March 18, 2024

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Outsourcing means taking on a task vital to the survival of your company and deciding to find someone from outside of your business to handle it. The reason why this is done is because it’s simpler (less administrative tasks and bureaucracy for you), cheaper (in the short-run especially), and more efficient (you get specialists instead of generalists on the task).

One of the industries that heavily benefit from outsourcing (even though it’s present in virtually every field) is the field of real estate. Here are the top five outsourced services for real estate agents to help you understand what we’re talking about a bit better.

1.  Data entry specialist

Every modern business depends on data, and in order to be made available for use, this data first needs to be entered into your database.

Just think about it for a second; if you don’t get an outsider to handle it, you’ll have to assign someone to do this task. This means that hiring a data entry specialist means freeing internal resources. Data entry is a full-time job, and since it’s so menial, by assigning someone to it part-time, you could damage their focus during their core tasks. So, the key thing lies in prioritizing.

On the other hand, by assigning it to a specialist, you can increase the efficiency of curating data. Even AI tools are only as good as the data they’re working with. This is something that, sadly, AI still cannot control the right way.

You don’t have to hire an agency. Just find a freelancer with the experience handling these tasks and you’ll already be better off than you were before.

2.  Management assistant

A real estate agent or manager has too much on their plate already. This is why they need some help, and in the modern era, they can even hire assistance remotely. The concept of virtual real estate assistants is becoming increasingly popular within the industry for its convenience and efficiency.

First, with the help of an assistant, you’ll achieve far better operational efficiency. You’ll have someone to tend to your schedule and handle all the menial tasks throughout the day. This will allow you to focus on all the core tasks, those that no one but you can handle.

Since an assistant acts as an unofficial customer support representative, hiring an assistant will inevitably improve customer satisfaction. Instead of having to respond to all the inquiries personally, you can have an assistant take care of it for you.

In a scenario where you’re also handling rental properties, you would be surprised at how many tasks there are on a daily basis. This way, both landlord and tenant relations will be improved, and the job will become, overall, a lot easier.

3.  Market research specialist

In modern real estate, the customer has access to basic tools similar to those of a real estate agent. When they reach out to you, they already know what similar homes in similar neighborhoods go for, so you won’t be able to convince them as easily.

No, where you win them over is in the research stage. By being able to dig out the best deals and present them to your customers, you’ll be able to increase the chance of actually making the sale. You’ll also set yourself apart from the competitors.

So, you need someone who’s skilled at this task and someone who’s on this task full-time. This is a major reason to outsource to market research specialists.

Not only that, but by having all the data and all the properties on demand, you’ll improve your decision-making process. This is one of the biggest myths of the real estate world – the idea that a lot of decision-making is somehow intuitive or random. In reality, it was always data-based, only the data was less available.

4.  An accountant

Outsourcing your accounting processes is incredibly important. First, there are so many transactions (on average) in this industry that it will take one of your permanent members full-time just to sort them out.

First, there’s the payroll processing. In the real estate industry, this can be a nightmare. You have several different employees operating on different payment model. In the same firm, you have people working on a fixed wage and people working on a commission. Needless to say, outsourcing simplifies the payroll profile, as well.

Tax preparation is too much hard work, even if you have accounting software, so it’s better to have someone on the task rather than having to remove one of your staff members and give them this responsibility.

If you’re also managing properties, tenant and landlord invoice processing can get out of hand really quickly. By outsourcing the task, you’ll ensure that everything is done in a timely manner.

5.  Marketing specialists

Ultimately, there’s no real estate without marketing. You need to make sure that your site ranks the best, as well as that your outreach teams are as proactive and efficient as humanely possible.

This is probably something that requires a team, and unless you’re willing to start a marketing department, the only way to get it is to outsource.

First of all, you need someone to take care of your site. Site maintenance and on-site optimization will ensure that you rank well. Still, you also want to start a blog, an SEO campaign, and perhaps even set aside a bit of marketing budget for a brief PPC campaign.

Next, you need someone to take charge of your social media profiles. In the real estate industry, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest can make a world of difference when it comes to your reach.

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Lastly, there’s no field where outreach is more important. So, you need someone in charge of your email marketing, perhaps even someone making cold calls the old-fashioned way (but with a VoIP twist).

Wrap up

Ultimately, outsourced tasks are usually handled more efficiently. The only downside is the lack of direct control. Still, even this can be countered through efficient communication. There’s really no difference between a report from your team leader and a liaison at the agency you’ve outsourced to. It’s all psychological, and outsourcing gives you too many concrete advantages to ignore.

The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada’s Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org

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• Source: https://ncfacanada.org/top-5-outsourced-services-for-real-estate-agents/