The more that you look into online marketing techniques for your real estate business, the more that you see other people doing. Far more than just websites and blogging, these days agents are going out of their way to include all of the properties they’re working with on their websites, and they’re including virtual tours and even podcasts about each property.

Podcasts don’t just have to be a guided tour through a property or a neighborhood. With a podcast, you can explain the how-tos of buying or selling a house. You can use a podcast to give sellers information about staging their homes or why it’s important to set the right price when they are ready to sell. You can use podcasts to help buyers figure out what they’re looking for in a home. You can explain the closing process, provide a step by step guide to moving and even details of why your services are better than another agent’s.

Why podcasts? Well, on some levels at least, it comes down to time. People don’t want to spend all of their time looking for information; they want to be able to multitask. They want to be able to listen to information about buying or selling a home while they’re stuck in traffic while driving to work. Creating audio recordings with a computer, a microphone and easy editing software is just another great way of giving current and prospective clients what they’re looking for.

You don’t have to be a computer genius or an audiophile to create a podcast however; you’ll find that there are plenty of real estate assistants – and virtual real estate assistants – who are familiar with creating and using podcasts who can get them set up for you.

Embracing technology will help you to get ahead and stay ahead in real estate. Your real estate assistant just may be the right person to get you there and keep you ahead of the curve.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
See how a real estate assistant can put technology to work for you
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Real estate is mostly about face to face connections – getting into a home and helping a seller to sell or talking with buyers and helping them to find the home where they can feel secure and raise a family. Still, you’ll need to keep bringing in new clients. Newspaper advertisements serve a purpose, so do ads in the local yellow pages and, of course, these days, so will your website.

Websites aren’t all about “if you build it they will come.” You need to be sure that you’re providing content that helps buyers and sellers alike, details about the properties that you’re helping to sell, tips and tools, advice and reasons why the would be buyers and sellers should choose your services over your competitors.

But what about the time it takes to design and maintain a website? Most real estate agents don’t have the time to do the work on their own: the good news is that a real estate assistant can help.

Want to be sure that information about all of your listings is up to date? Let your real estate assistant update your website. Want to start a dialog with buyers or sellers? Let your real estate assistant create a blog for you that will provide tips, tools and informations and show prospective clients that you’ve got what it takes.

Your real estate assistant can also ensure that your website does more: build email lists by offering free reports, create custom tips sheets for buyers and sellers, offer reasons why a real estate agent is key to finding the right property or making the sale – whatever information you want to provide.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
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Technology changes the way that everyone does business – even real estate agents and real estate assistants. Online marketing, email, VoIP phone services: we’re all more connected than we’ve ever been before. For the most part, this is a good thing – though some people may argue that it takes away from more traditional communication.

For real estate agents who are thinking about bringing on a real estate assistant but aren’t sure that they have the office space or the budget for a full time employee, the internet is a great thing. Here’s why: rather than hiring someone who comes into your office and answers the phones, organizes your files, helps out with listings and working with your clients, you have the ability to choose a real estate assistant who works virtually.

This definitely has its advantages. You won’t feel crowded, because you won’t be sharing your space. Your real estate assistant will have her own computer and you won’t have to buy another machine or share yours – and you won’t have to buy software because there’s a good chance that your real estate assistant will already have the programs she needs to help you run your business.

Just as a traditional real estate assistant can help with marketing, answering the phones, answering emails, updating your website and more, a real estate virtual assistant can do it all. But here’s the biggest advantage: a virtual assistant is an independent business person who has the motivation to achieve your success, not an employee. You pay for the services that you get – not extra taxes or employee benefits or for time that isn’t spent working for you.

If you need the help of a real estate assistant but want to be sure that no one cramps your style, you just might find that a real estate assistant who works virtually is the perfect solution.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Would you benefit from a virtual real estate assistant?
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Have you ever gone home at the end of the day only to remember that there was an important call that you didn’t return? Have you ever been talking with a buyer only to realize, while they were asking a question, that you didn’t post a seller’s open house in the MLS or on your website? Have you ever checked your email to find one of those notes from a colleague – or, worse, a client – asking why you missed a meeting that you had scheduled?

