Nancy's Blog

Any Questions...Any Answers....Anyone care for a mint? Real Estate Virtual Assistants

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:08:21 -0500

I have got one post – or two at most - to finish in my series “What can a virtual assistant do for you?” So far, I have penned 3 posts in an attempt to answer this question. If you would like to read them, you will find the first one here.

As I research on the internet and talk to people “live and in person” this is the biggest question that I come across. People don’t know what a virtual assistant is, or what they can do. Since I am a real estate virtual assistant, I tend to focus on that part of the virtual assistant industry.

I have striven (is that a word – striven??) oh well have strove or how about this – I have made it my goal to try to answer that question in my blog. ( I also like to use my blog to rant and also share funny stories that I hope others will enjoy.) But, mostly I would like to educate people on what the function of a virtual assistant is.

I will share with you the story of my in-laws. Ahhh in-laws – the people that are not your family but you have to accept as such because of who you chose to marry. The people who you make an effort to convince that you really are good enough for their offspring. The people that strive to see the …..best in you. Yes, that is it, the best in you. I digress.

When I started up my real estate virtual assistant business, I remember telling my precious and cherished in-laws what I was about to endeavor upon. Their first question was the obvious one. I will eliminate the expletives – My dear daughter-in-law, what is a real estate virtual assistant? I explained to them, and with a condescending look on my mother-in-law’s face she remarked – “Oh isn’t that cute. You are going to start you own little business. I hope your little adventure works out.”

With the help of a glass of white zinfandel wine (or 4), remarkably, she is still alive. But, much to my delight, I have proven her wrong. My “little business adventure” has become very successful, and is bringing in real money -- more than I made at my previous employer.. But I would never rub that in her face…when my children or husband are present.

Anyway, the purpose of that anecdote was to help drive home the point that many don’t know what a virtual assistant is or realize how they can enrich the life of a real estate agent.

That is what I would like to try to explain. However, I need the help of ya'll (for the northern bunch please see "you guys"). What would you like to know? What question is in your mind that you have always wanted to know, but never wanted to actually call up a VA to find out? Perhaps, you have no intention and no need to ever use a virtual assistant, but you see them on Active Rain and you are just curious. Ask away! If I don’t know the answer, hopefully I will get the aid of the other very competent real estate virtuals on this site. (There is no joke about that implied. The REVAs on this site are very qualified and I have learned much from them. I hope to continue to learn more. I don’t even begin to suggest I know it all)

Please post a comment and ask what you have been wondering about the real estate virtual assistant industry. I would really love to help, with the assistance of my peers, educate Active Rain about this topic.

I am working on my next post in the “What can a real estate virtual assistant do for you?” series. If necessary, I will include your questions in that topic.

If possible I will try to answer your questions in my comments. I always read my comments and most always try to comment on them. If you are taking the time to comment, I like to show my appreciation.

So please, ask away, or if you would like, you can send me an email. Consider this the Q and A after the lecture. J

Thanks for your help in getting the word out!

What Can A Virtual Real Estate Assistant Do For Me? -- Pre-Listing Phase

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:56:06 -0500

Virtual Assistants are getting noticed more and more these days! That is great! However, as a result, I see the same question popping up on real estate forums and blogs around the net - “What is a Virtual Assistant, and what can a virtual assistant specifically do for you?” Or “How can a Virtual Assistant help or enhance your business?” Unfortunately, I sometimes see that this question is not answered very well. Some virtual assistants will post a message on a forum in response to one of the above questions that states - “email or call me, and I will tell you how I can help you.” That’s fine! But not a great “immediate” answer to the question. The poster of the question is still clueless on how a VA can help them.

So, this is what I would like to do. I am going to start a 4 or 5 part “blog-eries” (my term for blog series) on what a virtual assistant can help a real estate agent do. I am going to break it down based on the basic real estate transaction this way:

Pre-Listing
Listing
Sale (under contract phase)
Closing
Other Miscellaneous Tasks

When I cover one of these topics, and I leave something out that you have a question about (which I am sure that I will do unwittingly- PLEASE – post a question and I will be happy to answer it to the best of my ability! Also, if you are a VA and you see something that I have left out, please post it too! I can always learn more!

So let’s get started with how a virtual assistant can help you during the pre-listing phase. Let’s assume that you are just starting out in real estate, and you have nothing but your sphere of influence at the moment. You call up a virtual assistant and ask for help. Here is what he or she can do to make your life easier.

