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Hiring a Virtual Assistant just makes good business cents!

Many of you are not sure if hiring a REVA (Real Estate Virtual Assistant) is cost effective or if you should just consider hiring an in-house assistant. There are several things to consider when hiring an assistant.

Below is a chart that you can use to see a side by side comparison of how a REVA stacks up to the Employee. I think in the end you will see how much of a savings you are getting by utilizing the new age assistant over a traditional employee.

Cost Comparison

	Virtual Assistant	Full-time Employee

Hourly Rate of Pay	$30.00*	$17.00

Benefits @ 35% (Dental, Health, Sick Days etc.)	none	$5.25
Overhead @ 50% (Office Space, Equipment & Office Supply expense, UI Insurance, Worker's Compensation, Overtime Pay, Administration Costs)	none	$7.50
Vacation Pay @4%		$0.60

Total Effective Rate	30.00	30.35
Hours Per Year	780	2080
Annual Bonus		1000.00
Total Annual Labor Cost	$23, 400.00	$64, 128.00

You Save $40, 728 per year!

*rates are examples only

Hiring a Virtual Assistant can greatly reduce your costs, you are not paying any payroll taxes, equipment, supplies, space for the assistant, workman's comp, insurance etc. You are not paying for idle time such as breaks or time not spent on your work (personal calls, personal time on internet etc.). With a Virtual Assistant you are only paying for the actual time spent on your work if we only work 15 minutes you are only paying for 15 minutes. If you have a slow day and have your in-house assistant in waiting around for the phones to ring or for something to do you are going to pay for the entire 8 hour day. With a VA if you only have an hour of work than you only pay for that hour versus an 8 hour shift.

Not only are you saving money but you get an experienced professional to handle your work. Virtual Assistants are business owners and are professional in what they do. They have the training to back up the services. Contracting a Virtual Assistant to join your team is always a smart business decision they are there to assistant at any minute whether you need assistance 1 hour a week or 30 hours a week a Virtual Assistant can work with you an accommodate your needs on a changing basis.

Skye Hawk

REPA (Certified Real Estate Professional Assistant)
REW (Certified Real Estate Webographer)
Phone: 800-403-2430 ext 101
Fax: 866-625-8864
E-mail: Skyeh@atyourservice-va.com
Web: www.atyourservice-va.com
At Your Service!
Virtual Assistant Specialists
"Offering exceptional off-site administrative support for the busy business professional"

Posted by Skye Hawk, NAR Cert. REPA (Virtual Assistant) on 03/09/2009 03:24 PM

Comments (4)

cost comparison, virtual assistant, va, virtual assistants, virtual assistant services, virtual real estate, real estate virtual assistant

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4 Comments on Hiring a Virtual Assistant just makes good business cents!

MAR

Skye - There are so many advantages to having a VA as an "additional" employee. There's also a lot to be said for having one person onsite to meet people walking in, receive deliveries, etc.

MAR

I've had both a virtual assistant and a paid employee. There are pros and cons to both. If you need someone full time, I recommend hiring the employee. If you need someone here and there for projects or assignments, go the virtual route.

Your example is a little misleading in my opinion. Obviously if you only work some 780 hours per year versus 2080 per year, you are going to pay them a lot less. 780 hours per year is just 15 hours per week which means you have a very part-time person helping you. 2080 hours per year is 40 hours per week which means you have a full-time person helping you. If the virtual assistant worked 40 hours per week, it would mean a huge expense compared to the full-time employee.

Sharon- Yes having an in-house assistant can physically be there to greet the clients walking in as well as receive the deliveries. I feel it is always good to have both if that is the setting you have. Most Realtors don't need someone to be in the office to greet people as the brokerage normally would have someone in place.

Ron- Hiring a VA is always going to cost less as there are several things you are not paying for when having a VA you are not paying for overhead expenses, insurance, payroll taxes, etc. Also the work load of a VA is always reduced you may have an assistant in office on a 40 hour work week I can guarantee they are not actually working that entire 40 hours. You are paying them for breaks, idle time etc. With a VA we only bill you for the actual time spent on your work. Thus this will always reduce the amount of hours you are paying for. You are not paying your VA while she/he is on a break, you are not paying your VA for time they are not working on your work. Most businesses don't have 40 hours of straight work to do. In a typical 40 hour work week that you are paying for I bet your assistant may actually only put in around 6 hours of actual work in a day sometimes less. Even hiring a VA at 30 -40 hours a week you are still going to pay less than an in-house employee after you figure out what your costs of having an employee are.

I agree there are plenty of pros and cons. Presently I have a full-time assistant and I am always working to make sure I keep her busy the full 40 hours.

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