When you first started your real estate business, you managed everything on your own. Your client base was small and you didn’t have dozens of listings. It wasn’t difficult to run your own advertising campaigns and respond to any queries.

Fast forward to today, you have a pile of clients and listings to manage every quarter. You want to maintain your pace but you also want to explore new ways to grow. You may take on more tasks yourself; hire more office staff; or add to your existing team’s workload.

If you’d rather not sacrifice your efficiency or that of your personnel, it’s smarter to hire a real estate virtual assistant instead. Not only are they knowledgeable in the industry but also they free up time for you to focus on your business.

Let’s look at the different ways that they help you become more efficient and effective below.

What is a remote real estate assistant exactly?

They are virtual workers who specialise in various services related to the real estate industry. Being that they’re a business admin, they’re capable of performing bookkeeping and secretarial tasks too. They act as your right hand beyond organising your listings or email inbox.

Why hire a real estate virtual assistant?

There are countless reasons why it’s better to outsource to real estate virtual assistant in the Philippines than an office-based one. The benefits include but are not limited to the following:

• They take care of their own overhead expenses, such as for their office equipment.
• They file their taxes, social security, and other government contributions themselves.
• They get and pay for their medical, dental, and other insurances on their own.
• They aren’t required to receive holiday or sick leave credits by labour laws.
• They are unlikely to demand for company-paid recreations and outings.
• They boost your productivity by overseeing basic tasks like taking notes.
• They are capable of working at any schedule that you set, including peak seasons.
• They offer a faster turnaround time in terms of call quotas or output.
• They may work evenings or weekends depending on your needs.
• They give you time to spend on yourself, your loved ones, and your hobbies.

What does a real estate virtual assistant do?

They aren’t your average secretary as they have specialised skills. For instance, many of the VAs in the Philippines have degrees and even higher certifications in their respective competencies. They aren’t limited to a single talent so don’t treat them as if they are!

Administrative

There are the standard responsibilities that you might want to offload to a personal assistant, such as:

• Organising your email inbox
• Responding to any chat messages or emails
• Setting up meetings with clients or partners
• Answering incoming calls and other receptionist tasks
• Recording or typing the minutes for your meetings
• Managing your appointment calendar
• Planning your itinerary and flights when travelling

Operations

If you’d rather not arrange schedules or deadlines yourself, it pays to hire a remote real estate assistant to help you with your day-to-day tasks, like:

• Entering data into the CRM and MLS
• Creating reports for clients or your own use
• Making, coordinating, and updating listings
• Gathering feedback from both colleagues and clients
• Performing basic accounting or bookkeeping tasks
• Managing documents including agreements and contracts
• Scheduling showings along with inspection services and more
• Recruiting and onboarding new agents
• Adding buffers to avoid any conflicts with appointments
• Managing your receivables and budget

Marketing

As vital as this might be for your real estate business, it takes up a lot of time and effort to do. A VA is able to take marketing tasks off your hands, including:

• Creating presentations and other materials for buyers
• Sending messages to your leads and existing clients
• Creating graphics and designs for print and digital assets
• Writing and/or scheduling blog posts
• Researching ideas for engaging content
• Updating your website
• Making templates and sending emails
• Staying updated on SEO trends for the real estate industry
• Posting, updating, and advertising on social networks
• Tracking and analysing data related to marketing
• Running and testing different marketing campaigns

Sales

Though they may be working remotely, your virtual assistant is a great help for:

• Researching leads for buyers and/or sellers
• Updating your database with notes on prospects
• Creating a list of prospects and giving each a call
• Following up with leads and guiding them through the funnel
• Setting up virtual appointments with clients
• Updating sellers on the performance of their property listings
• Analysing the businesses of your competitors
• Monitoring pricing points and market trends for different locations
• Finding property details like amenities and features

How to hire a real estate virtual assistant

There are plenty of candidates out there who want to gain a spot in your team. However, you won’t need to hire all of them—you likely need only one person. If you want to narrow down the list and ensure you end up with the most suitable applicant, consider these tips.

• Figure out what type of VA you need, be it full-time, part-time, or as needed.
• Get your business system and process in place before you begin recruiting.
• Assess where you experience a lot of bottlenecks and what tasks to outsource.

Hire a real estate virtual assistant in the Philippines

Continuing on the line of thought as above, hiring a real estate virtual assistant is a good business practice but must be done with eyes wide open. You must carefully consider all of your applicants before you decide on ‘the one’ to hire.

We at Remote Workmate are ready to assist you with offshore recruitment. Given our wide talent pool, we may already have candidates who meet your standards. If not, we will find qualified and experienced people to screen before we endorse them to you.