Maintain and update your client contact data base and your email accounts. All you have to do is provide your VA with you user name and password, and get back to the business of being a real estate agent. (Any contact manager is VA compatible – Microsoft Outlook; www.topproduceronline.com; www.agentoffice.com; www.act.com; www.maximizer.com; or any other software that you desire. Even an Excel spreadsheet will work as a great starting point – just something to get your database started.) A VA can sort through your email (and the endless spam) and get to the messages that matter. They can take care of any undeliverable messages from your drip email campaign (covered later), and make sure all of your client information is up to date. Also, they can keep track of your clients or SOI birthdays and anniversaries to send cards or notes (a great program for greeting cards that are sent through regular postal mail is www.sendoutcards.com. You (or your VA) can input your database along with special dates to remember along with the cards that you would like to send, and you never have to touch it again - your cards will be mailed on the date you specified!!)
Create and send any direct mail marketing pieces (i.e. letters or postcards) to your SOI or certain neighborhoods promoting yourself and your real estate services.
Create, update, and maintain your website(s).
Maintain any lead generation software that you may have. If you are using any kind of online lead generation program such as House Values or Eneighborhoods – your VA can set up an MLS search (to send matching listings to them) for the buyers or create a CMA for the sellers. Your VA can enter the contact with all of the criteria into your contact manager, and set them up on an email drip campaign if you have one. (The best email drip campaign I have found is Rainmaker. Top Producer also has one built into its program.) If you don’t have an online lead generation program but you are interested in finding one but just don’t have the time – this is another great task for you VA to perform.
Maintain any drip email campaigns that you have in place (as mentioned earlier.) You VA can also create new and inventive letters to be utilized in your drip campaign if it is not included in your program.
Once a listing appointment is made with prospective sellers your VA can create a pre-listing presentation. My pre-listing presentations consist of both a visual presentation and a hard copy. For example: Visual presentation – a unique and informative PowerPoint presentation is created for the agent to take to the showing. Hard copy – this will accompany and compliment the visual presentation. The hard copy will consist of the following items: cover, agent biography, testimonials and references, marketing information, helpful hints for selling your home (showing checklist, pricing strategies, appraisal, inspection, closing process, packing checklist), marketing plan, CMA, and listing forms (contracts etc).

Keep in mind, after you set up an action plan with your real estate virtual assistant, all of the above tasks are preformed on a daily basis “automatically” with little or no supervision from you - the agent. I feel that these tasks are essential to a successful real estate agent, but they can often be very time consuming – especially if you are just starting out and are working another job to begin with.

As you can see, you don’t have to have numerous clients or tons of business to get started with a VA. You can start out with hiring a virtual assistant for about 1 hour a day to start out with. They can help you build your business with little effort from you. They can be behind the scenes while you take care of all of the personal and face-to-face interaction. You could start out with a retainer of 5 to 10 hours per month at a very inexpensive price – you will find it priceless after you see your business grow.

Be sure to check back with me at this blog to get the following posts in the “blog-eries.” Next time I will focus on how a virtual assistant can help you in the listing phase.

What Can A Virtual Real Estate Assistant Do For Me? Part 2 - Lisiting

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:50:28 -0500

I am back with my second post to answer the question – What can a real estate virtual assistant do for you? This post is going to cover what a real estate virtual assistant can do for you during the listing phase. My previous post covered what a virtual assistant can do to help an agent during the pre-listing phase. If you missed that post, please click here if you would like to catch up.

So the moment is finally here! You have got the listing that you have been working on for quite a while. If you got the listing with the help of a virtual assistant, then the rest of this post is a moot point – you already know the enormous positive impact that a virtual assistant can have on your real estate business. But, if you don’t yet have a virtual assistant, you may be wondering if one could help you at this point. The answer is YES! What do you have to do – NOTHING! Next I am going to take you step by step through the process of listing coordination to answer the question “What exactly can a virtual assistant do for you?”

Okay, you have your listing agreement signed and you are ready to begin marketing the property. Here is what you do. You tell your virtual assistant that you have a new listing with a signed agreement and you are ready to go. You give her the information (mls input sheet and photos) that you gathered at the listing appointment, and your work is done! This is an example of the process that your real estate virtual assistant will then go through. Keep in mind that some of these points are optional and you may have various other items that you like to use in your listing campaigns that you would need to add.

Add the seller to your contact manager and any drip email campaigns, such as Rainmaker (Rainmaker has awesome pre-set sellers plans set up), that you may have.
If you are using a transaction management system such as Relay, your virtual assistant will enter the transaction into the program and apply the proper action plan.
Optimize any photos of the property that were taken. These images need to look in top shape because they will be used in all printed marketing, website uploads, and MLS entry.
Enter the listing and photos into your MLS system.
Create a virtual tour.
Create a Single Property Site.
Enhance your listing on Realtor.com
Enter the property on Craig’s List.
Make any changes to your personal real estate website to reflect your new listing.
Send a thank you letter to the seller for allowing you to list their home.
Create and mail out “Just Listed” postcards to the homes surrounding the listing.
Create a marketing flyer with many pictures of the home and other pertinent information to place inside or outside of the home.
Create ads for newspaper and/or other publications.
Send out an email blast to other agents via www.emailaflyer.com or www.emailarranger.com letting them know about your new listing.
Send out an email to all the current buyers that you are working with the see if they are looking for something like it.
Enter the property and the lockbox number into a lockbox system (to track those that enter the home) if applicable.
Enter the property into Homefeedback.com to track other agents’ feedback of the home. Or, send faxes to the agent after they have had a showing to see if they have any helpful remarks or tips for you from their buyers.
Send a letter to the seller noting all of the above tasks that have been completed in an effort to effectively market their home.
Send weekly reports to the seller (either by email or USPS) recapping the number of showings, feedback, website hits, inquiries etc.
Send occasional seller marketing letters and moving guides via postal mail or email as dictated by the action plan.
Remind you the agent (or place a task on your Outlook calendar) to check in with the seller once a week to address any questions or concerns.

