All Forum Posts by: Shaunda Hayes

Hi @Deonte SingletonI would definitely recommend figuring out what tasks are taking up a lot of your time, assess the level of expertise it may require to complete and outsource based on that. The type of work I typically do for investors can range from taking inbound lead calls and screening them based on criteria put forth by the investor, creating searchable databases with homeowner and property information from lists provided by the investor, setting up appointments with potential leads based on my clients schedule, and searching for potential deals in my clients target area. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me, I would be happy to help.

@Edgar U. thank you for the input! That was definitely some useful information. I can definitely agree that working with a VA is not for everyone. But I think sometimes success with a VA can translate directly to the specific VA that is being used. I have heard many complaint's about VA's from investor's, "the accent is too thick", "they are overseas and can't make call's to the U.S.", "I have to send back too many edit's". I am a firm believer that hiring a VA does take a few tries, but when you finally find the right one, the partnership can prove to be extremely beneficial.

Hi everyone!

For those investors who have had experience with using a Virtual Assistant (VA), please shed some light on what types of packages you might find the most useful.

For example:

A Lead nurturing package where your VA can take lead calls for you or follow up with your leads and update your notes in your CRM software.

A Marketing package where your VA updates your craigslist ads, creates custom marketing materials and puts your direct mailers together.

A Property research package where your VA compiles potential investment properties for you from the MLS, and run's comparables for you.

A Data entry package where your VA scrub's/compiles list's for you.

What types of services could you benefit most from? Thanks for the input!

@Shawn Crawley Yes, I have a few VA's who are licensed realtors in MD, DC or VA. Please PM me with the specifics on the type of assistance you are in need of, and I will do my very best to point you in the right direction whether it be with my company or elsewhere. I look forward to speaking with you!

@Account Closed Sure! I would be happy to give you some feedback on your procedures.
 

Looks like you've got it all figured out! Best of luck!

Hi Shawn,

If screening and gathering information is what you need, then a VA can be a good option for you. Though I am not quite sure how they would be able to scrape info from direct mail campaigns for you unless your VA was local. A good alternative could be to have a VA scrape the internet for leads for you, and put them into an organized form for your review. In addition, you could also put up a website for lead generation and have your VA make fielding phone calls to your leads on your behalf and report the details to you for you to follow up with.

As far as running comps is concerned, it may not be very easy for a VA with no real estate background to run comps for you. You can teach him/her how to do it, but it would only be a good investment of your time if this is something that you REALLY need to outsource and can be done with little to no input from you. You could on the other hand come up with a fill-able worksheet to compile all of the data you will need to run comps on a particular property, and have your VA do all the necessary research. Then, you could run your own comps based on that info.

So, as you can see, using a VA can potentially be a good investment as it concerns your wholesaling business. The biggest question is just how you will utilize them. Hope that helps! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.

Hi Brandon!

I am not really sure about the call center avenue, but using a VA could be useful. Especially because you could use your VA for any other admin support you may need. Approximately how many calls do you typically receive per day?

Actually, although I own a VA company, I have a great deal of experience working with oversea VA's. I recently found a great VA and she has been pretty consistent. As far as quality is concerned, I can definitely say that you kind of get what you pay for. Every evening I type out instructions for her work and feedback for her work from the previous day. She understands pretty well, but again, many times I have to send work back for edits. I can send you some of the instruction sheets that I send to her if you would like to see my approach. Also, PM me with the amount of hours you need per month and your monthly budget, and I may be able to point you in the right direction.

Hi Joe! 

The answer to that question is quite hard to answer because simply put, all VA's are different. Your instructions might be harder for a non-native English speaking VA with no experience with real estate to understand versus a native English speaking VA who is also a licensed realtor. It all depends on the tasks you would like your VA to complete and again, the specific VA.

In my experience, if you want it done correctly, you should definitely spell it out in detail. Worst case scenario, your VA won't get it and you will need to hire a new one, but you still have your technical videos for your new VA who just might get it w/o all the extensive instruction. So it's definitely worth the small investment of time. You really have to gauge the capabilities of your assistant, he/she may not need detailed instructions based on how much experience they have with the tasks you are asking for. This is something that you can avoid if you ask the right questions when it comes to hiring your VA. Let me know if you have any other questions/concerns, or need help with questions for hiring the right VA for your needs. Hope this helps!