- Knowledge and experience in real estate
- Administrative skills for structure and order
- Mastery of the art of communication
- Ability to help you build your leads
- Proactive and resourceful.
- Skilled in managing your emails
- Has a social media prowess
- Great attention to detail
- Passionate for learning
- Possesses excellent customer service skills
- Self-Motivated
- Not afraid to make follow-ups
Are you ready to scale your real estate business?
Part of scaling is hiring a real estate virtual assistant who can help you streamline your workflow to improve your business’s efficiency and productivity and eventually increase your revenue.
However, before jumping right into onboarding your very own virtual assistant, the most critical question we need to ask you is: do you know what top skills your VA must possess for your agency?
When looking for a real estate virtual assistant, it’s essential to find someone with a specific skill set tailored to the needs of the real estate industry.
Without further ado, below are the top 12 skills to look for in a real estate virtual assistant:
1. Knowledge and experience in real estate
No matter what industry you are in, having sufficient knowledge and experience is crucial to get and perform the job well.
The same goes for being a real estate virtual assistant.
The real estate industry is complex on its own. With its own set of terminology, regulation, and processes, your prospective virtual assistant must possess at least basic real estate knowledge (or familiarity) and experience in real estate to be able to navigate these intricacies to save more time and reduce the likelihood of errors.
In addition, an experienced real estate virtual assistant can provide valuable insights about current market trends, property values, and neighborhood information. This information is vital for you as a realtor as it will guide you in deciding on property acquisition, pricing, and investment strategies.
2. Administrative skills for structure and order
Another vital skill that you should look for in a real estate virtual assistant is the ability to establish a system or workflow for your business.
Good administrative skills are essential when looking for a real estate VA due to the nature of the tasks involved in supporting real estate professionals and businesses.
There is no denying that real estate transactions involve a multitude of paperwork, appointments, and tasks. A virtual assistant with strong administrative skills can effectively organize while juggling these elements, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks and that deadlines are consistently met.
Subsequently, with numerous parties you have to deal with, like buyers, sellers, agents, inspectors, and lenders, your virtual assistant’s administrative skills can significantly help in scheduling and coordination, specifically managing appointments, showings, inspections, and other activities.
Lastly, since an immense amount of data needs to be processed regularly, this skill enables your prospective real estate virtual assistant to maintain databases, update client information, and track essential details related to properties and transactions.
3. Mastery of the art of communication
There will be a lot of going back and forth with clients, colleagues, and various stakeholders and having a virtual assistant that has excellent communication skills is a must.
Real estate virtual assistants are often your clients’ and partners’ first point of contact. Their role involves responding to client inquiries and providing updates, ensuring that the clients feel well-informed.
Client emails, phone calls, and video conferences are everyday routinary communications in real estate. Since a real estate virtual assistant represents you and your business, having strong communication skills helps convey professionalism, reliability, and competence.
Consequently, this fosters trust and rapport among your clients, which could reflect positively on your real estate business.
4. Ability to help you build your leads
One of the fundamental aspects of building a real estate business is generating more leads.
Look for a virtual assistant who can effectively generate leads, as this can help expand your client base and increase your potential revenues. Also, having a VA who is well-versed in lead generation techniques such as prospect research and data management ensures a steady flow of potential clients entering your sales pipeline, hence, minimizing the gap in your business and allowing for more predictable revenue streams.
5. Proactive and resourceful.
It is crucial to have a real estate virtual assistant who is dedicated to producing quality work and going above and beyond their assigned tasks. They should be proactive and resourceful in finding solutions and resolving client issues as they arise. While they may not be experts in everything, they should be able to find ways to seek out information on their own.
Moreover, they should be able to leverage the power of research whenever they have no clue how to do a particular task.
For example, if a client needs data updated and sorted in a spreadsheet, a quick Google search (or even YouTube) can show your real estate virtual assistant how to do it.
Therefore, your prospective VA should have the ability to think on their feet, solve problems and take the initiative in delivering high-quality work so you can save more time and money.
6. Skilled in managing your emails
A crowded and overwhelming inbox can deter you from running your real estate business efficiently.