Remember, all of this is set into motion once you get the listing. No of this has to be initiated by you – that is the beauty of a real estate virtual assistant. You can continue to do the tasks that make you a great real estate agent without having to worry about the fine details that go into marketing a home.

As well as marketing, your real estate virtual assistant can also make sure that you listing folder is in order. This is especially simple with a transaction management system such as Relay. But a REVA can make sure that you get all the proper disclosures signed. This is especially important in state such as California where the disclosures seem endless at times.

I hope that you have found this post to be helpful! On my next post, I will concentrate on what a real estate virtual assistant can do to help you during the escrow or under contract phase.

In the mean time, you can check out the following post on my blog – “But I already know how to do this stuff. Why would I need a real estate virtual assistant?”

Please feel free to leave feedback and let me know what you think.

Starbucks for your Computer!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:57:13 -0500

Need a cup of java to get you running in the morning? How about one for your computer, more specifically, your computer browser also. This only works with FireFox, so if you are not a FireFox user, I am sorry but, nevermind.

This is an extension for FireFox that I use every day. It is called Morning Cup of Coffee. If you are like me, you have a set pattern that you go through every morning before you really get up and running. Or, like me, you have a certain number of websites that you have to check to get started. Or, maybe I just have OCD. Probably the later.

But I found this cute way to get things done at the touch of a button. You download this extension, and it puts a little cup of coffee up in your toolbar. You click it, and you can open as many sites as you want (into your tabbed browser.) I have about 8 sites that I open at once. I like to check my local paper, my Yahoo! page with all of my RSS subscriptions on it, my website stats, Active Rain, some real estate forums, and a couple of other favorite pages. You can input whatever sites that you want to open into it, and also on what days you want it to open. For example, you can have sites that you like to open on the weekend, but not during weekdays.

It helps me function while I am waiting on my cup of coffee help me function. How am I supposed to remember all of those websites without it? (either coffee)

Hope you find this useful!

I Like SpongeBob...There I said it!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:38:40 -0500

...I also like several other Nick cartoons such as Fairly Odd Parents and Jimmy Neutron. On a desperate day, I can even find myself chuckling along with Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.

Don't be afraid! I have a 5 year old little girl, and these programs have grown on me. I missed out on an important piece of advice before I became a parent. Make sure you have a suitable recording platform in place (TiVo, DVR, if you are in bad shape, VCR) I didn't realize that eventually I would lose all television watching privileges. Sure, I can make her watch these in her room, but then she gets these sad puppy dog eyes and tells me "I don't want to be all by myself, I want to be with you mommy." That is all it takes...I'm done.

Now, don't get me wrong, she is extremely seldom is sitting down watching these shows, but they are her background noise of choice while she plays colors, creates stuff or reads. I never knew that SpongeBob's voice can be comforting.

As time has progressed, I realize that I don't get to watch anything during the day. If she is off from kindergarten for a day, we can sometimes compromise on The Price is Right, if I quickly change the channel and tell her that Avatar is coming on Nickelodeon.

It is funny how you change as a parent, and sometimes the metamorphosis is unseen. I have to record and watch The Young and The Restless and Lost after 9 PM when she is in bed. How did I loose control?

A really bad thing happened the other day. Just to set the scene, I have one of those combo dining room/family room/office kind of deals. We have a very open floor plan, and my laptop, which is my PC of choice, is usually somewhere in the dining room area. I hear that a brand new SpongeBob is coming on. I make the exciting announcement, and my little girl bounds down the stairs with a happy yell. She asks me to join her on the couch and I do (again with the puppy dog eyes). My husband joins us too. We are all enjoying the SpongeBob that we have not memorized every word to. Change is fun. Then during commercial a strange thing happens. My little one gets up and goes upstairs to finish what she was doing before she was called away. SpongeBob comes back on, and my husband and I are chuckling. He then makes that comment that Patrick just said something that he himself would have said and followed it with "Ain't that right Katelynn?"....."Katelynn???" Aha, we are alone, over 25 and watching SpongeBob ---- and enjoying it. She had never returned from her important tasks upstairs, and we continued to watch our program like good little children.

I found this to be funny. I also find it funny how I can enjoy these shows so much. I guess after you watch them against your will for a while, and they become background noise to your everyday life, you brain programming changes, and the chemical make up rearranges itself.

One thing I do know for sure -- I wouldn't change a thing for anything in the world!

GiveAwayoftheDay.com Ticker...Check back everyday for new software!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 08:40:49 -0500

Okay, if you haven't figured out by now, I LOVE FREE! This ticker will change daily, so check back to see if the free software for the day is something that you need!