While all of these situations can be frustrating, awkward and embarrassing, the first thing that you need to recognize is that it does happen. The next thing that you need to recognize is that, if you were working with a real estate assistant, it would probably happen a lot less – if it happened at all.

Your real estate assistant can’t help you to remember those things that you keep in your head, but she can keep you up to date about which clients you really need to call. A real estate assistant can handle listing coordination tasks from updating listings in the MLS to updating your website so that you’ll know that the word gets out. A real estate assistant can also manage your schedule and make sure that you make it to all of your meetings – and can reschedule those appointments that you just can’t keep for whatever reason. In addition, a real estate assistant can answer questions, keep your database and files in order and more – it’s all about meeting your needs.

Why work with a real estate assistant? It’s all about making your life easier so that you can give your best to all of your clients.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Why should you be working with a real estate assistant?
Real Estate Virtual Assistant Blog
888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

When you are just getting started in real estate and you talk with other agents about what’s made them successful, chances are good that you’ll hear some common answers:

• I wasn’t afraid to make cold calls
• I made it a point to learn as much as I could about property taxes and other things that could affect them after the sale or purchase
• I figured out a way to really connect with buyers and sellers in my area.

It’s the ability to connect with buyers and sellers that really sets a real estate agent apart from everybody else. The problem is that not everyone knows how to make those connections.

It doesn’t have to be a problem though: with the right real estate assistant on your side, you’ll be able to uncover the tricks of connecting.

For some of you, it will have something to do with your life: if you were a military kid, you have some experience with moving – eventually off-base. You may want to connect with families who are moving off base to help them find a home that will really be theirs. For others, maybe you’re new to real estate and you can form a bond with buyers and sellers, creating a team where you learn together.

You can work with your real estate assistant to do more than just figure out how you’ll connect: you’ll also be able to plan out ways of making that connection. Maybe you’ll do it by setting up a blog on your website; maybe you’ll connect through ads in local housing magazines, the phone book or even your local newspaper. But the best news is that no matter how you connect you’ll find that your real estate assistant can also help you to get the ball rolling by designing the ad or getting your blog set up and even posting to them.

The more that you connect, the more clients you’ll bring on. The more clients you bring on, the more successful you’ll be.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Can a real estate assistant help you make connections?
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888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

You’ve been working with a seller to get their home just right and all of that hard work paid off: an offer has been made and accepted. Question: do you put all of your time into following up with everyone else involved, or do you start putting in more effort with some of your other clients?

You’ve been working with a buyer for months – one week they were looking for a ranch, the next they were looking for a townhouse, and the week after that they had something else in mind – and the perfect home has finally been found. Questions: do you keep giving all of your time and energy to the buyer, or do you make an effort to help out other clients who haven’t had your full attention?

Not sure how to answer? You don’t know how to choose between your clients? With the right real estate assistant on your side, you can give all of your clients the attention they deserve.

When you have a real estate assistant on your side, you can be sure that inspections are scheduled, contact is made with the mortgage lender, your clients understand what to expect from the process and everything is done to fit into the set schedule. The best part? With a real estate assistant on your side, you’ll know that you’re able to give all of your clients your full attention.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
A real estate assistant lets you give all of your clients equal attention
Real Estate Virtual Assistant Blog
888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

For real estate agents, the closing is one of the most exciting parts of the process. For buyers and sellers, on the other hand, closing on a real estate sale can be intimidating, daunting and flat out nerve wrecking.

But it doesn’t have to be. As a real estate agent and with the help of a real estate assistant, you can create a closing action plan that helps buyers and sellers both to understand what to expect during the closing:

• Your real estate assistant can work with you to create a customized step by step closing guide for sellers and an additional guide tailored to the needs of homebuyers.
• In addition to a customized guide to closing, a real estate assistant can create a great congratulatory letter to your clients – buyers and sellers – that lets them know what to expect from the process and reminds them that you are on their side and ready to answer any questions they have.
• You can work with your real estate assistant to create walk through forms for buyers and sellers so that everyone knows what they should be looking for.
• A closing action plan wouldn’t be complete without thank yous to your clients; your real estate assistant can work with you to find just the right way of expressing your thanks and appreciation or working with them.