Having a real estate VA who is capable of inbox screening can be a game-changer. You don’t want to wake up in the morning and see a cluttered inbox. One of the benefits of real estate virtual assistants working remotely is the difference in time zone.
While you are sound asleep, you can have them screen your emails before you start your day. This will save you a tremendous amount of time and eliminate the headache of sorting which among your emails should be prioritized. It will allow you to answer emails on time, increasing your efficiency and productivity throughout the day.
7. Has a social media prowess
Social media expertise is essential when hiring a virtual assistant.
Social media, overall, is a powerful real estate virtual assistant tool that allows you to reach a wide coverage audience apart from the search engines. It allows your business to be seen and enables you to engage prospective clients and customers to cater for their needs better.
A virtual assistant skilled in social media can help your business create a consistent and engaging presence on the various platforms you are on. Moreover, they can also help you showcase your brand identity, values, and unique selling points by helping you curate content that aligns with your brand’s image and resonates with your target audience.
8. Great attention to detail
One essential aspect of a real estate virtual assistant tasks is handling time and date-sensitive to-dos. This requires the ability to multitask effectively while catering to the needs of multiple clients.
Virtual assistants must possess a high level of attention to detail to accurately comprehend and execute your business’s system and workflow. This is vital, especially since it ensures effective and efficient operations in a virtual work setup.
9. Passionate for learning
Real estate is a dynamic industry; it constantly evolves due to market trends, new legal resolutions, and technological advancement.
If there’s one prized skill that you should look for in a virtual assistant, it should be their passion for continued growth and learning. They should have the drive within them to improve their skills, which means they keep themselves updated on trends, new regulations, and best practices.
The ability to continually expand one’s knowledge base and skill set is a great and indispensable quality. An individual who actively pursues these opportunities is more likely to excel in their role and can make significant contributions to the success of your real estate business.
10. Possesses excellent customer service skills
It is an established fact that real estate is a client-focused industry where building and maintaining strong relationships is crucial.
That being said, your real estate virtual assistant is your client’s first point of contact. They are responsible for handling inquiries, scheduling appointments, and providing information. As a business owner, it is imperative for you to assess if they have excellent customer service because this will help you create a positive lasting impression among your clients, plus points if they can address and handle your clients’ needs.
In turn, this will create a positive reputation for your real estate agency or brokerage, which fosters client trust and loyalty toward your business.
11. Self-Motivated
Although remote work possesses numerous benefits, it cannot be denied that it also has a downside.
Since there is no physical work setup for your team members, supervising their work can be challenging on your part. Of course, numerous time-tracking technologies provide you with a window to get a peak at what tasks they are doing, but it still feels different when you are doing stuff together face-to-face.
That is why, when choosing your real estate virtual assistant, they must possess a high level of self-motivation and discipline. They must manage their time efficiently, prioritize urgent tasks, and meet deadlines without direct supervision. Having self-motivation will help them to stay focused and remain productive, especially in a role where their contributions can directly impact the success of your real estate marketing company.
12. Not afraid to make follow-ups
You hit the jackpot when you add a virtual assistant who can stay on top of all their tasks, even when a client cannot.
Things falling through the cracks is sometimes inevitable. However, your VA should possess the know-how to reach out and follow up instead of sitting and waiting on a task forever.
For instance, if your real estate VA still has yet to receive any updates from a client about a document signature that you needed for two days, they should take the initiative to email or make a phone call as a reminder to the client.
Final Thoughts
Keep in mind: thoroughly interview potential candidates and check their references to ensure they possess these skills and have the necessary experience to effectively support your real estate business.
Need help finding the perfect real estate virtual assistant for your business? We understand that you do not have the time to hunt and train an effective assistant for your business. At Virtual Assistant Talent, we have a pool of trained Real Estate VA ready to help you whenever you need them. Book a FREE Consultation call with us today.
Resources:
https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/the-main-qualities-to-look-for-in-a-virtual-assistant
https://www.zippia.com/virtual-assistant-jobs/skills/?src=chatbot_popout_displayed
https://outsourceworkers.com.au/virtual-assistant-6-must-have-skills/
https://myvirtudesk.ph/how-to-become-the-best-real-estate-virtual-assistant/
https://www.remotestaff.ph/blog/real-estate-virtual-assistant-skills/
