Do you have or need a secretary?

Heather, there sure isn't enough time. Sometimes I think I need a boss to keep me in line.

David,  I've never really been able to get a handle on how to work with one.  Do you pay them by the hour?

Jolynna,  cost efficiency is the key. If I don't make enough more to pay them I may as well do it myself.

 Steve, So  THATS what an administrative assistant is!  The more things change the more they stay the same.

David... I think that sounds like a good plan. I think I'll steal it.  I think I might need someone full time though   because if only a half day  they might not be there when I need them.  Of course if I actually do make a list I bet some stuff could be done any time.  Organizing files, scanning documents to pdf, some kinds of research etc.  

Erica, I go back and forth on the issue of licensing for an assistant. What advantage do you think the license would give?

 Sarah, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a NAR Certified REPA.  I appreciate the thoughtful response.  AND, looking at your website has given me a little more to think about. For example, a VA could help me set up a system to generate leads from past clients rather than just put into play a system I developed--is that correct? 

Sarah, I have a concern about the possibility of someone knowing the details of my business disclosing  to a competing business.  How is that handled if it comes up and how likely is it that it would be an issue?  Do most VAs only work in one state or one part of the country.  Or, is their client base geographically broad?

Sarah, Thanks for the comments - now I'm starting to lean toward a VA. One thing that helps is the NAR designation. 

 Gita, I guess I'm not so much worrying about someone taking information with them as concerned about the potential for them to work for me and a direct competitor at the same time.  I don't know that I would necessarily prohibit that though if I felt that clients lists etc would be kept confidential. 

Sarah, I suspect at some point I will be calling. 

Thanks Linda.  I guess some people (like me) think they can do most things better than if they hired someone. The thing is when we try to do everything we can't do anything better any hiring someone else.  Having seen the things that Sarah Green wrote did they resonate.  Did you sign a contract.  How did you go about finding the person? Did you interview several?

Erica, it is an advantage that they can deal with the public. Isn't there a chance though they the licensed assistant may decide they want to start doing their own deals.  After all, they would be licensed under the same broker you are.  By the way, an in office unlicensed assistant almost certainly meets Aocial Security Administration's  definition of an employee under their employee/employer relationship guidelines (that is an SSA function not IRS). So, you would have to withhold FICA, pay unemployment tax etc.  You would not have to do that if the person was self employed and you might be able to make that case if the person was licensed (you might not too depending on the facts of each case). A VA would virtually (no pun intended) always be self employed. 

Erica, you have pretty much defined an employer employer relationship in your description. If the person doing the hiring can define the rules the assistant is to operate by, control work hours, how they will be paid, and what they will do, they can't define it away by calling it an IC agreement.  Such an agreement would itself be sufficient proof that the relationship is not IC but rather EE/ER.

Most people simply don't get caught.