If you are a real estate developer or investor, you likely understand the feeling of having your inbox as your personal battleground, your calendar as a Tetris champion, and simply forgetting to follow up with that lead from three weeks ago during the chaos of permitting and responding to a broker call.
Sound familiar?
You are not alone,
Many developers, brokers, and real estate business owners in NYC are realising they can’t effectively balance business demands while managing a virtual assistant without dedicated support.
Let’s take a closer look at what a virtual assistant for a real estate business in New York can do, why it is especially valuable to a New York developer, and how to find the right one.
Table of Contents
What Does a Real Estate Virtual Assistant Do?
A virtual assistant (VA) is basically your personal administrative assistant who covers all your bases that you don’t have time for but still need to get done.
A real estate VA can typically handle tasks such as
lead follow-up and qualification, listing management and updates, document organisation and preparation, scheduling, market research, and client communication.
This way, you can spend more time focusing on what’s important: getting deals done and finding your next project.
Why Does a New York Real Estate Developer Need a Virtual Assistant?
Compared to other real estate markets, New York is a unique challenge due to its competitive nature, dense paperwork, extensive permitting processes, and quick responsiveness expected from all parties involved, making a virtual assistant all the more valuable.
A virtual assistant familiar with New York real estate can take the stress out of keeping up with the demands of NYC while also taking some of the workload off you, allowing you to focus on your core responsibilities. They can keep you organized and productive to ensure you don’t miss any crucial deadlines or details, especially when it comes to the permitting process, while also managing the influx of leads that come with such a competitive market.
What Is the ROI of Having a Virtual Assistant?
Hiring a full-time in-house assistant in New York City comes with several added expenses such as salaries, benefits, office space, and payroll taxes – the cost of which could easily be upwards of $50,000 to $70000 per year, depending on their experience and whether or not they can live in NYC at an affordable rate.
A virtual assistant, by contrast, can be hired at a much lower rate (sometimes hourly) with little to no overhead, meaning you save money in the long run.
For a real estate developer, this means more time spent finding deals and less time spent on administrative tasks.
When Should You Hire a Virtual Assistant?
If any of the following are true for you, it may be time to consider a virtual assistant:
• You spend a lot of time focused on emails and administrative tasks rather than actual real estate business development or your day job
• Your leads are not being followed up on properly or consistently
• You are missing deadlines or are behind on paperwork
• You are the bottleneck of everything in your real estate business
• You feel that you just don’t have enough time to both run your real estate business and do your day job or be productive in life
If even a couple of these apply to you, then it’s probably time to consider a virtual assistant.
How Do I Choose a Virtual Assistant for My Real Estate Business?
There are many factors that should be taken into consideration when choosing a virtual assistant for a real estate agents in New York, such as experience, communication abilities, software proficiency, reliability, discretion, and scalability.
Running a real estate business is a lot – a full-time job in and of itself, actually.
A virtual assistant is a great way to free up some of your time spent on administrative tasks so that you can utilize your time and skills in more meaningful ways.
Click here (link) to learn from experts how to utilize your time and make more money!
FAQ:
1. How much does a real estate virtual assistant cost in New York?
Depending on the level of experience and scope of work, a VA can typically charge anywhere from $15+ per hour (approx.) for freelance work or a few hundred to a couple thousand monthly for a dedicated, part-time, or full-time VA. Agencies typically fall on the higher side of the spectrum depending on the services rendered.
2. Can a virtual assistant handle my contracts and any other sensitive documents?
Many VAs, especially those that work in real estate, are very familiar with handling sensitive documents securely. It’s always a good idea to ask for a non-disclosure agreement before sharing any sensitive documents with a VA.
3. Do I need to train my virtual assistant on any New York-specific real estate processes?
There’s always going to be some sort of onboarding or training period required, but many VAs that specialize in real estate or are already familiar with New York-specific processes will come in already knowledgeable about many of the nuances of the local real estate market, which will save you both time and money.
4. What is the difference between a general virtual assistant and a real estate virtual assistant, and which one should I get?
If your administrative needs are pretty general, you probably won’t need to hire a real estate-savvy VA, but if you are looking for someone to help you with more specific things like listing management, comps, permitting, and client communication, it might be worth it to invest in a real estate VA to avoid the learning curve and ensure they know what they are doing.
