What Unlicensed Real Estate Virtual Assistants Can Do In South Dakota

South_Dakota Real Estate Commission

The practice of hiring unlicensed assistants to perform some of the easier but nevertheless tedious tasks specific to the real estate business is gaining popularity constantly in South Dakota. It is understandable, considering that personal assistants and, lately, virtual assistants, can save their employers time and, implicitly, effort.

There are, however, limits to what these unlicensed assistants can do, set by the South Dakota Real Estate Commission. Here are some of the things that such an assistant is allowed to do:

  • Prepare and deliver documents;
  • Submit properties listings to the relevant services;
  • Answer calls and take messages on behalf of the licensee;
  • Receive, answer and send emails;
  • Schedule meetings and showing tours;
  • Create advertising materials, show them to the licensee for approval and publish or distribute them;
  • Follow the status of various lease agreements or loan applications;
  • Study the local market, collect public information related to the real estate market and submit centralized reports to the licensee, without interpreting information.

What a personal assistant cannot do:

  • Show properties or organize open houses;
  • Answer questions about financing, title insurance or closing that involve expressing a personal opinion or revealing additional information to what was already released;
  • Negotiate property prices or transaction terms;
  • Pretend to be a licensed agent or broker and discuss lease or sales terms with potential clients;
  • Create and publish promotional materials for properties transacted by the licensee without being requested to do so or receiving the latter’s approval;

Obviously, both lists could be extended, but the point here is that real estate assistants have their well established place on the real estate market, and they could represent an excellent solution for the needs of any professional in the field.