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Quick answer: A real estate virtual assistant is a remote worker who handles the administrative side of a real estate business: lead follow-up, CRM updates, listing paperwork, showing schedules, transaction checklists, marketing, and inbox management. They do not replace a licensed agent. Showings, open houses, pricing advice, and negotiation stay with a license holder, and some states also restrict prospecting calls. Through Stellar Staff, a full-time real estate VA costs $1,999 a month on the Pro plan, month to month.
Real estate agents rarely lose time to one large administrative task. It disappears in smaller pieces: updating a CRM after a call, confirming a showing, uploading listing photos, checking whether a client returned a form, and following up with a lead who stopped responding. A real estate virtual assistant handles this work remotely so agents can spend more time with clients, negotiating offers, and developing new business.
This guide covers each common real estate VA role, what it can and cannot do, and what it costs. Where we have a deeper guide on one role, such as cold calling or transaction coordination, we point you to it.
What Is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and Who Hires One?
A real estate virtual assistant is a remote professional who supports agents, brokers, teams, investors, or property managers with work that can be done by phone or computer. Some cover general administration, and others focus on one area, such as lead follow-up, listings, or transaction paperwork. The assistant works inside the systems you already use: your CRM, email, calendar, transaction management platform, cloud storage, and marketing tools. Because the position is remote, the job should be limited to work that can be completed securely online. Property showings, inspections, open houses, and anything that requires a license or a physical presence still belong to a local agent or employee. You may also see the role described as a real estate VA, a virtual real estate assistant, or, for calling roles, an inside sales agent (ISA).
Which Real Estate Virtual Assistant Services Do You Actually Need?
Start with the work that is slipping, not with a job title. Real estate virtual assistant services usually fall into five groups: administrative and CRM support, calling and lead follow-up, transaction support, lead generation, and marketing. Write down the tasks you did last week that did not require your license, then group them. If most of the list is phone work, you are hiring a caller. If most of it is paperwork and deadlines, you need transaction support. If it is spread across the inbox, the calendar, and the CRM, a generalist admin assistant is the right first hire. Most buyers start with one generalist and add a specialist later. The table below maps each role to the guide that covers it in depth.
| Role | What it covers | Read next |
|---|---|---|
| Admin and CRM assistant | Inbox, calendar, CRM, vendor scheduling | Real estate VA staffing for agents and teams |
| Cold caller or ISA | Calling lists, reviving old leads, booking appointments | Real estate cold calling services and what cold calling means in real estate |
| Transaction support | Contract-to-close checklists, deadlines, documents | What a transaction coordinator does |
| Lead generation | Prospect lists and lead routing into the CRM | Lead generation assistants |
| Marketing assistant | Listing copy drafts, social posts, newsletters | Marketing assistants |
| Hiring offshore | Pay, time zones, and data security for a VA in the Philippines | Hiring a virtual assistant in the Philippines |
A virtual assistant for real estate can cover two of these roles in one full-time role, but pairing calling with transaction work is hard, because both need long stretches of focused time.
What Does a Real Estate Virtual Assistant Do Each Day?
Most days revolve around keeping leads, listings, and deals from stalling. A real estate VA answers new inquiries with approved messages, logs every contact in the CRM, and sets the next follow-up. They confirm showings and send reminders, follow up on missing listing materials, and keep a checklist for each deal under contract. In between, they sort the inbox, schedule vendors, and prepare marketing drafts for the agent to approve. A solo agent may want one person to cover all of it, while a larger team may split it across several assistants. What stays constant is the boundary: the VA keeps the work organized and moving, and any question about price, representation, contracts, or negotiation goes to a licensed agent. Here is what each type of task involves.
Lead Management and Follow-Up
New inquiries arrive through your website, listing portals, social media, email, text, and phone. A real estate VA can monitor these channels, record each inquiry, send an approved first response, ask basic qualifying questions, and book a call with the agent. They should know when to hand a conversation to the agent.
CRM Management
A CRM only helps when the information inside it is current. A VA can enter new contacts, merge duplicates, update tags, add notes, and set a next follow-up date for every active buyer, seller, and prospect. Agree on lead stages and tags first. If one person labels a contact "warm" and another uses "active buyer" for the same situation, your reports stop being reliable.
