Ask any agent about how they are handling their workload, and you are bound to hear that they are very busy. Whether they are doing one transaction a quarter or eight transactions a month, many agents will always feel like they are swimming uphill. Of course, they will always tell you they’re not too busy for any of your referrals!
Between listing presentations, property showings, initial appointments, and general networking/meeting functions, there are many behind the scenes activities. There are dealing with lenders, escrow officers, property inspectors, negotiating short sales, creating marketing materials, etc. Well, finally someone has come up with the idea of Listing Assistants. These are not your ordinary virtual assistants. In Phoenix, one of these operations popped up, and they can:
- Take photos of your property with wide angle lenses
- Create flyers to place at your property
- Place the property on Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, Postlets, Hotpads, Google Base, and Backpages.
- Create a hosted property specific website with the property address as the domain name.
- Place lockboxes, posts, and your sign
The businesses around here typically charge $125 for the service. This can be a future symbiotic relationship that benefits both the assistant and the agent. The Listing Assistant can do the mundane tasks as well as take professional looking photos, and the agent has more time to spend on their clients. This is certainly a win-win situation.
We think they make sense. Having an assistant to handle many of the behind the scenes activities allows us agents to be more efficient and effective.
I really respect the presence of assistants, true they make a real estate agents works easier and be more effective on drawing clients for a deal,
This is a GREAT idea, and the price you are quoting is a bargain. I just think about how long it would take me to do these tasks and I know that my time would better be spent elsewhere. Great market niche for enterprising entrepreneurs.