When to Hire a Property Management Assistant
Property Management Assistant has revolutionized the Property Management industry. Also known as Virtual Assistants, or simply VAs, undeniably, they have helped property management businesses in more ways than one.
Hiring Property management VAs not only means getting an extra pair of hands to do the general property management administrative tasks–or the so-called non-dollar productive tasks, but it also means business owners now have access to world-class talents at a more affordable rate compared to hiring in-house property management assistants. You need not worry about the equipment, workspace, or facilities for your virtual assistant because that is already being taken care of by the outsourcing companies. Not to mention, outsourcing companies have been continuously fine-tuning the VA selection to present the VAs tailored to your business needs. In this way, you are already saving not just time but also resources in sourcing the best property management assistants your business requires.
In this digital age, delegating tasks to your remote team has become a breeze thanks to technological advancements and our adaptability. Moreover, it demonstrates that it is environmentally friendly by promoting minimal to zero paper usage in the business.
It has become a practical debate whether hiring VAs is more suitable for the property management industry than hiring in-house assistants. Yet evidently, both have their fair share of advantages and disadvantages. So it’s practical to know about the difference between property management virtual assistants and in-house teams and eventually understand why real estate agents prefer to outsource property management assistants.
Yet the question remains as to when is the right time to hire a property management assistant. To roll out the questions list, do you need to have at least a hundred doors to justify hiring one? And more importantly, is it necessary for every property management business? Read on to find out.
#1: When Are You Ready?
You, as a property management business owner and/or as a property management professional, should be prepared to hire a property management assistant to begin with. Considering VAs are outsourced from foreign countries–usually outsourced in the Philippines, their culture may differ from yours in so many ways. So how do you prepare yourself for hiring property management assistants? Well, it pays to learn your remote team’s culture to be able to understand your property management assistants and be able to connect with them on a professional and personal level.
Once you foster a professional relationship with your property management assistant, you can learn not only to trust them but also learn how to stop doing everything on your own. Startup property management business owners always feel the need to do everything they can on their own simply because they are determined to handle it well and they do. Yet, they forget that they may be able to do anything, but they can’t do everything, which leads to a work-life imbalanced lifestyle.
But what if you can achieve a work-life balanced lifestyle and still be able to get ahead of the property management game?
The good news is that it is possible. Yet there are things that we need to consider first.
Hiring an in-house assistant differs from hiring a remote employee significantly. It requires an even more solid ground of trust and understanding because you can only converse virtually with your VAs.
Learn which tasks you can delegate so you can focus on the core business operations, and eventually, take your business to new heights. You would be surprised what tasks you can delegate to your property management virtual assistants and how much you can do with the time you can spend on dollar-productive or money-generating tasks.
#2: Is Your PM Business Ready?
Hiring a VA is about more than just delegating all the deliverables you can delegate. Much like with in-house property management assistants, it is more than that. It is of paramount importance for your business to have a process that your remote team can follow.
Now, the good news about hiring VAs is that not only can they accomplish the delegated tasks efficiently, but they can also follow your business timings regardless of the time zone difference–yes, hiring virtual assistants is beneficial globally. Yet it’s more than just the timing that you need to consider, you also need to keep in mind how you and your property management assistant can work together.
One way to significantly organize your flows is through Flussos. It has helped property management professionals like you to streamline operations and be able to maximize the asset that is your property management assistant. Flussos makes property management easy by offering 30+ customizable workflows meticulously crafted and validated by property management industry experts. It practically simplifies your property management tasks and elevates your and your team’s efficiency.
#3: Is your property management assistant ready?
Every property management assistant differs from one another. Take into consideration that they differ in expertise, experience, and characteristics. Needless to say, they differ in rates as well. That being said, there is no one-size-fits-all property management assistant that you can hire.
Outsourcing companies like Purple Powered VA ensure that all their VAs are underpinned by great systems regardless if the property management assistant is well-seasoned or green in the industry.
Each VA undergoes Property Management Academy (PMA) training to help understand the hows and whys of property management to avoid disconnection from the property manager and the property management assistant. PMA training courses have helped not just VAs, but also property management professionals. Whether you are green in the industry or currently managing a hundred doors or more, Property Management Academy training courses will help you advance your knowledge and skills by learning the practical side of property management. This is why PMA training has been getting rave reviews left and right. Arguably, this is one of the best training courses a property management virtual assistant can get.
Moreover, property management assistants are known to be versatile. Internal training is encouraged so you can delegate all your paperwork to your VAs at ease, rendering you more time to focus on achieving your business goals faster.
#4: How many property management assistants should I hire?
A lot of property management professionals go trigger-happy whenever they learn the cost of hiring a property management assistant. And we won’t blame them. The rate of a property management virtual assistant is just a fraction of the price of that of in-house assistants yet they can provide almost all the services that the latter can offer. Yet given the significant difference between VAs and in-house staff, we highly recommend starting with one property management virtual assistant first before deciding to hire a whole remote team. In this way, you can gauge how you can sustain your remote team and devise a process without having to overwhelm both parties.
Always keep in mind that property management virtual assistants, however accessible and flexible they may seem, have their limitations, too. Needless to say, especially when it comes to tasks that require onsite activities.
#5: How big should my rent roll be?
This question has been a practical debate among property management professionals, which is understandable. The idea of having everything under control and being able to get by without needing any help has become the shackles for property management owners and property managers alike to deter them from hiring property management virtual assistants. This is highly the case for startup property management businesses–and probably the big businesses as well simply because they have their dream team in place. So how many doors do you need to be able to decide to hire your property management assistant?
The answer is simple: If you want to scale your business today, hire your property management assistant now.
Which brings us back to pointer number one: when are you ready?
Regardless of whether you’re growing your first 50 doors or have been managing hundreds of doors and counting, the best time to hire a VA is NOW. If you want to make a name for yourself, hire a VA today.
You don’t need an extra few hours in your day, all you need is to decide.
Decide to focus on dollar-productive tasks and nurture your relationships with your clients. Spend more time learning how to grow your business. Decide to save money, time, and sanity.
If you want to succeed, learn to delegate.
So, are you ready to increase your bottom line? And more importantly, are you ready to bring your property management business to new heights? Book your free ppVA demo to get started.
Hey, here’s an amazing bonus for you (bonuses, rather!):
Do you want to get a 15% discount on your ppVA one-off establishment fee? Great! We are thrilled to announce that Purple Powered VA is now partnered with Kaboudle–a property management community that is a one-stop solution for all things property management. Kaboudle is also partnered with a good number of property management experts and services that offer amazing discounts, too!
And here’s a real kicker: you can enjoy all the perks of becoming a Kaboudle member for they offer Kaboudle for three months free. No strings attached! Claim your three-month Kaboudle free trial today and empower your property management business the smarter way.