Listing Coordination
A VA can keep a listing checklist, collect photos, floor plans, and seller documents, and, once the agent approves the details, upload permitted information to listing and marketing platforms. What an unlicensed assistant may do inside the MLS varies by state, brokerage, and MLS rules, so the broker should confirm it before granting access.
Showing and Calendar Coordination
A VA can request available times, confirm appointments, add access instructions, send reminders, and prepare a daily showing itinerary. Afterward, they can send an approved follow-up. If a client asks whether a home is fairly priced, the question goes to the agent.
Transaction Support
Once an offer is accepted, a VA can keep a checklist for each deal, organize signed documents, track deadlines, and send routine updates to clients, lenders, title companies, and the other agent. The role is administrative: no drafting legal language, interpreting contracts, or negotiating terms. Our guide on what a transaction coordinator does in real estate explains where that dedicated role starts and stops.
Marketing, Inbox, and Vendor Coordination
A VA can format property descriptions, create social graphics in Canva, schedule approved posts, and prepare newsletters, with the agent reviewing any market analysis or property claims. They can sort email, flag urgent messages, and send replies you have already approved. They can also book photographers, stagers, and inspectors from your approved vendor list. Keep contact data off personal devices and unapproved software.
How Do Agents, Investors, and Property Managers Use a Real Estate VA Differently?
The three groups that ask us about real estate VAs most often want different things. Agents and teams usually want speed to lead and a clean CRM: someone who answers new inquiries, keeps follow-up going, and books appointments. Investors and wholesalers often need consistent outreach and careful lead qualification. They want calling and texting campaigns run consistently, but they keep comps and pricing decisions for themselves. Property managers mostly need tenant and owner communication, maintenance scheduling, and bookkeeping support. Across all three, the tool buyers mention most in our sales conversations is GoHighLevel, often an account a marketing agency set up and only partly configured. Before hiring, decide whether you need someone to operate the system day to day or someone to rebuild its automations, because those are different skill levels. Investors planning outbound campaigns should read the calling rules below, because responsibility for lists and consent stays with the business.
What Can a Real Estate Virtual Assistant Not Do?
The answer depends on state law, brokerage policy, MLS rules, and whether the assistant holds a real estate license. As a general rule, an unlicensed real estate VA should not do work that requires professional judgment or that represents a client in a transaction. That covers the obvious tasks, like showing homes and negotiating, and some less obvious ones, like discussing a property's condition beyond the advertised facts or, in some states, making prospecting calls. A title like "assistant" or "ISA" does not change what the law allows an unlicensed person to do. Brokers set the final limits for their own agents and assistants, and they should put those limits in writing before the VA starts. Depending on the state, restricted activities may include:
- Showing properties or letting buyers into a home
- Hosting open houses
- Recommending an offer price
- Negotiating with buyers, sellers, or agents
- Explaining contracts or legal documents
- Making prospecting calls where the state reserves them for licensees
- Receiving transaction-based compensation
Texas shows how specific these rules get. The Texas Real Estate Commission says an unlicensed assistant may arrange a showing appointment, enter data or type contracts as directed by a license holder, and confirm information already advertised about a property. TREC also says an unlicensed assistant cannot make calls to determine whether a person is interested in buying, selling, or leasing property. Check your own state's commission before delegating client-facing or calling work.
Calls, Texts, and Ads Have Their Own Rules
Under the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, sellers and telemarketers that must use the National Do Not Call Registry have to synchronize their lists with the registry at least every 31 days and honor requests to be added to their own do-not-call list. Separately, the FCC's TCPA rules bar telemarketing calls made with an autodialer or a prerecorded or artificial voice to cell phones without the called party's prior express written consent. Our real estate cold calling guide covers these rules in more detail for calling teams.
The federal Fair Housing Act also makes it unlawful to publish a housing advertisement that indicates a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. A licensed person should approve ads before they run.
This section is general information, not legal advice. Telemarketing, consent, and licensing rules change and vary by state, so confirm your setup with your broker or an attorney.
Real Estate VA or In-House Assistant: Which Fits Your Office?
