What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant (VA) is an independent contractor who handles the administrative tasks for a client or business, usually from a remote location. While there is no set job description for virtual assistants, they typically assist with business development, social media, marketing, and scheduling. VAs are contractors, meaning they can cost less to employ than a full-time employee due to a lower number of work hours and not being eligible for benefits.

Virtual Assistants Save You Time

As you grow your rental business, you’ll likely run into the age-old problem of there only being 24 hours in a day. Because VAs are contractors, you can choose how often they work for you. During the busy summer season when a lot of tenants are changing rentals, a VA could help save you a lot of time.

Ways in which a VA can help your rental business:

• Writing listings for your rental units and syndicating them to rental listing sites
• Running tenant screening reports and going through pre-screeners to find you the right renters
• Responding to messages and emails sent by your tenants, including coordinating maintenance requests with handymen
• Posting on social media on your business’s behalf, or other marketing services like blogging or graphic design

How Much do Virtual Assistants Make?

According to ZipRecruiter, the national average for a virtual assistant is $43,859 a year, or $21 an hour. Depending on the number of hours you would need a VA to help your rental business, that number could fluctuate wildly.

The Online Assistant

The “virtual” part of virtual assistants is what can make them so flexible and essential for small businesses. With the rise of internet work and remote workplaces, you could hire a VA in a completely different city or country.

There are some virtual assistant services that employ VAs in other countries with a complementary time zone difference from America, meaning that they’re on call when you’re asleep. No more waking up to calls in the middle of the night because the shower’s leaking.