Investor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2015 · 369 posts · 233 votes
What's up BP family? Curious to know if anyone out there is using a virtual assistant to generate solid buyer leads? I've been using one for the past 4 months for seller leads (cold calling) and she's been great, but trying to expand my core base of buyers so that I can tackle some other areas and zip codes and some more people to move the deals to.
What are some of their tasks? How do you keep track of their goal numbers, etc? How do you have them vet buyers if you do that?
Looking to scale this thing a bit quicker than my starting days, so any help is appreciated.
Charlotte, NC · Member since 2014 · 126 posts · 37 votes
8y
Hey Michael,
Easy fix. All you need is mls access. You can pull the area your targeting and set the criteria for cash sales in the last say 180+ days. Skip trace the llc and now you have your vetted cash buyers list. Boom!!!!
Charlotte, NC · Member since 2014 · 126 posts · 37 votes
8y
Hey Michael,
Easy fix. All you need is mls access. You can pull the area your targeting and set the criteria for cash sales in the last say 180+ days. Skip trace the llc and now you have your vetted cash buyers list. Boom!!!!
Vendor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2017 · 101 posts · 47 votes
8y
I have used virtual assistants in another industry. You do need to be very specific about what is the specific goal of the call. In your case, it might be for the owner to agree to: 1st and foremost, accept an appointment or phone call. If that doesn’t work, perhaps other incremental goals could be for the owner to provide their email address, agree to a brochure in the mail or provide referrals of someone else who might want to sell.
You will need a list for them to call. It is difficult to get one with phone numbers because reputable brokers won’t provide the numbers of people who have signed up for D0-Not-Call. You can start with a postal list and the assistant can look up numbers.
A good group to call during the day would be seniors who have owned their home for 15+ years. The script could go along the lines of:
I am calling for “joe smith” who is interested in buying your house. Have you thought about selling?
If they don’t have a positive answer, ask “How long have you lived in the house?”“Have you considered downsizing?”
A question along the lines of “What is holding you back from selling?”is a biggie. It gives them the chance to find out if it is just too much of a hassle (you can overcome that) or if they want to die in the house (in which case you say thanks for your time)
Make sure they have the information to answer questions and overcoming objections. Work on roleplaying calls. You can use your friends to help out on these. If you have the ability for them to record calls, it can be useful for training.
You will want to have a log for them to complete about the calls. Pay by the hour with bonus set for call-backs and appointments or other goals. And of course a better bonus when you close a deal to keep them incentivized.
Has the cold calling for these seller leads been working for you?
Where have you been finding this list for the seller leads? Have you been buying lists of home owners and having your VA call them?
Yes my va is great with seller leads. We generate our own lists through driving for dollars, a public record of properties going into tax sale that you can probably Google for any city, and public records for inherited properties and evictions. We test new lists as we find them. And yes the va calls and sets my appointments. She's averaging me an additional 2 closings per month since she started.
Easy fix. All you need is mls access. You can pull the area your targeting and set the criteria for cash sales in the last say 180+ days. Skip trace the llc and now you have your vetted cash buyers list. Boom!!!!
I was actually already pulling this list from MyReiPro, but was more so looking to see how others were automating the tasks and communication using a VA. 2018 is dedicated to me freeing myself from a bunch of extra work.
Has the cold calling for these seller leads been working for you?
Where have you been finding this list for the seller leads? Have you been buying lists of home owners and having your VA call them?
Yes my va is great with seller leads. We generate our own lists through driving for dollars, a public record of properties going into tax sale that you can probably Google for any city, and public records for inherited properties and evictions. We test new lists as we find them. And yes the va calls and sets my appointments. She's averaging me an additional 2 closings per month since she started.
Wow thats awesome. But then how are you generating phone numbers from driving through dollars and the public record? which tool do you use to pull the cell numbers?
Has the cold calling for these seller leads been working for you?
Where have you been finding this list for the seller leads? Have you been buying lists of home owners and having your VA call them?
Yes my va is great with seller leads. We generate our own lists through driving for dollars, a public record of properties going into tax sale that you can probably Google for any city, and public records for inherited properties and evictions. We test new lists as we find them. And yes the va calls and sets my appointments. She's averaging me an additional 2 closings per month since she started.
Wow thats awesome. But then how are you generating phone numbers from driving through dollars and the public record? which tool do you use to pull the cell numbers?
You can hire a skip tracer to do this pretty cheap through upwork.com We filter the lists, send them to the skiptracer, the lists comes back with numbers and addresses and we get to work.
Has the cold calling for these seller leads been working for you?
Where have you been finding this list for the seller leads? Have you been buying lists of home owners and having your VA call them?
Yes my va is great with seller leads. We generate our own lists through driving for dollars, a public record of properties going into tax sale that you can probably Google for any city, and public records for inherited properties and evictions. We test new lists as we find them. And yes the va calls and sets my appointments. She's averaging me an additional 2 closings per month since she started.
Wow thats awesome. But then how are you generating phone numbers from driving through dollars and the public record? which tool do you use to pull the cell numbers?
You can hire a skip trace to do this pretty cheap through upwork. We filter the lists, send them to the skiptracer, the lists comes back with numbers and addresses and we get to work.
The VA who makes calls for you, how many total hours are they working/week? Do you have them do other admin work to keep them busy full time? I'm asking this, because I've gone through several VAs to cold call, but they were all PT, since there's a finite amount of leads they can call every week.
The VA who makes calls for you, how many total hours are they working/week? Do you have them do other admin work to keep them busy full time? I'm asking this, because I've gone through several VAs to cold call, but they were all PT, since there's a finite amount of leads they can call every week.