It is just hard to believe that you can get something for free with no strings (or viruses, spyware, or adware) attached. It is good to know that it is still possible!

Have a great day!

Free Panoramic Maker Software!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 08:37:11 -0500

Good morning all!

I recently posted a blog post about the Give Away of the Day site that I found on another blog site.

What is offered today seemed like a good freebie for realtors. It is a photo software that allows you to create panoramic photos. Does you listings have a great view that you want to be able to capture and put on a flyer? Or, a really big room that you don't want to chop up? This is a great tool.

It is called Zoner Panorama Maker and it is very user friendly. Here is the link to the site to get it for free. Below is a picture I just took from my front door. I took a total of 6 pictures, and it merged them together great! I call this "View Across the Street." :)

The software is really simple to use. I took the pictures, installed the software, and made the panoramic image in 10 minutes. All you do is open the software, select the pictures you want, order them in the proper sequence and click on join.

The one and only catch to the Give Away of the Day site is that you have to download and install the software on the day that it is offered, or it is no longer free. (I tried it just to make sure. I tried to download and install something the next day, and I couldn't without paying for it.)

If you need something like this, check it out. I hope it helps!

Have a great day!

HomeGain.com - Does it help you "gain" more leads as an agent?

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:47:41 -0500

I am back again to stir the pot of lead generation sites.

This post is a little more specific in nature. I received a call from an agent who wants me to perform listing and marketing coordination for him. He uses HomeGain.com (among some others), and he wanted me to assist him with proposal writing and the like.

I don't know much about this site, and I am not familiar with those that use it.

Do any of you have an opinion about this particular site? Please feel free to share any stories or experiences. If there are any consumers out there who have used this site to review agents, I would love to hear from you too!

To me, it kind of seems like a dating service. You put out your ad and then you pick the one who sweeps you off of your feet. Any Real Estate Romeos out there?

Thanks for your input and help! Ya'll (or "you guys" for the un-Southern) are always great!

You Love Em..You Hate Em...You Need EM..You Dont Know - Lead Generation Sites

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:24:14 -0500

Okay, this is a question that I see repeated often throughout different real estate networking forums all over the web.

Are lead generation sites worth the price? Are lead generation systems helpful? Are lead generation systems a bunch of BS?

The answer to these questions run the gamut from sparkling praises to profanity and rage that has to be censored. I have picked up on one fact that seems to be a universal truth -

Don't get yourself locked into a 12 month contract with any lead generation system.

I recently worked with an agent that found himself in just such a quandary. He signed up with this lead generation company that told him that the system "would eventually pay for itself." Sound familiar? I mean, they made it sound like that he was going to run out of property to sale on earth, so he would have to start selling lots on the moon. He ended up trying to fake his own death to get out of the contract. THERE IS NO WAY OUT OF THESE CONTRACTS. I think that it would be easier to get out of a deal with the Mafia. I am thinking that this company may be the Mafia. I was going to call and talk to them on his behalf but I was afraid they would make me an offer...well you know.

Anyway, joking aside and seriousness. As a real estate virtual assistant, I try to help my agents make decisions that will be most beneficial to them.

I have decided to start my own investigation into lead generation systems. I have brought this dilemma to Active Rain because it is such a great gathering of real estate agents, virtual assistants and other real estate professionals. I have learned so much through AR, and I know that I will get some very helpful insight.

Please share with me any experiences that you have had with lead generations sites. Good or bad. If you have a particularly scathing tale that you would rather not post, please feel free to email me. I hate to see people taken advantage of, and I would like to keep it from happening to another unsuspecting agent.

I will share with you the sites that I have worked with:

HouseHunt.com - Perhaps I didn't work with this site long enough to reap its benefits, but I didn't see a whole lot to sing about. First, it is very very expensive (at least for one good zip code in GA it is) and you HAVE to sign a 12 month contract. The people looking on this site were doing just that looking. Which is fine, but it stinks when you have to pay that much for curiosity. It had a good drip email campaign, but so many of the addresses you got were bogus - you know - bob@dontcallme.com. Also, when it would pull listings from the MLS to send to clients, it wouldn't always pull the picture. What person in Texas wants to see a listing from Georgia and try to make a decision with no picture.

HouseValues.com - I haven't done much with this site, but I have heard good things about it.

I have one agent that I do data entry and database management for and she uses MLSOnline.com as just one of her lead generation sites. She gets a ton of leads from them, but because she does her own followup and in house closing coordination, I don't know how many of these leads pan out.

One more thing to beware of lead generation seekers - There is a new site that I just found out about. It is called BugMeNot.com. It will give you a phony email address to paste into the email field of a form. If the site has some sort of method to tell if the address is phony or not, it will recognize it as legit. However, it leads nowhere. It has the domain name of trashmail.com which is easy to recognize with the human eye - but computers wont catch it at first, and send it through as legit. This site bills itself as "a way to bypass compulsory registration." Great, just one more way to make things difficult for us.

