When it comes to time management, don’t leave it to chance. A good virtual assistant – and real estate agent – must be able to manage her time well. Here are a few time management tips from Father Time’s Workshop at the School of Hard Knocks:

• Make a to-do list every day before you leave the office. Your to-do list should be tomorrow’s list and anything you didn’t get accomplished today should be at the top.
• Answer your e-mails all at one time. Set aside a specified time when you do this. Good times for e-mail are first thing in the morning, right before or after lunch and at the end of the day before you go home.
• Do not answer phone calls that come in just before meetings.
• Prepare for your meetings in advance. Spend one hour preparing for every one hour of meeting time.
• Schedule all your like activities, whenever possible, right around the same time each day. For instance, if you have several post cards to mail, set aside some time each day to prepare all of your post cards and mail them rather than doing this throughout the day for each mailing.
• Schedule important “must do” activities first. Put them on your wall calendar so you can see them at a glance AND schedule them in Outlook so you can get an instant popup reminder a few minutes before they are do. This ensure you never forget.

One final note: Hold spontaneous meetings to a minimum. You can put off very important activities for a long time just by answering phone calls and running out to appointments in a rush.

Kandra Hamric

888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

When you’re ready to hire a real estate assistant, what qualities should she have?

At a minimum, you need to look for the following:

• Excellent organizational skills
• Good communication
• Understanding of real estate process from pre-listing to closing
• Personality
• Customer service skills
• Able to communicate through a variety of media, including telephone, fax, e-mail and even through VOiP teleconferencing at times
• Creative
• Good time management skills

These are just the minimum. There are many other skills and qualifications you may need in a real estate assistant. If you handle a lot of foreclosures, you’ll want someone who knows the foreclosure process. If you specialize in buyer representation then you’ll want someone who can assist you in meeting the needs of buyers, preferably someone who has been a buyers agent or has worked for one. There are many real estate specialties and yours might require special skills or knowledge that you should consider when looking for an assistant to handle your real estate needs.

Kandra Hamric

888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

Today, customer service is more than just saying, “What else can I do for you?”

If you don’t have a handle on how to take care of customer service over thhe Internet then you will likely fall behind in the customer service game. You don’t want that to happen.

If you do a search for real estate in your area, you will see who is at the top and who your competition is. They are likely beating you at the Internet customer service game. According to the NAR, 70% of home buyers begin their search online. That means those people are looking for awesome customer service. The only question is, Are you prepared to give it? I am.

Kandra Hamric

888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

Too many real estate agents have the wrong idea about virtual assistants. If you think we’re all about making copies and putting sugar in your coffee, you’d better think again. In this day and age, you’re likely never even to meet us face to face … so there goes the coffee.

But just because I might not step foot in your office doesn’t mean I can’t manage your workload. An effective virtual assistant is also a good human resources coordinator. That means we can ensure your staff of agents, interns and office assistants have the proper motivation to keep working to make you successful. If your staff is happy, your customers will be happy and that’s why your virtual assistant should be adept at human resources issues.

Kandra

888-738-2872

I love being a virtual assistant. It get this feeling of deep satisfaction knowing that my organizational skills are helping others be successful. There is no substitute for this feeling of self-worth. That’s why I highly recommend to others who want to feel like they are making a difference to consider becoming a real estate virtual assistant.

If you’re in the mood for a career change and you think you might enjoy being a virtual assistant, I’d like to hear from you. Give me a call.

Kandra Hamric

888-REVA-USA (738-2872)

Virtual assistant isn’t such a dirty word. When you need someone to close the deal by dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s, you can count on us. We’re not special people but we make special deals work out just right. Imagine this …

Your’re in a time crunch. Just dropped the kids off at school. You have an appointment in 30 minutes and you haven’t even run comps yet. Not to worry. Comps can be sent by e-mail and you can receive them on your PDA or cell phone (you do carry your e-mail inbox with you, don’t you)?

When you need to get organized, that’s when you need to call a VA. We can get you in shape, manage your paperwork and help you close the deal. When your client is happy, you’ll be happy you called your VA.

