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The Real Estate Virtual Assistant

December 9, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Many virtual assistants worked in other areas of corporate America before they went into business for themselves. If your area was real estate, think about the opportunities waiting for you as a real estate virtual assistant.

Real estate agents either work for a company or they can go out on their own and work as an independent. To make money, they sell homes and other properties. Agents stay busy with listings, showings, sales and other projects. Combine that with their office responsibilities and the “little details” and you have way too much for one person to handle.

The Market

As any business owner will tell you, it is hard to juggle promotion, client satisfaction, daily operations and professional affiliations all at once. Many new businesses like an independent real estate agent are not in the position to hire new employees at first. Besides that, the pick of local applicants may be less than qualified to do the job without some hand holding at first.

The real estate industry was among the first to use virtual assistants to meet their needs. Virtual assistants had the necessary skills to handle bookkeeping, accounting, database management and various other office activities. Virtual assistants that once worked in real estate decided to use that knowledge to build a niche business for themselves. As such, they were able to expand their services to real estate agents beyond just the basics.

Duties of a Real Estate VA

Virtual assistants that have been in the real estate industry know that an agent needs help with basic office needs and much more. With that in mind, virtual assistants, like you can offer services like:

• Business marketing plans (creating company logos, brands)
• Website management (virtual tours, website content)
• Contacting potential clients (home sellers, home buyers, FSBOs)
• Coordinating listing activities (data entry, promotional info, presentations)
• Closing activities (escrow, inspections, signings)
• Keep track of appointments
• Create new business leads

With the knowledge of real estate, clients will seek you out to make their job easier. You will be able to propose new areas for business growth, create sales copy depending on the area and the situation with the housing market and deal with the questions that customers ask but agents don’t always have time to answer.

Many real estate virtual assistants work with local agents and develop a professional relationship. With your expertise, you are not limited to that though. Maybe you deal mainly with website services. In that arena, you can create stunning websites and virtual tours for clients in any time zone as long as they provide the needed information for you to get started.

A virtual assistant in the area of real estate is a vital member of the team. Your knowledge helps the agents to concentrate on the business of helping clients to buy or sell property and leave the rest to you.

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Filed Under: Working From Home

529 College Savings Plans

November 21, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

It’s never too early to start thinking about your children’s college education. The sooner you start saving, the greater the chance your child will have enough money to get through college with no worries. But when considering college savings, many parents are unsure just what they should do with the money.

You could stuff it in a sock drawer, but it would have no chance of drawing interest there. A savings account might be slightly better, but any interest earned would be taxed. A 529 plan is a much better option.

529 plans are similar to 401K plans, but they’re for higher education instead of college. Parents, grandparents or anyone else can put money into one for a specified beneficiary. Any interest earned is tax-deferred, and if the money is left in the account until the child goes to college and used for college expenses, there is no tax liability.

There are two basic types of 529 plans. The College Savings Plan is the most similar to a 401K. Investors are allowed to choose from a variety of investment options for the plan, and their money earns interest according to the investments’ performance. The Prepaid Tuition Plan is different in that it allows contributors to purchase tuition credits at current prices to use in the future.

Most 529 plans are run by states. Every state offers at least one plan. Each plan is different, but most require either the plan owner or beneficiary to be a resident of the state issuing the plan. Some allow residents of any state to invest, but out-of-state residents may not be eligible for all available tax benefits. In most cases, the funds from state-run plans may be used at any college or university, even if it is not located in the same state.

There are also 529 plans offered by colleges and universities. All plans offered by educational institutions are prepaid tuition plans. Unlike state-run prepaid tuition plans, however, those run by schools are not guaranteed by the government.

The funds withdrawn from a 529 plan must be used toward eligible expenses. With prepaid tuition plans, these generally include only tuition and mandatory fees. Some plans, however, offer an option to purchase room and board credits or use extra tuition credits for these expenses. Money withdrawn from college savings plans may be used for tuition, fees, books, computers and room and board.

A 529 plan can help you save money for education without incurring a huge tax bill. These plans are easy to set up, and all of the investing is taken care of for you. All you need to do is make contributions and make sure that the beneficiary uses the funds properly when the time comes.

Another option you may want to consider is the UPromise program. Becoming a member of the Upromise program is free and anyone can contribute. Members get a percentage back from eligble purchases from participating partners.

All your earnings are automatically saved securely into your Upromise account. Then, you decide if you’d like the potential to grow them tax-free in a 529 plan to pay for college, use them to pay down a Sallie Mae student loan, or receive a check for college expenses. * Source Upromise

Visit Upromise.com

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Filed Under: Featured Articles

Frosted Watermelon Cupcakes

October 25, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Ingredients:

1 (2 layer) package white cake mix
1 (3 oz) package mixed berry gelatin
1 1/2 cup watermelon
3 egg whites
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup juice from watermelon
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 drops red food coloring

Instructions:

Prepare the watermelon by cutting cubes from the middle of the watermelon and removing the seeds. Place the watermelon in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg whites and canola oil. Beat with an electric mixer on medium until smooth. Mix together the cake mix and gelatin powder in a separate bowl. Place half of the dry mixture into the watermelon mixture. Mix together until the dry ingredients is completely moistened. Add the other half of the dry ingredients and mix well again. All the dry ingredients should be completely moistened. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with a non stick cooking spray or line with paper muffin cups. Pour the batter into each cup filling about 2/3 full. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from muffin tin and place on a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Pour the watermelon juice into a mixing bowl. Add the powdered sugar, butter and cream cheese. Beat with the electric mixer on medium until the mixture becomes smooth and fluffy. Add the food coloring and stir to incorporate. Frost the cupcakes with the mixture. If the frosting is as stiff as you like refrigerate the cupcakes for a little bit before serving.

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