So please, share with me and others your lead generation opinions. All are welcome. I would love to learn more and I am convinced this is the place to do it.

Links For Your Liking has been updated!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:42:14 -0500

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that the section that I have on my blog called "Links for your Liking" has been updated with some brand new links for you to review.

Most of the links I feature are real estate agent or real estate virtual assistant related. I try to find links that I have not heard of before, but I think can be very useful. It is usually something that will cut down on my time.

The links that I include in this section most often always have a demo our free trial feature so you can preview what you are getting. I dont like purchasing anything that I cant preview or use first. Most of the links in this post have a no obligation trial period.

Check out Links For You Liking if you would like to see what links are included this week. My previous Links for you Liking post can be found here.

If you have time, I am sure that you will find something useful that will make your life interesting.

If you have a link that you would like to see featured in this section, please feel free to either post to this blog or email me.

Thanks and enjoy!

Press Release Pressure Problems - Please!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:14:40 -0500

Okay here is an issue that I have SERIOUSLY procrastinated on. I have been meaning to do it. In fact, it has been on my to-do list for quite some time! I have just been putting it off for about 2 years - don't wanna rush it you know

This task that I have been delaying is creating a press release. I know - it is no big. But why haven't I done it. Every-time I read a new article relating to getting your virtual assistant business up and running, creating a press release is always mentioned. I even know the site that I am going to use to publish it - www.prweb.com.

The reason that I haven't yet created my press release is that I just don't know where to start. What do you have to do to make a top notch press release that stands out and gets you noticed all the while looking like it was generated by your own private pr firm?

I then found a site the other day that renders me without an excuse anymore. It is a fill-in-the-blank press release. FREE Okay, it doesn't get easier than this. It is truly Public Relations for Dummies. Now, after 2 years, I have no reason to not create a press release for my business.

I wrote this post because I hope that it will help fellow procrastinators like myself. If this is a task that you have been putting off for a while (seriously, it has been in my Outlook Task list I don't know how long) then maybe this will get you jump-started like it did me.

Does anyone else have an experience to share about a task you have been putting off forever and then found an extremely simple way to take care of it? I would love to hear.

Thanks and good luck!

A new "Water Cooler" for Real Estate Virtual Assistants! and a heartfelt thank you!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:44:44 -0500

One of the greatest benefits that I have found being a part of the real estate virtual assistant industry is the fact that there is a large amount of networking that goes on within the industry itself. Not only it is a fun way to relieve stress in your everyday work, but it is also an tremendous source of help and a great way to learn from the experience of other more seasoned VA's.

I have found that networking with fellow real estate virtual assistants has been vital to the growth and development of my own virtual assistant business. I would even go a step farther to say that without the networking help of other great virtual assistants, I would not be doing what I am today. That means, that I would not be able to enjoy my life and my job the way that I do everyday! It is truly wonderful to get up everyday and not dread having to go to your job. I love what I do! (of course it helps that if you have to send out a few emails in your sweatpants with no make up, no one is the wiser:)) Because I was introduced to the virtual assistant industry, and mentored by some of the best around, I can set my own schedule and never miss a field trip or sugar-filled party with my little girl's kindergarten class. I can also take care of my mother who needs extra care without having to hire someone else to do what I want to do for her. I have found no other profession that shares the unique bond inherent with the virtual assistant industry. So for all of you great VA's who give of your time to mentor and help those virtual assistants who are up and coming - THANK YOU! You not only make a difference professionally, but you allow for us to make improvement personally in our lives as well.

Along those same lines, I wanted to introduce a new additional place for real estate virtual assistants and real estate professionals to network. I don't think that you can ever have too many sites to network on and share! This site is the Virtual Real Estate Assistant blog - www.vrea.com. Here you will find a great collection of virtual assistants in one convenient place.

Whether you are a new virtual assistant looking for some advice, or an experienced virtual who has a lot to share, or if you are just wanting to learn more about the real estate virtual assistant industry VREA is the place to go. The VA that is responsible for creating and generating this idea is Kandra Hamric. Kandra was the first virtual assistant that I ever spoke with, and every moment since then, she has done nothing but give me support and much needed mentoring and advice. You can rest assured and be confident in the fact that anything that is posted on the VREA website is reliable. You never have to doubt the validity of the content because it is moderated by the best!

Thanks Kandra, and to all of you accomplished virtual assistants for making is possible for the industry to grow, and allowing your knowledge to help others - like myself- become successful VA's who can hopefully pass on their knowledge and experience to a new group of up-and-comers!

Don't forget to check out the Virtual Real Estate Assistant Blog and add the RSS feed to your RSS feed reader so you will always be up to date on the latest news out of the real estate virtual assistant industry.

Free Software EveryDay!---No Way!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 09:31:29 -0600

I am so excited! I love FREE!

