Real Estate Assistants?

Question

Hi guys, I’ve kind of switched gears and have gone from REI back to Real Estate Agent since there appears to be a flood of buyers (also its been a pain to find deals in my area lately with the foreclosure laws changing). I’ve been mostly targeting home sellers to list their houses since people are starting to get equity back again. If they are motivated sellers, then the REI stuff comes into play, but for the most part, I have been able to list and sell a house in a day. Does anyone have a real estate assistant and if so, how much do you pay them and what do you make them do? I’ve seen some realtors with an escrow assistant and multiple buyers brokers assistants, but there closing quite a bit of deals. I am thinking if I can get something setup and going, that I maybe able to get a pipeline going and have my assistants handle most of the brunt work while I do dual REI and REA stuff.

Joe Liu · Answer

Hi guys, thought I would revisit this topic. Do any of the real estate agents here have a buyers assistant by chance? I am looking to pick one up, but they must be licensed at my company and basically work in our office, so no virtual assistants. I basically work a full time job in the corp world and have been working full time in real estate and have been picking up a lot of clients. So while I'm at work, its pretty hard to show houses, so without quitting my job quite yet, I have found someone new in my office who was a realtor and moved here from Alaska to be a realtor here. He is new and is looking for make some more money. I only need him to show houses maybe 4-14 hours a week. Probably more on the 4 hours side. How much would you pay  for someone like this? And do I pay for his gas? Is $15 an hour to low, or should it be $15 an hour plus some kind of commission cut should he take my buyer to a house that they actually buy, making him some what more inclined to do a good job and show them good houses.

Any tips would be great as I am just used to running a one man show.

Thanks!

Joe

Joel Owens · Answer

This assistant only works for me.

Joel Owens · Answer

I looked at various options over the course of 6 months.

I looked at India and the Philippines ( the rates are cheap but I do not share access overseas ).

I looked at virtual assistants ( didn't want them telling my business ideas with other companies they were working with in the same field )
I also did not want them have divided interests working on my company while doing tasks for others.

For this reason I interviewed local people and hired on a IC status an assistant that manages my database, mailers, etc. among other things. I have to pay a little more but they are doing a fabulous job and I like meeting up once a month to go over things along with over the phone and e-mail. That's just how I like to do business and run my business. It is working great for me so far and I am glad I did it. I usually have meetings or phone conversations all day for clients so having an assistant handle the back office stuff is necessary.

Jackie Lange · Answer

HI Joe

I have an assistant in the Philippines.  She handles many details in my business, saves me so much time, and has doubled my revenue quickly.

The best part... because she is in the Philippines, I pay less than $400 per month for a full time (40 hours per week) employee.

No matter who you hire, you will need to provide training.

See this http://www.cashflowdepot.com/online-seminars/how-to-get-more-done-in-less-time.aspx

For a great resource for learning how to hire an offshore employee, and it provides all the training which is specifically necessary for real estate agents and real estate entrepreneurs.

Your offshore employee can do follow up calls using Skype, coordinate closings, LEAD GENERATION, prospecting, post ads on craigslist, manage your social media, targeted marketing, etc etc etc.

Filipino workers are extremely hard working, loyal, and resourceful.