This post comes to us from the Properties Online blog:

Chances are your real estate brokerage firm or agency business will grow in the next 12 months. This growth will require you to stretch yourself further than before, or make other arrangements. And even if you don't anticipate much growth in 2013, do you feel your technology skills are strong enough to meet the stringent demands of today's customer?

Your business will thrive or flounder depending on how well you make use of your skills, and how well you can identify the skills with which you need assistance. The decision to hire an assistant may be on your horizon. So, should you hire an in-house employee or a virtual assistant? There is no right answer, but there are definitely some points to ponder.

A real estate virtual assistant is a cost-effective way to add support to your team wherever and whenever you need it most—marketing, listing coordination, or lead generation and follow-up—giving you the time to focus directly on your clients, where you're needed most.

Cost-wise, you'll find that a real estate virtual assistant is significantly more affordable per hour than an employee on an hourly wage. Another bonus is that you can employ a real estate virtual assistant on an as-needed basis, allowing you to better control your overhead.

Real estate virtual assistants can help with:

• Marketing (real-world and online, including ad layout, design and placement)
• Lead generation/management
• Listing coordination and management
• Closing transaction management
• Blogging/social media coverage
• Highly skilled technology projects
• Web design
• HTML
• Graphic design
• Document management

Whichever way you choose to go, make sure your choice allows you to make the most efficient use of your time. If you find that you need someone to help show properties, explain contracts and interact closely with your clients, you'll want to be sure to hire an in-house licensed real estate agent. Laws around what an unlicensed assistant can actually do are pretty strict and don't cover much more than clerical duties. In fact, most states bar unlicensed agents from even quoting a listing price, even if that price has been advertised.

You can start by crafting a detailed job description for your ideal assistant. Then, a bit of research into real estate virtual assistants will tell you if going that route will be enough to cover your needs. Ask yourself what tasks could be eliminated from your daily 'To Do' list that would make your business run more smoothly and effectively.

To view the original article, visit the Properties Online blog.

Further Reading

• Marketing Listings: DIY or IOU?
• Multimedia: DIY or Professional?