I know you see this kind of thing all the time and it is pointless to even read it. But this time it is for real! (Yeah you see that too)

I saw this link on another virtual assistant blog that I am a member of (www.vrea.com), and I just had to share!
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com
Everyday, they give away free software, but just for that one day are you able to get the featured item for free. No spyware or anything. I have downloaded several items, and I am loving its free-ness. I was hesitant at first, but the link came from another reliable virtual assistant, so I felt more comfortable trying it out.

Today they are offering a cool brainstorming/thought organizing program that retails for $119!

I put the site on my RSS feeder, so everyday when I open up my reader, I see the headline about what software is free today.

I hope that you enjoy and pass it on! I have heard nothing but good stuff about it.

What Can a Real Estate Virtual Assistant Do For Me? Part 3 - Under Contract Phase

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:45:03 -0600

Want to learn how you can do nothing but greatly save time in the process?

Hire a real estate virtual assistant and get back to being a real estate agent instead of a secretary!

Welcome back to my 3^rd post in my series “What Can a Real Estate Virtual Assistant Do For You?” This time, I will be covering some of the tasks that a virtual assistant can help you take care of during the under contract/pending or escrow phase of a real estate transaction.

If you would like to see the previous 2 posts in this series, click here to read how a virtual assistant can help you during the “pre-listing” phase, or click here to read how a virtual assistant can help you during the “listing” phase of a real estate transaction.

As I have said in the previous posts, the possibilities and combinations of what tasks a virtual assistant to support a real estate agent are endless, but I will try to give you a generalized overview.

Now, you and your real estate virtual assistant have already prepared for and obtained your ideal listing. Finally you get an offer on your listing, and the offer is accepted by your sellers. Again, as in the previous responsibilities, your virtual assistant can prove to be a valuable and resourceful, precious time saver.

Once your sellers accept the offer from the buyers, here is the plan that your real estate virtual assistant will kick into action – and you don’t have to lift a finger!

Side Note: If your real estate virtual assistant and you decide to use a transaction management system such as Relay, an action plan can be uploaded in the system that you use for all of your real estate transactions. (This will keep things neat and consistent across the board!)

After the contract is accepted, this is what your virtual assistant will do (though not necessarily in this order):

review the contract to make sure that everything is complete and in order.- I don’t have to inform any of you that when executing a real estate contract, it is of the utmost importance that all T’s are crossed and all I’s are dotted (and dotted very obviously and clearly) This can be a time consuming and daunting task if one is in a hurry – but it is a specialty of the real estate virtual assistant. It is easy to let a last minute change rush by un-initialed – so delegate it to your VA to handle.
Ensure that any and all pest inspections are scheduled and completed – your real estate virtual assistant can make sure that all inspections needed for the closing are in place. This includes septic and pest or any other inspection that your state may require.
Ensure that the loan application is delivered to the lender –if not already done so. Also, they can keep on top of the lender to make sure that everyone knows the status of the loan at the earliest possible time.
Ensure that the appraisal is ordered and completed in a timely fashion consistent with what is stipulated in the contract
Schedule the closing appointment with whatever party that your state uses to close a real estate transaction.
Report back to the seller weekly (or a pre-determined set of days) to let the know the status of all the above items and if they need to be home for any appointments and such
Ensure that the title company or attorney has all of the seller’s information and that it is accurate.
Ensure that any necessary insurance (fire, flood, hazard) has been ordered and documented.
Confirm that requested repairs have been made after the loan has been approved.
If required, order the home warranty.
If desired, contact the buyers to schedule a final walk-through.
Request a copy of the HUD statement from the attorney so everyone knows what documents or money they need to bring to the closing table.
Order the closing gift for you to present to the sellers.

In a Nutshell Statement: A real estate virtual assistant can help you through the “under contract” phase of a real estate transaction by accomplishing the seemingly small (and very time consuming) but hugely important details of getting your property to close.

My next post will cover how a real estate virtual assistant can help you during the “closing” phase of a real estate transaction.

“e” you later!

Links for your Liking!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 14:40:18 -0600

Do you enjoy finding new and interesting websites that greatly enhance your productivity, teach you some new and interesting tricks, or amuse you by being just plain fun?!?! Check this out:

I have created a new area of my blog that I plan to spend some time developing greatly during the month of March! It is called "Links for your Liking"

I include various links that I come across that I have not heard much about, and share them with you along with a short description of what each link can help you do! When you have some time, take some time and check out what new links have been added and see if you can find something helpful.

Most of the times, these links are going to be Real Estate or Real Estate Virtual Assistant related, but once in a while I will sneak in some bonus links that make for some interesting break time. (I would like to start a separate category if I can find enough links)

As I said previously, I am going to start working on this section of my blog intently in the month of March. I already have a notebook with about 15 interesting links and info that I would like to share.

But I also need your help! I would love to include links that you find and send to me also. It could be a link that is your favorite or one that you just found, or one that you would like someone else to research and tell you about. Whatever the case, please just send me some links! I will include the link along with any description you may have, and also your name and website if you desire. Again, it can be Real Estate or Real Estate Virtual Assistant related, or related to nothing. Either just reply to this post, or shoot me an email at nancy@nancyruben.net

Please check out the “Links for your Liking” section of my blog by clicking here, and let me know what you think!