She does 30 hours a week, but has gone through our lists 3 times each. Some don't pick up the first round, some ask to call on a future date, etc. We don' have a dialer system, so she dials manually through Skype. So probably takes a bit longer than if we were to use mojo dialer or some other tool, but she's just super efficient with her time. I've gone through 2 other dud VAs, but this one just came in with a super level of drive.
Right now she's not calling only because she's filtering our new lists, but no other tasks right now.
Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2017 · 101 posts · 104 votes
8y
Where are you finding your VAs. I am looking into onlinejobs.ph which is a site that allows you to view resumes and interact with potential candidates.
Just curious if anyone has any recommendations
Where are you finding your VAs. I am looking into onlinejobs.ph which is a site that allows you to view resumes and interact with potential candidates.
Just curious if anyone has any recommendations
Bingo! Thats who I use. http://store.onlinejobs.ph/?aid=111056
Where are you finding your VAs. I am looking into onlinejobs.ph which is a site that allows you to view resumes and interact with potential candidates.
Real Estate Business Coach · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2009 · 25 posts · 9 votes
8y
@Carlos Zapata, I've been working with VAs since 2009 so there's a few tools I've used that have been helpful.
I used to use Skype, but it wasn't as reliable so we use either Viber for our daily text communication, to send quick files, and voice chats throughout the day - or Zoom if we need to do video calls.
As far as tracking time, I don't use a time tracker for my VAs that have been with me a while. But if you're looking for a good free alternative for a time tracker, check out screenshotmonitor.com. They have a paid and free plan, but the free plan works fine if you have less up to 2 VAs.
Investor · Brandon, MS · Member since 2017 · 55 posts · 23 votes
8y
I'm looking through VAs now. I'm wanting one to filter through county land records, identify owners, perform background check to identify any types of contact, then organize that into a excel spreadsheet and return it to me. Does this sound like a plan that I can put into place? If I am able to find a VA that works for me I'd like to expand their responsibilities over time.
Investor · Cedar Park, TX · Member since 2014 · 317 posts · 74 votes
8y
I am also wanting to use VA's for cold calling, pulling different types of lists and I am wondering what else I can have them do> How are you finding your VA's for cold calling? Also, what are some examples of scripts you have them use. What other tasks do people use VA's for concerning real estate investing.
Investor · Brandon, MS · Member since 2017 · 55 posts · 23 votes
8y
I'm in the middle of some heavy research on VA's right now. I've never used one and just recently heard about them on a old BP podcast. I have found 3 at onlinejobs.com/ph. I'm going to hire one soon to search property records and compile contact list. Then I think I'm going to add one for bookkeeping/accounting and then one for website, SEO, social media.
I really wish we could have a whole BP podcast on VAs for REIs
I am also wanting to use VA's for cold calling, pulling different types of lists and I am wondering what else I can have them do> How are you finding your VA's for cold calling? Also, what are some examples of scripts you have them use. What other tasks do people use VA's for concerning real estate investing.
Enquiring minds want to know. LOL
I went to onlinejobs.ph for my VA who works 30 hours. For simple stuff like Podio design and skiptracing, I've used upwork.com. The scripts I use were just made up based off of the information I needed. I customized it and just made changes as we went. Not sure about other people, but all my VA does is cold call, set appointments, and filter lists. She's exceptionally good though, so in the next couple of weeks I'll increase her tasks to training a new cold caller and possibly accepting all of my incoming calls. Still thinking about that last task though. May need to higher a completely different VA for that.
I'm in the middle of some heavy research on VA's right now. I've never used one and just recently heard about them on a old BP podcast. I have found 3 at onlinejobs.com/ph. I'm going to hire one soon to search property records and compile contact list. Then I think I'm going to add one for bookkeeping/accounting and then one for website, SEO, social media.
I really wish we could have a whole BP podcast on VAs for REIs
Agreed! That podcast is needed. I've just been doing trial and error so far.
I’m getting excited about my last 2 prospects. I really just want to hire them both until I figure out what else I can use them for. I did a screencast of one task I wanted them to do to see if they were up to the task. That went really well. I can put them both on filtering through land records now, but one has college training in quickbooks so I think I’m going to hand her bookkeeping and payroll. The other has extensive experience in social media campaigns and some SEO. So I think I can start them on land records task. Then train them how I want other task done and add to there work load. They each have 30 hrs a week available. I think I’m gonna start them both at 20 hrs a week and let them work their way up. I’m also going to have them do screencast of their different task for training purposes and archive them. Then if something happens to one of them I can use that for future training.
Investor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2015 · 369 posts · 233 votes
8y
Just wanted to jump back on topic, but anybody using a VA for buyer leads? I'm doing pretty well with sellers, but could use some solid advice on generating buyers. My main problem is that I have a core group of guys I can depend on to pick up most of my deals, but they don't buy in some areas, I'm thinking of jumping into another market and need buyers, etc. Sometimes I feel like my deals could be seen by a wider audience, but I want to automate the task a bit more.
Has anyone tested using a V.A. for things like SEO, social media posts and ads, Craigslist post, running their PPC or any other way to generate buyers? Maybe having them to email blast your deals and actually talk to buyers?
Investor · Cedar Park, TX · Member since 2014 · 317 posts · 74 votes
8y
@JT Crownover That sounds great. Keep me posted as to how it works out. I am really looking into VA's but I think I need to find ways to train them first through technology.
Real Estate Agent · Cupertino, CA · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
Buyers are obtained from listings that they searched on line needing a realtor to show and represent. The most credible source is realtors.com Name, eMail, phone #.