I have a friend who is a Realtor and she says she's very much interested in my services, but says she doesn't understand how I can save her money, especially with the housing market being what it is, what exactly can a VA do for a Realtor that she can't do for herself?

Hi Viki,

There are so many services a VA can offer real estate professionals. Here's a list from my website:

• Marketing & Identity Planning and Strategy
• Listing Marketing Coordination (LMC)
• Brochure Development
• CMA Preparation
• Lead Processing
• eStationery Design
• Buyer Packages
• Listing Packages
• IVR (1-800 Hotline) Script Development & Recording
• Contact/Lead Management
• Transaction Coordination
• Website Creation, Maintenance and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Drip marketing campaign development, execution and measurement
• Direct marketing campaign development, execution and measurement
• Graphic Design & Desktop Publishing
• Public Relations and Publicity Management
• Residential & Commercial Realtor® General Support Services

Hope that helps to get you started thinking about the types of services you can suggest.

Cheers,
Pam

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My agent client has me doing some webstuff, feedback solicitation and sending out letters to listing clients. My biggest job with them is contacting and qualifying new leads. If they email in or come in from the website or 800# and I email or call them 4 times with no repsonse then they are a cold lead and not worth the time to continue contacting. This has kept the Buyer's agent free to show houses and deal with hot leads as they come in.

Viki - can I ask how you are billing her for those calls (your time, costs for calls, etc?) Are you hoping that as she gets more confident in your ability she will embrace some of your other services also?

I worked as a VA for my friend who is a Realtor. Our theory on how I saved her money is that the little things I did (e.g. bulk mailings) that took me hours to do, would have taken her twice as long to complete with her busy schedule. Therefore, she was able to be out networking and finding new potential clients that in the long run would make her money. She may have never found those clients if she was stuck in her office putting together a mailing.
A lot of times, clients are stuck in an office doing those timely tasks instead of out networking and growing their business...that is where we can step in and help.

Julie

I'm glad you asked this question. I want to specialize in this area as well but got a little worried when the market started to plummet. Even though the market is not the best right now, one of the things I realized is that the market is not going anywhere. Whether it's booming or not there are still people out there buying and selling properties and need agents. These agents need to be out there now more than ever trying to find the leads they need to buy or sell a house.

However looking at some of the possibilities of services, I feel that right now there are some things that I can't offer either because of lack of industry knowledge or lack of resources such as marketing identity & strategy, listing marketing coordination, drip marketing, SEO, transaction coordination and a few other things.

As for mailings, postcards, brochures, CMA prep, listing presentations, listing entry, I can do those things well and enjoy it. Since I can't do all the other things I tend to feel like a possible client will pass me by. I eventually want to seek training in some of the other areas but in a niche market does one need to offer every possible thing?

It certainly isn't necessary, nor desirable, to offer all of the services possible to your target market. The only reason we offer many different services in my company is because I have a multi-VA team, with tasks distributed among several specialists.

A number of the tasks related to the real estate industry are quite specialised (i.e., transaction coordination, listing coordination) and it would serve you and your client best to be able to provide knowledgeable services narrowed to your particular specialty. I call it a "niche within a niche". Hope you find that helpful!

Cheers,
Pam

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This post was brought to my attention this afternoon and I just have to respond. Never let one person decide your fate! Here is the scoop on real estate virtual assistants and how business could not be better right now!

First, I have been a real estate virtual assistant since 1999 - I am the first real estate virtual assistant and my background in real estate which goes back to 1983. Now my age is showing. LOL!

Even though the USA real estate industry is experiencing a slow down in CERTAIN areas - MOST of still thriving and continuing to thrive.

As in any industry, the market is slow down and then pull back up. This has to do with many things as far as real estate is concerned. Right now it is a buyers market, which means sellers are not able to sell their homes for what they probably bought them for. If they are smart and can afford to they should hold onto their home till the market goes their way again. And, it will.

Intersest rates are low, so buyers are looking. There are not many listings because the smart homeowner is holding out.

Those that bit off more than they can chew are losing their homes to foreclosure. Don't even get me started on this one.

So, right now agents that did not plan for slow times are paying the price and will probably need to look for something else. All this means is they would not have hired a VA anyway because they did not have a budget to start with.

Now, those agents that did plan for slow times - those are the one's that are now downsizing - and this means only that they are cutting staff and they agents. What does this mean for the VA industry? These agents will need us and are ready to take the leap to having a virtual assistant because they know they will benefit not only from our services, but it will save them money.

Agents who have a staff pay for each staff members office space, computer, taxes, etc. They are seeing VAs they do not have these expenses or headaches. WIN WIN FOR ALL!

Since Janaury 1, 2008 I have literally received over 50 inquiries. Out of those 50 I would say 25 of them were just fishing, 19 could not afford my fees so I sent them to IREAA to locate a VA that met their needs and budget. What happened to those 6 - They are my new clients! In just under 3 months I added 6 clients to my books. This also meant I had to bring more team members on board, which puts money in their pockets, so do you see the filtering effect here.

If you are a VA that has the desire to specialize in real estate, now is probably the best time!

Check out my website if you want to know what services to offer an agent.

Please do not let one person dictate what you do or pop your balloon. If I listened to everyone's opinion when I started this business I would not be where I am today. My husband thought I was playing until he saw my first year tax return. Now, just today he was on his way home from a business trip, called me and I had pulled over to the side of the road to write down an idea. He brought be home a voice recorder! LOL He is my biggest fan now!

OH! And, as of today there are over 1,2800,000 real estate agents. There are probably 250 virtual assistants. Good Lord! That is amazing! There is plenty of business out there for everyone.

It is a great time to start your own business and do not let the news tell you differently.

Go and do what your heart desires.

Please excuse the typos if there are any. It is late and I did not have time to proof.

Great post!! Very encouraging!!

Kim that is a great response. I presently work for a real estate agent and truly enjoy it. There is always new and fun applications that we are exposed to on a daily basis.
Thanks for such inspiration to keep exposing our talents to potential clients (because they are there).
Also Pam thanks for the service list. I always like to see what I can offer and what I already am.
Debbie Saro