When you’re working with the right real estate assistant, you’ll find that there is a whole lot less that you need to worry about. Basic administrative tasks can be taken care of, you can be sure that your schedule has been fine-tuned so that you actually have the time to spend with your clients during meetings and you’re able to get everything done.

Another benefit that comes from working with a real estate assistant is that you can have someone else who is keeping on top of properties as they are listed. This means that, if you are working with a real estate assistant who has created a great tool for collecting information about what the buyers you are working with are looking for, she will be able to keep track of new listings and to discover those that fit the profile.

Your real estate assistant can then make sure that you are aware of the listings or, if it is a service that you offer, she can go ahead and email your clients a link to the webpage or some of the basic information; if they like what they see, she can go on to schedule a showing.

It’s tough to keep track of the housing needs and desires of all of your clients. When you’ve got a real estate assistant on your side, however, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to match clients with their dream homes.

Real estate marketing is essential: if your marketing materials don’t get noticed, what you are going to quickly discover is that your competitors bring on more clients, help to sell more homes and take over a larger portion of the overall share of a farm area.

A real estate assistant can work on your marketing materials – including your website – in order to make sure that you’re getting the attention that you need to grow your business.

Real estate marketing materials – from your business card and the marketing flyers that you use to the website, blog, pay per click campaigns and other online marketing tools – are essential. They define you and set you apart from your competition. They show people in your area who you are, and serve to give them a sense of what you can do.

Working with a great real estate assistant can ensure that you are able to market yourself far more effectively. She can work with you to define your market, your services and all that you can do to help bring on clients and improve the business.

Whether you have a one time marketing overhaul performed by your real estate assistant or you develop an ongoing relationship, you will quickly discover that the right marketing tools get you noticed.

When the time comes that you need a bit of help within your real estate business, you just might get to wondering what services a real estate assistant can provide. It’s a logical progression really.

So what services can a real estate assistant provide? Well, on one hand, it depends on the assistant that you choose to work with; on the other hand, it depends on what you are looking for.

Here though is a rundown of the basic services that a real estate assistant can provide:

1. Administrative services. From backing up your computer files and organizing your database to answering calls and triaging emails, your real estate assistant can make sure that office admin tasks are completed to your standards.
2. Marketing services. Want to be sure that you’re getting the word out about what you have to offer – both in print and online? Your real estate assistant can make sure that it happens.
3. Listing coordination services. When you want to be sure that everyone is on the same page and you want to know that the MLS details are up to date, your real estate assistant can make sure that everything is done.

Of course, those are just the basics: if you’re looking for more specific information, you’ll find that it’s best to ask a real estate assistant what she has to offer.

Working in real estate often means being pulled in a dozen directions all at one time, but it doesn’t have to. Working with a real estate assistant can help you to know that your business will only be going in one direction: forward.

Without a real estate assistant, you’ll find that you are answering calls, sorting through emails, making appointments (and running late while you’re trying to get from one to the next). Similarly you’ll discover that there are going to be things that just don’t get done – listings might not be updated, you may have trouble winning sellers in your area, marketing tasks might take a little bit more effort.

With a real estate assistant, on the other hand, you will find that you don’t need to be by the phone – your clients will still find the information that they are looking for. You won’t have to triage your own emails – your real estate assistant can answer basic information requests and flag those messages that need to be answered.

More importantly, you will find that, when you work with a real estate assistant, marketing tasks can be completing, listing coordination is something that she can take care of for you, that listing presentations will be stronger and that all of the wrinkles that stand between you and your best work will be smoothed out.

When you’re working in real estate, there are always going to be days when there is far, far more on your to do list than you are going to be able to complete (even if you go into the office early in the morning and stay late). This is when it will first become clear that working with a real estate assistant could be a tremendous benefit to you.

Some real estate pros, however, are going to still think that they can handle it. Whether this is because they aren’t sure whether or not they will be able to count on someone else to do things in a way that meets their standards. Others think that space is an issue (and haven’t been looking into real estate virtual assistants), or they just aren’t sure that an assistant will fit their budget.

What gets interesting is this: real estate assistants do not have to work full time, they can work virtually, and it’s possible to find a real estate assistant who will be an ideal match for you situation.

A real estate assistant can:

1. help out with marketing tasks;
2. take care of answering your phone or responding to basic information requests by email;
3. make sure that your day is well scheduled so that you don’t run out of time between appointment or keep your clients waiting;
4. take on listing coordination tasks;
5. prepare reports for your clients; and even,
6. help with getting your clients ready for the closing process.

Whether you have your real estate assistant fill in when things get hectic, or you just work with an assistant who can smooth out every day so that hectic doesn’t happen, you’re likely to find that having someone there makes a big difference.

Have you ever been browsing the web and noticed that the dates of copyright are a little bit weird on the page – like now that it’s 2008, you’re seeing pages with "Content copyright 1998-2002" even though when you look at it a bit closer the site shows an event that happened last week? If so, you may have shaken your head, maybe pointed it out to the site owner and just thought that it was strange. On the other hand, if a prospective client were to notice a similar thing on your website, what do you think they would think?

Many real estate pros are still getting used to online marketing, and that may be a part of the issue. The challenge, though, is that there are going to be some prospective clients that look at it and wonder if you have a challenge with the little details – something that you definitely don’t want them thinking.

So what’s the solution? How can you make sure that everything is up to date and as it should be on your website and marketing materials? One option is to hire a real estate assistant who can give all of your marketing materials a once over to ensure that everything is up to date.

With a real estate assistant on your side, you can know that not only will your content copyright information be up to date, but also that the links on your website are all working, that your error pages help site visitors to still find what they are looking for, and that addresses, phone numbers and all other contact information is up to date – both online and on your print marketing materials.

As a result, you’ll find that marketing materials are far more effective – and that means that your real estate assistant can help you to grow your business with a lot less stress.

Let’s say that you’ve focused on creating a great list of prospects with your website and that you’ve made every possible effort to keep up to date on which sports your buyers’ kids play and to know the anniversary of their move in date so that you can follow up: what happens if you don’t make an effort to get this information organized? Unfortunately, the answer is a whole lot of nothing.

A real estate assistant can work with all of your client and prospect lists to make sure that you can actually do something with the contacts that you have.

For example your real estate assistant can focus on organizing your prospects into buyers, sellers and investors. You can have that list divided up further – depending of course on how much information you’ve collected – into the budget your prospects have for a home, how many bedrooms they are looking for, etc.

Likewise, your real estate assistant can be sure that the information that you have for past clients stays organized and easy to manage. Addresses can be verified, phone numbers may be able to be updated: everything can come together – making it easier for you to take advantage of the lists.