Many virtual assistants worked in other areas of corporate America before they went into business for themselves. If your area was real estate, think about the opportunities waiting for you as a real estate virtual assistant.
Real estate agents either work for a company or they can go out on their own and work as an independent. To make money, they sell homes and other properties. Agents stay busy with listings, showings, sales and other projects. Combine that with their office responsibilities and the “little details†and you have way too much for one person to handle.
The Market
As any business owner will tell you, it is hard to juggle promotion, client satisfaction, daily operations and professional affiliations all at once. Many new businesses like an independent real estate agent are not in the position to hire new employees at first. Besides that, the pick of local applicants may be less than qualified to do the job without some hand holding at first.
The real estate industry was among the first to use virtual assistants to meet their needs. Virtual assistants had the necessary skills to handle bookkeeping, accounting, database management and various other office activities. Virtual assistants that once worked in real estate decided to use that knowledge to build a niche business for themselves. As such, they were able to expand their services to real estate agents beyond just the basics.
Duties of a Real Estate VA
Virtual assistants that have been in the real estate industry know that an agent needs help with basic office needs and much more. With that in mind, virtual assistants, like you can offer services like:
- Business marketing plans (creating company logos, brands)
- Website management (virtual tours, website content)
- Contacting potential clients (home sellers, home buyers, FSBOs)
- Coordinating listing activities (data entry, promotional info, presentations)
- Closing activities (escrow, inspections, signings)
- Keep track of appointments
- Create new business leads
With the knowledge of real estate, clients will seek you out to make their job easier. You will be able to propose new areas for business growth, create sales copy depending on the area and the situation with the housing market and deal with the questions that customers ask but agents don’t always have time to answer.
Many real estate virtual assistants work with local agents and develop a professional relationship. With your expertise, you are not limited to that though. Maybe you deal mainly with website services. In that arena, you can create stunning websites and virtual tours for clients in any time zone as long as they provide the needed information for you to get started.
A virtual assistant in the area of real estate is a vital member of the team. Your knowledge helps the agents to concentrate on the business of helping clients to buy or sell property and leave the rest to you.
Virtual Assistant Training
VAClassroom provides courses to boost your business off the slow-track and offers affordable specialty training in the following areas:
- Certified Internet Marketing Virtual Assistant
- Certified Social Media Marketing Specialist
- Virtual Event Specialist Certification Training
- Blog Marketing Tips & Tactics
- Virtual Pathways Virtual Start-up Guide
- Fantastic Facebook Fan Pages
Keep an eye out for new and exciting courses in the works for 2010!