I have heard Real Estate Agents complain about using a Transaction Coordinator. The most common Agent comment is they ending up doing all the work themselves.
I don't doubt that there are Assistants / Transaction Coordinators/ Virtual Assistants that are not worth your money and don't save you time. But I also think that if you are not getting any time savings from your Transaction Coordinator you should first ask, if you have made the necessary changes in the way YOU do business to include your Real Estate Assistant.
I am a licensed Realtor in 2 states and a full time web based Transaction Coordinator / Virtual Assistant. There are two main problems that I see agents make after hiring a Real Estate Assistant. The first is Communication based. Do your vendors & clients don't know when they should be contacting your Transaction Coordinator / Assistant first. The other problem I see is agents who say they want to hire a Transaction Coordinator to help grow their business but then can't let go of doing it themselves.
A few questions you should ask yourself before you blame the Real Estate Assistant for "Not doing anything."
Did you send a letter to your client introducing your Transaction Coordinator as your team member?
Did you talk or send an email to your vendors: Title, Escrow, Broker, Lender, introducing your Assistant?
Did you explain to your client, Lender, Escrow, Title how you would like them to respond to you & your Transaction Coordinator? Did you let them know to inform your Real Estate Assistant and your Assistant will inform you?
If you have everything CC'd to you and your Virtual Assistant did you "Just handle it" yourself? Or did you send a quick note to your Virtual Assistant with the expectation of how you would like them to handle it... or "Let me know of the outcome."
Did you change your voicemail to re-direct people towards your Transaction Coordinator?
Did you correct anyone who called you first verses your Transaction Coordinator / Assistant?
I think it is most important for an agent wanting to use a Transaction Coordinator to re-train themselves how to do business! In the beginning you need to constantly re-evaluate how you are doing business and if you have made any changes. Openly talk with your Transaction Coordinator about the changes you want to make. Take a weekly look together with your Transaction Coordinator in how they can better assist you and help you make those changes
As a Transaction Coordinator/ Virtual Assistant myself I know one of my main objectives is to free up the agents time. When a vendor calls the agent first and "knocks me out of the loop", and the agent lets that happen I feel horrible. I don't feel like I am doing my job. I also start to question whether the agent feels that I am doing a good job. Because I do know it is hard for an agent to change the way they do business as an Assistant I am always asking for feedback from the agent. I also know to take a lot of time with a new agent client reminding/teaching them of how they can be using me.
If an agent has hired me as their Transaction Coordinator vendors need to be directed by the agent that they need to contact the Transaction Coordinator first. An agent has to also be strong enough to correct the vendors when they don't call the Real Estate Assistant first. A Real Estate Agent needs to be able to set boundaries, define how they want to work, and work it the way they have defined it not how others want the Agent to. The Assistant also has the responsibility of keeping the Agent accountable to effectively utilizing them: their new team member.
Hiring a Transaction Coordinator may be a change in your business because you are trying to build your business or maybe just have more time for you. This may not be an easy change for you or the people you work with. Make sure you verbalize to them that you are making a change in your business and why. Let them know this change is important to you & your business and you need their help. Let them know the new way you want them to do business with you. Your vendor's only want you do to better in your business... let them know how they can do that for you. Don't be afraid to re-iterate to your vendors and teach them the new way you are doing business and how you want them to communicate with you and your Real Estate Assistant. Your Transaction Coordinator should also be reinforcing the message to your vendors that they are there to assist.
Like I said I don't doubt that there are Transaction Coordinator's that are not saving you time for the money you are paying them. A Transaction Coordinator should not be costing you money they should be assisting you increase your income / time! If you are not getting the results you want from your Assistant look at your own communications & actions first.
All data and information provided on this Blog are for informational or entertainment purposes only. It does not reflect the opinions of any affiliated Brokerage(s). Web TCS, LLC makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this Blog and will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use; including, but not limited to, blown gaskets, body odor, Computer and Keyboard Rage. All Blog posts are the constantly changing opinion of the author(s) and may occasionally contain bad opinions. They are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Copyright® 2008, Web TCS Transaction Coordination Services ""I hired a Transaction Coordinator once and did all the work myself""
Your services are wanted immediately by home buyers and sellers needing to buy and sell in today's unique market. To be the agent that works with these clients you need to fill their needs and requirements, they want a Real Estate Professional to take care of the most important transaction of their lives. They require someone who is experienced, and has the team behind them to make their transaction go smoothly. You could easily be the High-Paid Real Estate Professional to work with these buyers and sellers if you have the right skills and support team behind you.
Times Have Changed
When the market was Hot, transactions were found on every corner and lending was available for anyone who could (and some who couldn't) spell "FICO". Right now being "At the Top of Your Game" is even more important because the change in the market has increased the competition for clients and transactions now require a higher level of diligence to close successfully.
The challenges you now face are: 1) Transactions require more time and energy to make sure they close successfully. 2) Prospecting for new clients requires more time because the competition is higher and there are less prospects to go around. You need to be on your prospecting "A Game", but also on your closing/follow up "A Game".