A great closing plan helps you to connect with the buyers and sellers that you represent: it can make the difference between a glowing testimonial and a lackluster experience. Throughout the process you gave your clients your all – why stop now?

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Find action plans from a real estate assistant.
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Working in real estate means being good with people. In your real estate business, you’ll find yourself working with sellers who are leaving a home filled with memories and your job isn’t only to help them sell, it also involves providing comfort and assurances to help them get through the process. You’ll also find yourself working with buyers who are anxious to find their dream homes, helping them to determine the right property for their needs now and in the future.

What many real estate pros find though is that they don’t always balance working well with people and working technology. Though they know they need to communicate with buyers and sellers, many feel more comfortable either in face-to-face conversations or by talking over the phone. Others just find that they don’t have the time to put technology to work for them: time to learn the programs and take advantage of those and other resources.

A real estate assistant makes a perfect addition to your business when she is able to use technology to boost your business.

Don’t believe me? Here are 4 ways that technology can be put to work to boost your real estate business:

1. With a real estate assistant who knows the tricks of using desktop publishing technology, you’ll know that you’ll have great postcards, beautiful marketing flyers and presentations to bring to buyers and sellers alike.
2. A real estate assistant who understands website development can create a great looking, informative site and keep your web content fresh.
3. A real estate assistant who understands working with computers can work with you to back up your files and your client database so that you’ll always have the information you need available to you.
4. Your real estate assistant can use available technology to create great listing presentations for your sellers as well as documents, spreadsheets and feature sheets that will help your buyers to get familiar with new to them neighborhoods.

With the right real estate assistant, you’ll find that it’s easy to run your business your way and still take advantage of all of the technology that is available to you that can help boost your business – without having to learn to use the programs on your own.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
See how a real estate assistant can use technology for you.
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888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

When you’re working with buyers, helping them to find the right home is key. Part of that is sitting down with them, talking to them about the kind of neighborhood they want to live in, what their needs for schools are, how many bedrooms they’ll need, what they want their kitchen to look like. Part of it is helping them to figure out whether a one story home, a townhouse, a condo or a multi-story home with a finished basement.

But, when you get right down to it, getting your buyers into a new home isn’t all about finding the home – it’s about helping them to find the home.

You may be thinking that those are the same things, but I’m referring to something just a little more specific – how will buyers find a home that interests them if they don’t have great directions?

When you work with a real estate assistant who can create maps for buyers that not only take them to one property but also on a logical course from one open house to the next, you’ll find that your buyers are more likely to be where they are supposed to be on time – no more getting lost.

Of course your real estate assistant can also create maps to the homes of the sellers that you’re working with – making sure that other agents can get their buyers to the home for a showing or open house.

Remember what they say, real estate is all about location, location and location: your real estate assistant can help to ensure that buyers know where a location is.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
See how a real estate assistant can help buyers find homes
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888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

There are three types of real estate agents. The first group loves designing their own listing brochures and couldn’t dream of letting anyone else come near the project. The second group are perfectionists – they like designing their own listing brochures, but they can spend an hour or more nudging a single photo to the left, then the right, then the left, then the right trying to get it into a spot that’s absolutely perfect; once they get that set, they move on to the next photo or a text box or a font. . . Then there’s the third group – the agents who know that they just don’t have an eye for design.

If you fall into the first group, congratulations – keep just keep this in mind if there comes a time when you just don’t have the time to design them on your own. If you fall into one of the other groups it’s time for some good news: it’s possible to find and choose a real estate assistant who can design listing brochures for you.

Perfectionists – you know who you are – think about how much more time you would have (and how many more listings you could get) if you were to let someone else design your brochures for you using whichever software you specify. Those of you who are, well, design-challenged, consider how much more effective your marketing brochures could be if they were well-designed so that only the best photos were used, the best features were showcased and everything looked great.

Well designed listing brochures are essential for marketing homes – even in this age of the internet and internet marketing. With the right real estate assistant on your side, you’ll have no trouble at all producing top quality listing brochures every single time.

Kandra Hamric – Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Ready for a real estate assistant to design your listing brochures?
Real Estate Virtual Assistant Blog
888-REVA-USA (738-2872)