Top 12 Tasks Lettings Agents Should Delegate to Virtual Assistants

Running a letting agency means working in countless directions. As an agency owner, you have to manage time for business development.

Smart agency owners solve this problem by hiring specialised Real estate virtual assistants who handle the daily grind.

However, letting agencies have some unique needs that standard virtual assistant skills don’t cover. This is why Teambuild Consultancy carefully selects virtual assistants with specific letting expertise for your business.

Scroll down to see which letting tasks you should delegate today for maximum impact.

1. Tenant Screening and Application Processing

Finding quality tenants is one of the main tasks for a letting agency, and it can consume most of your time. Every detail has to be checked carefully, like references, credit conditions, and employment details.

But by doing all this, you often lose most of your time and energy for personal pursuits and business growth.

That’s why you need a specialised remote lettings administrator or virtual assistant to take this task off your hands. They handle the entire application process, including collecting documents, running background checks, and flagging any issues.

The result? Only qualified tenants reach your final review and give you more time to focus on growing your business.

2. Property Listing Management

Listing management is another main task that drains your valuable time and energy. You can’t focus on meeting new landlords or closing deals when you’re busy uploading photos, writing descriptions, and updating availability.

That is where a skilled lettings virtual assistant takes charge of your property listings. They’ll create professional descriptions, make photos more engaging, and upload details to Rightmove, Zoopla, and your website. Plus, they’ll handle basic viewing requests and adjust pricing based on your guidelines.

So, at the end of the day, you will be stress-free and know that every listing is up to date.

3. Calendar Management and Viewing Coordination

Callender management is not your expertise. So, as a letting agency owner, you should always avoid these small tasks. When you handle these tasks yourself your calendar becomes disorganised because of both double bookings and rushed appointments.

At Teambuild Consultancy, we provide highly skilled lettings virtual assistants who are experts in these types of tasks. Your virtual assistants will handle your booking arrangements while ensuring your appointments and sending gentle scheduling reminders to you.

Also, if you need to change plans, they’re quick to reorganise your schedule to keep productivity at its peak.

Remember a single outsourcing of these tasks would create 20 hours of free time each week. It really makes a difference!

4. Rent Collection and Payment Processing

Chasing late payments and reconciling accounts drains your energy and creates awkward tenant conversations, which can hamper the relationship between you and the tenants.

By not doing this, you can hire a virtual assistant who will ensure the rent collection and payment processing. They will monitor all incoming payments, send professional reminders before due dates, and follow up promptly with defaulters. 

Meanwhile, you maintain positive tenant relationships, letting your VA handle these potentially uncomfortable interactions with professional distance.

5. Maintenance Request Coordination

Emergency maintenance calls can disrupt your carefully planned schedule. An early morning leak may force you to cancel an important meeting with the landlord. Even family time often suffers due to essential repairs that happen at night. Tenants grow impatient with delays while you attend property viewings.

With your virtual assistant, maintenance becomes more organised. After processing tenant requests, your assistant prioritises them and then contacts your approved contractors. Also, keeps a detailed record of each maintenance issue and sends updates to tenants. If any major expenses show up, your VA immediately gets landlord approval for major expenses.

You’ll notice the difference right away. Constant interruptions from phone calls will stop. Quick responses to properties let you focus on revenue-generating activities.

6. Document Preparation and Management

Drowning in tenancy agreements, inventory reports, and compliance paperwork? These necessary documents take up hours of your week but bring in no new business. Also, the legal requirements change often, making the paperwork pile even bigger.

Your lettings virtual assistant will manage all document tasks. They’ll create tenancy agreements, prepare inventories from photos, and organise digital files for easy access. They will also ensure all paperwork meets current regulations and follow up on missing signatures or references.

This will bring more benefits and efficiency. Documents reach clients more quickly, and compliance risks will drop significantly.

7. Social Media and Marketing Support

Keeping your agency visible online often slips to the bottom of your to-do list. It is a continuous task that a busy founder like you can not handle properly. Empty social feeds and outdated property posts make potential clients question your professionalism.

