something is coming near a delay, for example. They can’t create a income settlement for you, however they are able to assist document your office work and make certain that any first rate files are observed or necessities are met