Kandra Hamric

BEST-SELLING REALTOR® IN AMERICA REMEMBERS BEING A ROOKIE
 City, State, Date:  Ralph R. Roberts Real Estate in association with the Real Estate Apprentice Foundation is proud to announce that Roberts has accepted a position to serve as a Judge for the Foundation’s Rookie Grant Program for 2007. Roberts, CRS, GRI, is a sought after speaker, consultant, author, and personal coach, as he has sold over 10,000 homes, propelling Time magazine to call him “the best-selling REALTOR® in America.  Roberts is increasingly expanding his national profile.  “Ralph Roberts is a dear friend and a dedicated professional always willing to go the extra mile to help another agent,” says Stefan Swanepoel, Founder of the Real Estate Apprentice Foundation.  “He is an ideal example of success and what new agents can strive for,” Swanepoel added.
 

A recognized authority on salesmanship, fraud forensics, residential real estate, and ‘Stick-To-It-ism,’ Ralph regularly speaks to groups as small as 30 and as large as 5,000, and has shared the stage with some of today’s top speakers, including pro football Hall of Fame member Joe Montana, General Norman Schwarzkopf, author Robert Kiyosaki, and motivational guru Denis Waitley. 
 

A born motivator and teacher, Ralph can often be found working alongside Federal authorities to help educate state and local law enforcement and financial institutions on the problems associated with Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud. Ralph is also an award-winning and internationally recognized speaker who helps people from all walks of life build upon their past and present success and grow and expand their businesses.
 The Real Estate Apprentice Foundation, a Non Profit Corporation, provides education, guidance, products and service grants to thousands of rookie agents every year in an effort to assist them in entering a real estate career more successfully. Launched in July of 2004, the highlights of the Foundation’s thirty-month history include:
 

·        Processing over 11,000 applications from new licensed agents in almost all 50 states.
·        Providing product and service grants to rookie’s worth over $2,000,000 with no strings attached or pay back required.
·        Having September 1^st proclaimed Real Estate Apprentice day in Kansas.  
 

Other Judges for 2007 include:
Mark Barker, a pioneer in adult education and the Founder of Career Education Systems (CES).
Kimberly Gorsuch-Bradbury, Senior Vice President and General Manager with Real Estate Networks, RealEstate.com/LendingTree, LLC. 
Don Hobbs, Co-Founder of Hobbs/Herder, the nation’s largest advertising agency dedicated to creating corporate identity and marketing materials exclusively for real estate agents and brokers.
Scott Hoen, Executive Vice President & Division Manager for Fidelity National Real Estate.
Frances Martinez Myers,  Chairman of The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professional, and SVP for Fox & Roach/Trident.
Jerry Matthews, well known Real Estate Advisor who assists Realtor Associations, companies and individuals in designing and customizing their businesses for the future. 
Justin McCarthy, Strategic Partner for Development in Real Estate, Google Inc., responsible for leveraging Google’s volume of real estate searches for top real estate companies.
Linda McLean, President McLean International, helping high profile as well as rookie agents achieve higher profits through improved leadership skills and organizational structure. 
Steve Ozonian, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Help-U-Sell Real Estate.
Scott M. Roecklein, Senior Vice President for First American Corporation’s Natural Hazard Disclosure Division. 
Michael J. Russer, a.k.a. Mr. Internet, internationally recognized speaker, author and strategic consultant on the subject of  business transformation. 
Thomas M. Stevens, the immediate Past President of the National Association of Realtor and former CEO and Owner of Coldwell Banker in Virginia. 
Stefan Swanepoel, author, leading visionary, and CEO of RealtyU Group, Inc., the largest real estate career development company educating over 350,000 agents every year.
Vinnie Tracey, President of RE/MAX International, with 6,500 offices and 120,000 agents in 63 countries, RE/MAX is one of the largest real estate groups in the world. 
Katie Wyatt, the Real Estate Apprentice Grand Prize Winner for Season II. 
 

To immediately apply for a Season VI Real Estate Apprentice Grant, click here.  To read more about previous Judges for the Real Estate Apprentice Foundation go to:  www.RealEstateApprentice.com  and to become a Sponsor contact Dr. Martin Oliver, Deputy Executive Director at 949-600-7188 or by email at Dr.Oliver@RealEstateApprentice.com

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About The Real Estate Apprentice^® Foundation

Sponsored by RealtyU^® and founded in 2004, The Real Estate Apprentice^® Foundation is a non-profit venture created to assist newly licensed agents by equipping them quality guidance, education, products and services designed to alleviate their concerns and facilitate their rise to successful profitability.  This is accomplished by providing 5,000 semi-annual grants, totaling $1 million awarded each season with no strings attached. Grants are sponsored by various major real estate companies, service providers and industry leaders.