What Unlicensed Real Estate Virtual Assistants Can Do In Washington DC
The decision to hire a real estate virtual assistant was probably the best you could have made, as it will bring you more time to show properties to your customer, negotiate lease and sales terms and advertise for the properties you are handling.
It will also get you rid of those long hours of cold calling, of the annoying listings and of the market research. However, as beneficial as having a personal assistant can be, you need to keep in mind that you are responsible for his or her activity, and you need to make sure that he or she follows the regulations established by the DC Real Estate Commission.
According to these regulations, an assistant can:
- Undertake office tasks, such as: phone call making, answering, forwarding and message taking, e-mail sending and reading, scheduling meetings and showing tours, typing documents, keeping track of transactions and loan commitments, etc.
- Ordering key duplicates and any services of maintenance or repair the licensee considers necessary for the properties you are handling.
- Ensuring the smooth exchange of documents between the licensee and potential clients.
- Helping the licensee organize and host open house presentations.
- Come up with proposals and ideas for advertising materials, preparing them after approval and distribute them.
An unlicensed real estate assistant in Washington DC cannot:
- Show potential buyers around the property (this cannot be expected from a virtual assistant anyway).
- Talk about the property or the sales or rent terms with potential buyers, the only information he or she can provide being that already published or approved by the licensee.
- Express opinions or advise potential clients how to proceed in their negotiations with the licensee or negotiate the terms with potential clients on behalf of the licensee.
- Receive commissions on the transactions closed by the licensee.