My site is currently down!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 12:05:23 -0600

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know that my site www.anassistantoncall.com is currently down! I am not out of business! :) I tried to call customer service, but they of course are closed for Presidents day. I am hoping that it will be up by tomorrow. Please check back then. In the mean time, feel free to shoot me an email if you have questions about my real estate virtual assistant services!

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks

Nancy

Realistic Real Estate Resolutions

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:33:45 -0600

I just posted this post on my personal blog - but I wanted to go ahead and post it here too! I hope that you enjoy it. I would love to hear your input.

Realistic Real Estate Resolutions

I always love the beginning of another year. It is the perfect time to assess your mistakes from last year, and learn from them, and then most important move on. It is also time for the ever famous - New Years Resolutions! I am not a big fan of Resolutions. Yes, the idea is great, but what happens to me is that I start off with these awesome resolutions - and then by the beginning of February (or more realistically, the beginning of the second week of January) I have already broken my resolutions and feel depressed and like a looser. Some of you that are real estate agents may understand this type of resolution. You start of the year and resolve to sell x number of homes in the first quarter of 2007. But is this realistic? Can you control the market? The economy? You may meet your goal, and good for you! Celebrate! But, you may miss your mark due to reasons completely out of your control. You may bust your tale, and not see what you hoped for. This just leaves you with your spirits dampened, and lacking enthusiasm. That is why I want to encourage you to make Realistic Real Estate Resolutions. Make resolutions that you know are within your reach. Here are a few to help get your creative juices flowing. These are some that I have seen real estate agents put into practice, and yield significant results from!

Resolve to call your sellers once a week. Call them just to touch base and see if they have any questions or concerns. They may have things they want to discuss with you, but they may feel that their needs are petty, and that you are very busy. Make yourself available. If you are a mega-seller with tons of clients, this may seem difficult to do. But please try to do it yourself and not delegate it to an assistant. As a former assistant in a local real estate office, I had the job of reading and coding many of the after sales surveys to determine an agents customer service rating. The most glowing surveys belonged to those agents who made personal and consistent contact with their sellers. Yes, I did get not-so-glowing surveys from those sellers whose agent listed their house and let them drift off to sea. Not good for your customer service rating or your business. Even if you think their house is not that great, and not that much commission. Their husbands, mother's cousin may have a 6000 square foot home on the water and they will be looking for an agent in the future.
Resolve to send everyone in your database an email every two weeks or at the very least once a month. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. Even those who may not be looking at the moment. Don't worry about being an email pest; if they don't want your emails, they can unsubscribe. It doesn't have to be a award winning email, just a newsletter to let them know what is going on in the area, or some tips on getting your home ready for the upcoming season. If this idea leaves you with sweaty palms, hire an assistant, or buy a drip email program. Constant Contact is a good one, but you have to create your own content within the templates provided. Stuck - take a stroll over to Microsoft's templates site and check out the real estate newsletter templates they have for free. No software but Microsoft Word required. If you desire an all-in-one no effort kind of site, I recommend Rainmaker. All you do is enter your email address for your prospect, choose an action plan from their massive library, and set up how often you want them to get an email - and you are done.
Resolve to join an industry related forum and Network, Network, Network. There are plenty of great forums that you can join for free. I list some good ones at the end of this point. You don't have to spend hours at time on these forums, but maybe a couple of days a week, after you finish checking your email, just drop by and see what is going on. You may be able to help someone with advice or answers to their questions. You may be able to ask questions of others. More and more seasoned agents are showing up in the forums and they possess a wealth of knowledge and experience you cant get from any real estate class. Who knows - you may even end up with a referral?

Active Rain
Agents Online
Wanna Network
4. Resolve to pick out one aspect of your industry a month that you want to learn more about and research it. You may want to know more about Virtual Assistants and what they can do for you. You may want to find out more about a specific designation, and what you need to get it. Whatever you have been thinking about, and wishing to know more, take sometime to Google it on the Internet. In today's Internet age - knowledge is power. Whatever you learn can turn out to be a power weapon to add to your arsenal.
5. Resolve to blog. You can start a blog for free, and believe me, they are the wave of the future. Just "Google" the word blog, and take a look at the results. If you need to learn more about it, do it and get going. You can start a blog for free. Blog about your area - what is going on, activities, high school football, best restaurants etc. Blog about your day. Blog about anything. Blog about nothing, but blog. It give your consumers a personality to put with the face and the words on your web page. Let your prospective customers see "you" in your blog. Reveal yourself through your posts. Encourage feedback and you will learn a lot about who your are marketing to.

