THE STEPS FOR HIRING & USING A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

BY LEE NELSON

Lee Nelson is a freelance journalist from Illinois. She writes for REALTOR® Magazine, several state REALTOR® Magazines and websites, and loanDepot.com.

Lee Nelson

Ian Bertolina has been using virtual assistants for at least 15 years. Virtual assistants (VAs) become remote workers hired on a contract basis and assigned duties to free up your time.

“My approach is to eliminate everything that won’t make me productive, which basically is looking for new business,” says Bertolina, owner of Bertolina Commercial Real Estate Services, Inc. in Charlotte.

He admits he’s had some good virtual assistants, and some that he had doubts about. Right now, he hires three of them to do different tasks for him. One does his social media, which he has a light footprint on. One handles his website, listings and listing services. The last one, Denise Harenda, works for him researching companies and dealing with administrative bills. She’s been with him for many years.

“Most people in the real estate business are so hands on and like to control everything,” he adds. “But when you hire a virtual assistant, you really aren’t giving up control. You are having someone do the work, and you are reviewing it. That’s different than doing it yourself.”

He believes that virtual assistants take away agents’ excuses for not being out there looking for new business.

“You can get so buried in administrative stuff, and it takes away from what you really should be doing,” he says.

Step 1

Know What Type of Tasks You Want Done, and Who You Want to Hire

Virtual assistants free up valuable time for busy real estate professionals. But before you even search for one, figure out exactly what things you need your assistant to help you with.

And it’s critical to find a VA who specializes in the tasks you need done. For instance, you don’t want a marketing genius to do your accounting. You want someone to do the jobs efficiently and correctly.

The North Carolina Real Estate Commission lists some of the tasks unlicensed virtual assistants can handle for brokers:

• Offer information to potential tenants about listed properties based on what was already published and without negotiating.

• Create and distribute advertising materials, such as brochures and flyers.

• Distribute promotional materials regarding open house events.

• Assemble and verify public real estate information for agents.

• Put for sale or for rent signs on properties.

• Schedule and coordinate appointments for the agent.

• Order and supervise routine and minor repairs at the direction of a broker.

• Type up offers to purchase, contract, and lease forms with broker’s provided information.

However, Bertolina discovered that he didn’t necessarily have to narrow down his search to people who did specific things.

“Most virtual assistants are generalists and are so competent in many skills. Plus, they don’t need to be in your city. You send work, and they send it back,” he adds.

Step 2

Learn How To Find A Virtual Assistant

Bertolina has found several of his assistants by doing Google searches.

“Not all of mine actually live in my area though. But once you interview them, and maybe even meet them, you can tell if you are going to click,” he adds.

In fact, he’s never met one of his assistants in person, even though he has worked with her for years.

“But she’s got such a level of professionalism. That’s a common thing with virtual assistants, which was a pleasant surprise for me,” he states. “Plus, there is a real level of confidence. A lot of them are coming from the corporate world and just want their own business.”

He also suggests asking other brokers and real estate people if they use them. And then ask if they had any suggestions on where to find a good one.

“Many of these virtual assistants know how to market their business. They know people are searching on the internet,” he adds.

Harenda works with several REALTORS® including Bertolina through her business, My Virtual Assistant Pro in Rock Hill, S.C., which she says is considered a suburb of Charlotte.

Denise Harenda, Owner of My Virtual Assistant Pro

“You can also go to LinkedIn and find some virtual assistant groups. I belong to a couple of LinkedIn virtual assistant groups,” she says. “We really are wanting to help one another.”

AnnMarie Janni has looked for virtual assistants by using Facebook, Indeed and networking groups. Before hiring them, she asks the usual questions about experience and things like “What would you do in this situation?” She also has her team managers interview potential VAs so they can confirm if they are a good fit in general.

“We have a client care manager and an operations manager that are virtual,” says Janni, team leader and founder of Element Realty Group at Allen Tate REALTORS® in Cary.

Harenda highlights that red flags should pop up if a virtual assistant or a VA service company is too salesy or says they pretty much do everything.

Step 3

Understand The Costs Of A Virtual Assistant

Most VA individuals or services can be cost-effective solutions that price the work based on tasks or the number of hours worked.

However, Janni pays her client care manager 100 percent based on production.

“She is paid per closing and per listing, which is great for us because if we are not busy, we don’t have a guaranteed salary that we have to pay,” she comments.

For Harenda, she charges by 15-minute intervals, but it adds up to about $35 an hour.

“The more efficient we get, our clients still make out because we’re doing the same work in a quicker time,” she says.

She also offers packages for bookkeeping that run from $150 to $450, depending on what the client needs completed.

“If you are going to hire a virtual assistant for general administrative duties, it’s usually $25 to $50 an hour. But for those hiring a VA to design and run a website, it probably will be more,” she adds. “Some virtual assistants do charge per project. But we don’t do that because we found that some clients would add to them, and the scope became bigger. We were losing.”

As for how to pay them, Bertolina pays some of his assistants through PayPal and some prefer checks.

“At first, you develop a relationship, and if you pay them on time and are prompt, then you can establish how to pay them in a different way,” he adds.

Harenda became very busy during her first five years in the business, so she had another virtual assistant join her team.

“She now works exclusively with me while raising her twin daughters and working at home,” she says.

Step 4

Begin Relationships With Strong Communication

Janni’s virtual assistant keeps her on track with scheduling, communicating with others, helping plan client events and many other things.

“She researches my crazy ideas, too,” she adds.

But not every situation is successful. Janni encourages others working with VAs in the beginning to offer a detailed job description and set clear expectations.

“It can be a little hit or miss, to be honest. You may think you’ve found the perfect person, and it turns out they are not,” Janni states. “My mantra is ‘hire slowly, fire quickly.’”

Harenda tells her potential clients that it might take three to six months to be in simpatico with each other.

“If you hire someone full-time in your office, you know it’s going to take that long to understand the company,” she adds. “We don’t do any work for people if they can’t do five hours a month. We need a good hunk of commitment to learn the business.”

AnnMarie Janni, Team Leader and Founder of Element Realty Group

Step 5

Experience The Positive Effects Of Using Virtual Assistants

The main reason LaCole Bailey decided to work with eXp Realty is due to their virtual world.

“It allows my team and I to conduct our business from anywhere in the world with optimal support,” says Bailey, RE Global Ambassador and broker at L.Bailey Real Estate Group, brokered by eXp Realty in Raleigh.

Also, when looking for a firm, having a virtual assistant was a key choosing factor. Her company includes monthly fees for brokers to pay for the VAs.

“Having a virtual assistant was part of the roadmap to grow my business,” she says. “After my rookie year, my business started to grow. With traveling and crazy hours, a virtual assistant would be more productive for my team.”

Some of her team members hire their own virtual assistants.

“The virtual world has given my team more time to get things done. It allows them to be present in more places,” she adds. “It allows for streamlining processes and organizing. This has allowed my team to double our business in a shorter amount of time.”

She admits that having a virtual assistant has helped her grow her team and business faster than expected.

“When hiring team members, I found that 98 percent of my team members requested a virtual assistant,” she states.