But this is a piece of cake for a virtual assistant. They can easily schedule regular social media content, create property highlight posts, respond to comments, and monitor engagement metrics.

This will also make your letting business shine better than your competitors and make you a responsive option for landlords and tenants alike.

8. Email Management and Communication

Overflowing inbox can make your morning hectic and a bad start to your day. Important messages get buried under viewing requests, spam and newsletters while urgent client questions wait hours for answers.

A skilled letting agency virtual assistant can transform your email chaos into a calm organisation. They can filter all incoming messages, respond to routine questions, and only forward urgent issues to you. Also, your assistant will draft responses for your approval and ensure no message sits unanswered. 

When email anxiety fades away, you’ll feel a sense of peace and your productivity will get a boost. You’ll also start your day on a positive note.

9. Market Research and Competitor Analysis

I think you know this: As a letting agent, you always need to be up to date with the current rental pricing of your or your surroundings. But when you’re busy with all-day viewings and meetings, how can you do the research?

That is where hiring a letting agency virtual assistant comes in handy. Your virtual assistant can research all these for you, like tracking average rental prices and monitoring competitor fees. Also, create a simple report to show where you stand in the local market.

The benefits are also huge. Your listing’s price will be up-to-date as well as competitive, and you can impress clients by sharing recent market insights.

10. Deposit Management: DPS renewals and registration

Deposit protection is a challenging task for every letting agent and It can create serious compliance issues. Mistakes with deadlines and paperwork can lead you to costly penalties. You need to pay close attention to this process, even with your heavy workload.

But things will be easier if you have a specialised VA who can handle your entire deposit protection process. They manage new deposit registrations, renewals, and timely documentation delivery to tenants. Their system keeps complete records, allowing quick access during disputes. They also track upcoming renewals in advance.

It will give you a peace of mind also eliminating the compliance worries. Only by just hiring a VA Your agency can avoid expensive non-compliance penalties that can exceed £3,000.

In our opinion, This task alone justifies VA support for most letting agents.

11. Tracking license deadlines, safety checks, and managing renewals

If you miss any safety checks or licensing issues, I am afraid it can be expensive for you! According to gov.uk, you could get an unlimited fine for renting out an unlicensed HMO. Also, Five students sued their landlord for £15,000 in rent money and succeeded because their landlord operated an unlicensed HMO.

Sources: https://www.gov.uk/find-licences/house-in-multiple-occupation-licence

This shows how important safety checks and licensing are. With a virtual assistant who knows UK property safety and licensing, you can relax. Your VA will handle these risks, giving you peace of mind.

12. Tenant Onboarding and Offboarding

A letting agent spends about 4.5 hours on each changeover. Since properties usually change hands every 20 months, this takes up 12% of your working time. 

A skilled property virtual assistant makes these key transitions smooth from start to finish. They create welcome packs tailored to each property. They handle utility transfers and council registrations. They also send clear checkout instructions ahead of departure dates. They organise inspection schedules, manage key handovers, and take care of initial deposit returns according to your instructions. This lets you focus on growing your business.

The impact of a VA on your operation is remarkable. Properties sit empty for four fewer days between tenants. Tenant satisfaction will jump up. Meanwhile, deposit disputes drop to under half the UK average.

Why Choose Teambuild Consultancy For Letting Agency Virtual Assistant?

Property Specialists, Not Generic Virtual Assistant Providers

We provide virtual assistants with a deep understanding of UK property business workflows and challenges. All our virtual assistants have experience with standard UK property software and compliance requirements.

Direct Team Members, Not Outsourced Tasks

We provide dedicated remote team members who work exclusively for your business and are genuine integrated members of your team. Over time, this will build meaningful relationships with your in-house staff and clients.

Complete Employment Management

We also eliminate the complexity of employment management for you. It includes payroll management, benefits administration, and all HR functions, so you enjoy all the benefits without any administrative burden.

High Client Satisfaction

Our success is measured not just in satisfaction scores but in lasting client relationships. We have a 94% client retention rate far surpassing the property industry average of 50-60%.