Both can support an agent, but they suit different work. A remote assistant is the better fit when most of the workload can be handled through the CRM, inbox, calendar, and phone. An in-house assistant is the better fit when someone needs to greet walk-ins, handle physical documents, put up signs, or run local errands. Cost is the other difference. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $48,310 for secretaries and administrative assistants in May 2025, and that figure does not include payroll taxes, benefits, desk space, or equipment. Many offices use both: the virtual assistant handles CRM updates, marketing, and follow-up, while a local employee manages visitors, paper files, and anything that needs a car.
| Area | Real estate virtual assistant | In-house assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Work location | Remote | Your office or local market |
| CRM and lead follow-up | Yes | Yes |
| Listing administration | Yes, within state and MLS rules | Yes, within state and MLS rules |
| Transaction paperwork | Yes, administrative tasks only | Yes, administrative tasks only |
| Front desk and walk-ins | No | Yes |
| Lockboxes, signs, and physical mail | No | Yes |
| Desk and equipment | Provided by the VA or the agency | Provided by you |
| Best suited for | Digital admin, calls, and follow-up | Work that needs someone on site |
Which Software Should a Real Estate VA Know?
A real estate VA should use the systems your business already has, rather than introduce a new set of tools. Common tools include a real estate CRM such as GoHighLevel or Follow Up Boss, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, a transaction management platform, cloud storage, a dialer for calling roles, and a team chat tool. The brand matters less than consistent use. If leads are split between the CRM, a spreadsheet, and someone's notes, follow-up stays unreliable no matter who you hire. In interviews, ask candidates which of your tools they have used and what they did in them, because entering contacts is a different skill from building follow-up sequences and reports. Give access through a business password manager and a separate user account with limited permissions, so you can revoke access when needed.
Our guide to virtual assistant software covers more tools.
How Much Does a Real Estate VA Cost per Month?
Pricing depends on experience, working hours, location, and how you hire. Freelancers usually charge by the hour, and agencies usually charge a monthly fee for a dedicated full-time assistant. Ask every provider what the fee includes. At Stellar Staff, a full-time real estate VA costs $1,999 a month on the Pro plan or $2,999 a month on the Executive plan, for 160 hours a month. The Pro plan works out to about $12.50 an hour, and a full-time Stellar hire comes in at a third of the cost of a local hire. Plans are month to month with no long-term contract, and you can cancel with 14 days' notice. A bilingual hire adds $200 a month. Stellar sells full-time placements only, so if you need a few hours a week, a freelancer or an hourly service is the better fit.
For rates across the market, see our virtual assistant cost guide and our guide to VA pricing packages.
How to Compare Real Estate Virtual Assistant Companies Before You Sign
Lists of the best real estate virtual assistant companies help with a shortlist, but the right provider depends on a few facts you can check. Is the price published? Do you get a dedicated person or a shared pool? How long is the contract? Do you interview the candidates yourself? What happens if the assistant leaves? Real estate adds two more questions: can the provider find someone who has used your CRM, and will the hire follow your broker's rules on what an unlicensed assistant may do? The best virtual real estate assistant for a solo agent is the person whose skills match the tasks you listed, not the cheapest option. Ask every provider the same questions in writing. Here is how Stellar Staff answers them.
| What to check | Why it matters in real estate | Stellar Staff's answer |
|---|---|---|
| Price and contract | Deal flow is seasonal | Pro $1,999/month or Executive $2,999/month, 160 hours, month to month, cancel with 14 days' notice |
| Who you get | Your VA talks to your clients | Top 0.1% of applicants; you interview 2 to 3 finalists and pick one |
| Screening | The VA sees client and deal data | English verification, reference checks, equipment check, skill assessments, internal QA, background checks |
| If it doesn't work out | A vacant seat means leads go cold | Free replacements, forever, on managed plans |
| Who runs the work | Your scripts, CRM stages, and broker rules apply | Stellar handles recruiting, payroll, HR, tracking, and replacements; you direct daily work |
| Spanish-speaking clients | Many U.S. markets need bilingual follow-up | Bilingual hires for +$200/month |
Stellar Staff is the #2 VA agency on Clutch and has placed 1,000+ remote hires since 2022, with talent coming primarily from the Philippines. For a wider view, see our ranked list of the best virtual assistant companies or the side-by-side pages in our comparison hub.