So how can you be prospecting twice as hard as before, and also spending more time making sure your transactions are closing smoothly??? It presents a time management issue for the agent that isn't highly organized or doesn't have a team of professionals on their side to help out.
What Can You Do?
So what do you do, drop the extra prospecting so you may close your current transaction successfully? But then you may not have any more clients in the works after your current transaction is closed? Do you focus on prospecting and hope that the transactions you are working on close ok? All the while hoping that you are not neglecting the very people who have already put their trust in you to make sure the most important transaction of their lives is handled properly? If you screw that up they are never going to refer anyone to you and they will tell everyone they know (and if they Blog, anyone with a computer) how horrible you and every other real estate agent in the world is. They may even sue you for compensation for their loss, or for your negligence.
So do you run out and quickly hire somebody to help out so the ball doesn't get dropped on either side? That's one option. However, it will probably hurt you for a lot longer before it can help you. If you are already behind, then a new hire now can be like trying to stop a flood with a single sandbag; too little too late. Most of the time you can't just raise your hand and say I need a great assistant and the perfect, knowledgeable, affordable person will just appear in front of you. It takes time to find, interview, hire, train, and trust a new employee. Then you have to manage them, pay them, and make sure you get the right tax info and insurance coverage's to correctly protect your business; this is a lengthy process. You may go through all that finally increasing your available time and business and now when you need this person the most, they may quit, be out sick, or on vacation... then what do you do??? Now you have twice as much work to do and you're down a person to help do it.
Sometime The Simplest Solutions Are The Best
A better alternative may be to use Transaction Coordination Services. The proper Transaction Coordinator can help you make more money, give you back more time, will require less management than an employee, and can give you more freedom. When comparing services look for Transaction Coordinators using the latest in Online Transaction Management Systems. These systems allow you, your clients, and whoever else you allow (Lenders, Escrow, Appraisers...) to see the details of the real estate transaction 24/7 online, and post questions or comments. These systems also allow secure storage of the real estate documents for the transactions, and keep a time/date stamp log for you of all activities, e-mails etc... The right Transaction Coordination company can make your life much easier, without a lengthy training process and other problems of traditional employees. They will have coverage if someone is "out sick" because they will have multiple Transaction Coordinators that can look up your online file and continue to coordinate it as if it was their own file/transaction. Another great benefit to using a Transaction Coordination service or virtual assistant as they are sometimes known, is if you don't like what they have to offer after using them once, then don't use them again, what are you really out?
Not Created Equal
Real Estate Transaction Coordination Services can help you in many ways, however not all are created equal. Your primary concern should always be "What can this services do for my business?" If you are asking "What is the cost?" you are asking the wrong question and you are not thinking like a business owner.
Do you care if a business tool costs $100 if it's worth $500 in returns? Or even if it is only worth every penny of the $100 cost, but helps you succeed, then it is a sound business investment, right? So if the Transaction Coordination Services are close in cost to those in your area then you just need to figure out who will provide you the best services for your money. Look at what they are doing, but also look at what the future potential of their services will be.
For instance, if a Transaction Coordinator offers services that are designed to help your referral business thrive then the cost of using them may pay for itself over and over again. If your Transaction Coordinator included targeted Touchpoints to your clients on your behalf during and after the transaction as part of their services, how many referrals would you need to get from those Touchpoints to pay many times over for that Transaction Coordinator? Just one will pay for them for a long time! So instead of looking at just the transaction closing services they offer, it is a wise business decision to look at the other services that are included and analyze the future benefit to your bottom line.
Buyers and Sellers are looking for the "Best of the Best" in Real Estate Professionals. Compare the different services available to find the one with the most benefits for your business. For more information about the benefits of the right Transaction Coordination Services read our Blog: The Cost of Not Using Transaction Coordination Services
Compare Web-TCS to other TC services in your area. If you feel Web-TCS can help you get to the next level in your business, we would like the opportunity to be part of your team and help you become a High-Paid Real Estate Professional. Contact Us today to find out what we can do to improve your business at little or no cost.
All data and information provided on this Blog are for informational or entertainment purposes only. It does not reflect the opinions of any affiliated Brokerage(s). Web TCS, LLC makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this Blog and will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use; including, but not limited to, blown gaskets, body odor, Computer and Keyboard Rage. All Blog posts are the constantly changing opinion of the author(s) and may occasionally contain bad opinions. They are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Copyright® 2008, Web TCS Transaction Coordination Services "Wanted - Your Services As A High-Paid Real Estate Professional"
Transaction Coordination services are growing fast in the real estate world. There is high appeal of only paying an assistant when you have a transaction and freeing up your time so you can concentrate on money making activities. The proper transaction coordination services can not only save you money and time but can create more opportunities for you to capture more business.
Most Transaction Coordinators simply manage the transaction, and then spend the rest of their day trying to convince you to use their services. They manage the real estate transaction for the Agent, but most don't directly help the Agent cultivate Repeat and Referral business. A wise Transaction Coordinator will put their energy into assisting in the Agents' success as a primary goal. The Transaction Coordinator realizes by creating opportunities for the Agent to do more repeat and referral business, they are also creating opportunities for themselves to do more business as Transaction Coordinators? Unfortunately most Transaction Coordinators or Virtual Assistants don't get that parallel.