That leads me to my resolution for this year. This year, I just resolve to learn from the mistakes from last year, and then let them go, and focus on the good points of last year - and there were many. But there is one resolution that I am going to share with all of you reading this. I am going to blog more. Yes, I resolve to be a mega-blogger. I resolve to post a least once a week to this blog. If you are reading this, and you see that I have not made a post in a weeks time. Please, feel free to call me on it! Let me know you noticed. I mean, I can post to this blog from my cell phone for goodness sakes so I am really left without an excuse. I have been wanting to jump on the "blog-wagon" for a while, and this is the perfect time to do this.

I do need your help though. Please feel free to respond to my blogs, and offer ideas for me to post on. Ask questions about the VA industry and I will try my best to answer it. If I cant, I will network with other VA's until I find someone who can. Hey, you can take care of number 4 on my list by asking me questions about virtual assistants!

I would love to hear any ideas that you have for blog post, or any resolutions that you would like to share.

One post that I would like to start is "Links for your Liking." I find all kinds of interesting links related to our industry, and I would like to share them with you. I love finding new tools and tricks to play with. I am like a kid with a new video game. If you would like to share some interesting links you find - please do!!

I will "e"- see you again in 7 days or less. I resolve to do it!!

Merry Christmas - Don't forget the magic!

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 10:43:34 -0600

I had forgotten the wonder of Christmas until I had a child. Dont get me wrong, I always loved the Christmas season, and everything that it represented. But you loose some of the magic as you get older. It's is like they say in the Polar Express, you just dont hear the bell ringing anymore. My little girl is 5 so she is the perfect age to experience the magic of the season. We just sat down and used Norad to track Santa. www.noradsanta.org. The look on her face was amazing as we watched a "video" of Santa traveling toward India. It brought back memories of when I was little, and the feeling that I felt on Christmas Eve. It was unlike any day of the year. It was also the longest day of the year! :) If you have a child, dont get so busy with the events of Christmas preparation that you forget to experience the magic once again for yourself. As an adult, it is easy to do.

On the flip side, late this after noon, I am going to go to the cemetery and place a wreath and some Christmas decorations on my father's grave. This is my second Christmas without him. I wish he was here so much to see my little girl on Christmas. If you have all of your loved ones near you, please dont take it for granted. I know that there are years that I did, and I wish so much I could get them back. If you have lost some loved ones, let that be a reminder that every moment should be cherished.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus! It is truly a special time of year.

Should a real estate virtual assistant put pricing on their website (opinion)?

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 19:53:38 -0600

This is a question that I am eager to get some response to. I am going to post it on my personal blog site too, so I apologize if you are seeing this twice!
I don't list my prices for my services on my website. It is not that they are a big secret, it is just that each agent has different needs, and if I put a price on there, it may be higher than what they would actually have to pay. I guess what I am saying is, I don't want to post a price that may "scare" someone away from contacting me because they price quote they get after personal contact may be lower, based on their needs. I don't put the prices in hopes that they will shoot me an email and let me consider their unique needs.
But, I see that people are visiting my page labeled "pricing" but I am not getting very many emails in coordination with the number of people viewing the page.
I would like to hear from anyone on this issue. Agents, assistants, or anyone who is reading this. I do offer retainer packages. I could put something like "a package of 5 hours a month - prices starting at $60." That would be $12 an hour. For some work, this would be sufficient, but for more intense work, it wouldn't. Also, the greater number of hours in the retainer package, the less the per hour cost is.
This is something that I have been struggling with for a while. I had pricing on there, and then I took it off. I am just not sure what the best way to tackle this is. I would love to hear any and all suggestions that you may have.
So what do you think? Should a virtual real estate assistant publish their prices on their website? Or at least a "prices starting at..." kind of deal? If you visited a website offering assistant services because you were looking to hire one, what impact with the presence or absence of the pricing have on your decision to contact them?

Did I miss the "RSS feed" explosion?

Nancy Ruben, REVA, CRESS (An Assistant On Call) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:58:33 -0600

I try to keep up on technology, but it seems like this RSS feed stuff came up and slapped me upside my head! I am a virtual real estate assistant, so I try to always be on top of things, but I missed the bus on this one. What I mean is, it seems like it is EVERYWHERE now! I remember where AP newswire was the only place that you have heard of one! I am working on my own personal blog that I link to my website, and I was trying to learn more about feeds in the process. (for a long time I thought that blogs were just something that was for fun, or like chat rooms or something. It wasn't until recently, and thanks to some of the posts on Active Rain, that I realized that they are not only fun, but a great way to network and learn more about things that interest you and are relevant to your business.) I read some posts here on the site that said that blogging could actually increase traffic to your website, and I gave it a shot. Just started posting, and reading, and its true, it really does increase traffic! I am becoming addicted to active rain! This is truly a great site.

In the process of my research, I started to wonder how you create a feed - maybe some of you do too - so I wanted to share this. I found a great site that lets you set up a free account to create feed links - www.feedburner.com Does anyone else know of any other sites like this? I was really impressed with this one. On the same note, I know that you can use feeds to track news, or blog changes and the like, but I was wondering if any one else out there has any other creative ways that you can use feeds either for fun or business. I love all of the different things that I have learned from this site, and I look forward to learning more!