How to Hire, Onboard, and Measure a Real Estate VA
The process is the same whether you hire a freelancer or go through an agency. Track your administrative work for one week first: the task, how long it took, and whether it needed your license. That list becomes the job description, along with the software, working hours, and questions that must go to a licensed agent. In interviews, ask about specific experience. Which real estate CRMs has the candidate used? Did they only enter contacts, or did they build follow-up sequences? A short practical test tells you more than a general interview, so give each finalist a messy lead list or a sample transaction checklist and see what they notice. Our guide on how to hire a virtual assistant has interview questions and red flags.
The First Two Weeks
Start with one or two processes that are easy to review, such as CRM cleanup or appointment confirmations. Give written instructions, examples of finished work, and approved client templates, and explain which situations need immediate escalation. Add access as the role grows, and hold a short daily check-in at first.
What to Track Once the Role Is Running
For lead work, track response time, appointments booked, overdue follow-ups, and the share of leads with a next step. For CRM work, track duplicates and contacts with no status. For listings and transactions, track missing documents and late checklist items. Call counts alone mean little.
What Agents and Investors Ask Before Hiring a Real Estate VA
What does a real estate virtual assistant do?
A real estate VA handles remote administrative work: lead follow-up, CRM updates, listing coordination, showing schedules, transaction checklists, marketing, inbox management, and vendor scheduling. They keep the business organized so the licensed agent can spend more time with clients. They do not show homes, give pricing advice, negotiate, or interpret contracts.
Does a real estate virtual assistant need a license?
Not for most administrative work. Data entry, scheduling, CRM updates, and document collection are usually fine for an unlicensed assistant. Showings, negotiation, advice, and in some states prospecting calls require a license. Texas, for example, bars unlicensed assistants from calls that ask whether someone wants to buy, sell, or lease. Check with your state commission and your broker.
Can a real estate VA make cold calls?
Often yes, but two sets of rules apply. Your state may reserve prospecting calls for licensees, and federal Do Not Call and TCPA rules apply to every outbound campaign. The business is responsible for its lists and consent records. Our cold calling services guide compares the ways to staff the phones.
Is a real estate VA worth it for a solo agent?
It can be, if the workload is steady. A solo agent who spends evenings on CRM updates, appointment confirmations, and follow-up can usually delegate most of it. Track one week of tasks first. If the work you can hand off does not fill a full-time schedule, a freelancer paid by the hour is a better start.
How quickly can I hire a real estate VA through Stellar Staff?
The search takes 5 to 10 business days. You interview 2 to 3 finalists and pick one. Plans start at $1,999 a month for a full-time, 160-hour Pro assistant, month to month with 14 days' notice to cancel. Stellar handles recruiting, payroll, HR, tracking, and replacements, and you direct the daily work.
Can a real estate VA work in my time zone?
Yes. Working remotely does not mean working different hours. Agree on the schedule before hiring, especially if the assistant will answer live calls or respond to new leads, where a quick reply matters. Our Philippines hiring guide compares Manila time with U.S. time zones.
Hand Off the CRM and Paperwork, Keep the Licensed Work
Agents should not be the only people who can update a contact, confirm an appointment, or check whether a document came back signed. A real estate virtual assistant can own those recurring tasks while the licensed team keeps the conversations that need a license. It works when tasks are written down and the assistant knows which questions go back to the agent.
A VA is not the right choice for everyone. If most of your unfinished work is showings, open houses, or listing appointments, you need a licensed showing agent or a buyer's agent, not an assistant. If the work you can delegate is only a few hours a week, a freelancer costs less than a full-time placement. And if you plan high-volume cold calling in a state that reserves prospecting for licensees, hire a licensed ISA or check the rules first.
If a full-time remote assistant fits your business, see how Stellar Staff staffs real estate teams, compare plans on the pricing page, or start a search on the hiring page.
Sources checked October 21, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Stellar Staff pricing is current as of October 2026.