Misconceptions
One study says the average agent spends 19 hours managing the transaction themselves.** So it is true that just by using traditional Transaction Coordination Services you could have more time that could be used to prospect for more clients.
In some agent's eyes there was no real benefit to paying for Transaction Coordination services because they wasted the extra time. The sad truth is time management mastery is difficult for most of us and that life always seems to get in the way with the phone ringing with people trying to sell you on their services instead of providing opportunities for your success
Utilizing the extra time created is key to accelerating your business, if you save 19 hours, then make the commitment and time block 19 hours for lead generation elsewhere. If your goal is to have 19 more hours at home with your family then time block those activities. That way you are getting the maximum benefit out of the services you are paying for.
Additional Services?
What if the Transaction Coordination Service you use is also sending out Touchpoints during and after the transaction on your behalf? What if those Touchpoints are designed to cultivate repeat and referral business for you? Then the Transaction Coordinator has not only freed up 19 hours** of your time, the Transaction Coordinator has also helped you to foster a relationship with that client that can lead to future business. The best part for you, the agent, is that it was all part of the Transaction Coordinating services anyways.
Shift Your Thinking
If, for example, you take an average sales price of $300,000 at 3% commission that is $9,000 for the Agent, now if you took the cost of typical Transaction Coordination Services at $325, then you could use our services 27 times to equal the cost of that transaction.
$9,000 / $325 = 27.69
If 20+ Touchpoints were being sent to your clients at every one of those 27 transactions, don't you believe that you could get repeat and referral business out of those efforts?
Now picture your business if you used that 19 hours** wisely and fostered more referral moments, or prospected for more new clients?
27 transactions x 19 hours = 513 hours
19 hours over 27 transactions equals 513 hours of pure prospecting time that you can use to create more business. How many transactions do you think you could get with 513 hours of targeted prospecting? That $325 should be looking like quite a bargain to you right now!
The point is that we are still providing the same or better Transaction Coordination Services, but helping to make you a success in the process. Our hope and goal is that you will increase your business so much using our services, that it will increase ours in the process.
We believe and understand the true power of Repeat and Referral Business. If we invest our time into our clients, we no longer need to spend our time looking for more business. We know the more time and effort we invest making Agents (our clients) more successful, we will receive repeat and referral business from our happy Agents.
There are many questions to ask before hiring a Transaction Coordinator or Virtual Assistant like "What can your services do to increase my business?" And in any wise change in your business plan you need to seek out the pros and cons of the return on your investment. But you should NOT just be asking yourself "How much do Transaction Coordination Services cost?" Instead you should be asking "How much is it costing me not to be using Transaction Coordinating Services?"
Go to our website www.Web-TCS.com and see what we have to offer
**"While the TC spends an average of 12.5 hours on a typical transaction, the average agents spend approximately 19 hours managing a transaction. The time spent managing the transaction has significant financial implications on the agent. Assuming the average full-time, experienced Real Estate agent earns $75,000 a year (equal to $37.50 an hour); the agent will spend in excess of $700 in his/her time managing a transaction.
**Reference: "The Transaction Coordinator An Underutilized Asset to Residential Real Estate" Clareity, Consulting & Communications, June 2003
All data and information provided on this Blog are for informational or entertainment purposes only. It does not reflect the opinions of any affiliated Brokerage(s). Web TCS, LLC makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this Blog and will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use; including, but not limited to, blown gaskets, body odor, Computer and Keyboard Rage. All Blog posts are the constantly changing opinion of the author(s) and may occasionally contain bad opinions. They are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Copyright® 2008, Web TCS Transaction Coordination Services "The Cost of Not Using Transaction Coordination Services"
Our online real estate transaction management system offers secure document management, messaging, ordering, calendars, contact management, task tracking and more. You get automatic management reports showing all of your current transactions and their status.
Your clients can log in at any time for up to the date transaction and status information.
Access
Client Log In allows 24/7 access to the transaction details
Access can be given to anyone involved in the transaction, invite : another agent, buyer, seller, broker, lender, appraiser, inspector, escrow.
Control options can be set for each invitee to give limited access & view of transaction
Documents
All Documents are uploaded and stored in transaction file
Documents can be emailed from file to selected users
Documents can be faxed directly into transaction website with barcode cover page
Controls can be set to who has access to view each document
Contacts & Communication
All invited participants can post and read messages
Message access can also be restricted to selected recipients
Import and manage contact lists
Tools to request and manage feedback
Tasks, Orders, Scheduling
Tracks tasks, action plans, and orders with calendar views
Automatic email notifications to clients upon task/order completion
Automatic email reminder notices can be set for tasks
Can establish private tasks not visible to invitees
Can store preferred task and order lists for instant assignment to new transactions
Archiving & Accountability
All events are time/date/identity stamped
Complete history showing all activities of each participant on the website
Real Estate Transaction Coordination Services Related Information and Services. Real Estate Virtual Assistants and Transaction Coordinators related Blog.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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