A Guide To Property Management Virtual Assistant Hiring

As the real estate industry grows, so do the responsibilities of a property manager or owner. Managing all these tasks requires a full workforce, or does it?

In today’s advancing remote workforce, hiring virtual employees is becoming more common, especially with assistants. These remote workers can take several duties off your hands, whether it’s redundant administrative work or managing tenant and maintenance communications.

If you’re considering hiring a virtual assistant but have doubts about it, stick around to learn more about the growing prevalence of property management virtual assistant hiring. We’ll help you see how it can take your business to new heights!

Why Hire a Property Management Virtual Assistant

Contrary to popular belief that owning a property means earning passive income without having to work, the ownership comes with multiple responsibilities.

From managing tenants and communicating with maintenance workers to organising client information and admin work, property management includes several duties that can’t be boiled down to a passive income job.

That’s where a property management virtual assistant (VA) comes in handy. Here’s why you’ll want to consider hiring one:

Promote Customer Service

Most platforms offering VA services boast customer service expertise. Think of your tenants as your customers, and to retain them, you need to improve your service through multiple channels, which can be quite a hassle.

VAs understand this best and are better able to juggle all of your tenants while you focus on your property’s improvements.

Save Time

Think of all the time it takes to collect the tenants’ information, request documents, send reminders, and complete all admin work. Hiring a VA will save you a lot of time finishing those tasks.

Focus on Other Priorities

Rather than dedicate your time to administrative duties a VA can easily manage, you can place more focus on more long-term priorities.

Those can include creating an effective marketing plan to increase the tenant pool, client lead generation, or building your networking efforts.

Streamlined Scheduling

With a property management VA by your side, you won’t have to worry about scheduling appointments and the overall organisation aspect.

They’ll handle maintenance appointments via call or email and communicate with contractors and tenants to set dates and reminders.

You can also rely on VAs to update your calendar to include upcoming events or appointment reminders.

Save Money

In a property management business, hiring on-premise staff is a costly ordeal. You typically incur a long list of payments, including income, taxes, insurance, benefits, and overtime pay.

Additionally, you have to account for the cost of office space, equipment, rental, and resources when managing the company.

Working with VAs eliminates those costs. These remote workers get paid hourly and won’t request full-time benefits. Plus, you won’t have to pay for office space or expensive equipment.

Enhanced Work-Life Balance

Aside from all the money-saving and business-efficiency benefits associated with hiring a VA, you can also look at the personal benefits. You’ll experience a better work-life balance since a large portion of your tasks are already taken care of.

Expanding Your Talent Pool

One of the best selling points of VAs is that they’re not locally limited. You can outsource them from anywhere around the world and take advantage of premium expertise.

The good news is that there’s no shortage of property management VA companies that’ll lead you to the expert talent pool.

Responsibilities of a Property Management Virtual Assistant

You’ve learnt why a property management VA could benefit your business. Now, it’s time to know the exact duties and responsibilities you can expect them to fulfil.

Data Entry

Data entry is one of the many redundant and tedious property management tasks. Fortunately, your VA can handle all the documentation and tracking for your business to run smoothly.

They can organise crucial information, including tenant, maintenance, and rent monitoring.

Calendar and Schedule Management

Your property management VA will be in charge of scheduling and coordinating appointments from your end. That could include managing maintenance check-ups, open houses, and inspections.

Keeping your calendar updated is also one of the several perks of hiring a VA. Not only would they add events and appointments, but tasks for you to complete as well.

Boosting Marketing Efforts

You can find a property management VA that specialises in marketing. In that case, you’ll be able to give them control over your company’s social media posts.

They’ll respond to enquiries on listings and keep your accounts’ engagement up. Plus, you can also use their content marketing services to update your page’s resources and blog section to drive up website visitors.

Streamlining Tenant and Maintenance Communication

As a property manager, you likely receive several calls and emails from tenants. A significant chunk of those calls are likely regarding maintenance.

Typically, tenants are given a maintenance contact to support their needs. Nonetheless, in some cases, that number might not pick up, whether it’s because the workers are off or busy.

These tenants will then likely try to reach you for support. That’s where a property management VA can step in and handle the situation. They’ll forward your tenants to other maintenance contractors to resolve their issues.

Handling Administrative Duties

In the real estate industry, administrative duties are the backbone of the company. Most of the transactions in the field involve hefty amounts of paperwork, such as handling lease renewals, tenant information, and other contracts.

Read more here on how VA’s can enhance real estate partnerships.

Some of the administrative tasks also include customer support, market research, data research, and listing management. You’re better off handing those tasks off to a VA rather than doing them yourself.

Conducting Screenings and Onboarding

You can task a virtual property management assistant to onboard new property owner clients and tenants.

They’ll be able to offer support throughout the process and answer all enquiries. Besides that, VAs are also helpful during application screening.

They’ll meticulously go through all applications to ensure that all the information is complete, avoiding any inconsistencies. Should any issue arise, they’ll contact the applicant via email or SMS to fill out the missing details.

Once all applications are submitted, VAs will go through each one’s employment, professional, and rental references to ensure they meet the given standards. Afterwards, they’ll hand all the screened applicants to the landlord for final approval.

Rental Receipt

Tracking rent and sending out reminders can be a time-consuming task. A VA can take all the transactions involved in rental receipts off of your hands.

They’ll handle rent reminders and ensure all payments are consistent. If some renters are falling behind on payments, they’ll notify you.

Property management VAs could also give you reminders for rental lease renewals one to three months before they expire.

How to Hire a Property Management Virtual Assistant

Now that you’ve understood the benefits and responsibilities of a property management VA, the question of how to hire one remains. Here are a few steps to get you started.

Step 1: Identify Your Needs

The first step involves creating a clear list of what you need. Are you behind on admin work? Do you need a supportive hand in the marketing department?

Perhaps someone to respond to messages? That way, you can narrow down the search pool to the needed VA specialisation.

Step 2: Seek a Hiring Platform

There’s a plethora of VA platforms available at your disposal. You can specify your search to strictly property management VA services to ease your search. Afterwards, compare reviews, responsibilities, and rates to make an informed decision.

Step 3: Hire and Set Expectations

Once you’ve picked a platform and they’ve assigned you a VA, it’s time to set your clear expectations. It’ll ensure that you and the VA are on the same page.

You can make your requirements direct through a simple bullet-point list. Adding supplementary images and videos will also be beneficial. If needed, provide a quick onboarding with training and details about your property management company.

Step 4: Monitor Development

By now, your VA should be handling the tasks as requested. In this step, you’ll need to monitor their progress.

You can usually gauge your VA’s workflow quality after giving them a few tasks. Ensure that their work is up to standard. If you notice any discrepancy, addressing it promptly is the right move.

Step 5: Devise a Convenient Communication Channel

After your VA is settled in, you’ll want to maintain transparent communication. That way, you can evaluate their progress and give them feedback regularly.

You can use project management tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams to communicate or resort to emailing and video conferencing.

To Conclude

In short, VAs can handle plenty of responsibilities involving admin work, email management, maintenance follow-up, customer support, and marketing management.

Hiring a property management VA will allow you to focus more on your business’s long-term goals, whether it’s to acquire new clientele or grow your brand’s recognition.