How Do Real Estate Investors Scale Their Business Using Virtual Assistants?

Real estate investing is a demanding business that requires juggling multiple tasks simultaneously—from lead generation and cold calling to transaction coordination and marketing. For many investors, the bottleneck isn’t finding deals; it’s managing the overwhelming workload that comes with growth. This raises a critical question: how do successful real estate investors scale their operations without burning out or breaking the bank on expensive local talent?

In this comprehensive guide, we’re breaking down exactly how Bob Lachance from Riva Global has built a high-volume real estate wholesaling operation processing over 260 transactions annually using a team of 30 virtual assistants. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to scale your existing operation, this episode of The Real Estate Investing Club podcast reveals proven strategies for leveraging virtual talent to maximize efficiency and profitability.

Quick Answer: How Virtual Assistants Scale Real Estate Businesses

Virtual assistants allow real estate investors to scale operations cost-effectively by handling high-volume, repetitive tasks like lead follow-up, cold calling, transaction coordination, and marketing. By strategically deploying VAs across your business—from acquisition to disposition—you can process significantly more deals while keeping overhead low and avoiding burnout.

Why Virtual Assistants Are Essential for High-Volume Real Estate Operations

The economics of real estate investing have fundamentally changed. Minimum wage continues rising across states, making it increasingly expensive to hire local staff for tasks that don’t require in-person presence. Bob Lachance discovered this reality while running his own real estate business and coaching students through building their portfolios.

“I realized while I was running my own business, it gets more and more expensive to hire people, especially in different states,” Bob explains. “Minimum wage keeps going up, et cetera, et cetera. So then 2014, I started a virtual assistant company because of the need.”

The turning point came when Bob recognized that there was no service helping his student base handle the repetitive tasks essential to wholesaling success. After being introduced to virtual assistants in 2013, he immediately saw the opportunity and started his first VA company in 2014. Today, he operates his own real estate team with approximately 30 VAs, completing over 260 transactions as of the recording.

According to the National Association of Realtors, successful real estate businesses require consistent follow-up and communication—areas where VAs excel. The shift toward remote work has only accelerated the adoption of virtual teams across the industry.

How Many Virtual Assistants Do You Actually Need?

For a high-volume wholesaling operation processing 200+ transactions annually, you’ll need approximately 25-30 virtual assistants distributed across acquisition, disposition, marketing, and transaction coordination. Beginners should start with 1-2 VAs focused on lead follow-up and gradually scale as deal volume increases.

Bob’s team of 30 VAs breaks down strategically across his operation:

Acquisition Team (22 VAs): This represents the bulk of his virtual workforce, focused entirely on driving and managing inbound leads. These team members handle cold calling, text message follow-up, and nurturing leads already in the CRM system. Bob notes that his team now averages about 15 touches before getting someone to contract—more than double the traditional seven touches—which requires substantial manpower to execute consistently.

Branding and Marketing Team (3 VAs): These assistants create marketing materials, manage social media presence, and develop content that positions the company in the marketplace. This includes creating property flyers, managing online listings, and maintaining brand consistency across channels.

Acquisition Support (2 VAs): Once a property goes under contract, these VAs assist the in-house acquisition managers by compiling paperwork, organizing documentation, and ensuring all necessary materials are prepared for the disposition team.

Disposition Team (1 VA): Working with the disposition team, this assistant focuses on marketing contracted properties to buyers, creating compelling listings, and coordinating showings.

Transaction Coordination (2 VAs): These team members handle the critical but time-consuming tasks of managing contracts, coordinating with title companies, and ensuring deals close smoothly.

For investors just starting out or working with smaller deal volumes, this structure can be scaled proportionally. If you’re closing 2-3 deals monthly, you might begin with just one or two VAs focused on lead generation and follow-up, then gradually expand as your business grows.

What Are the Highest-ROI Tasks to Delegate to Virtual Assistants?

Lead follow-up and direct-to-seller calling deliver the highest ROI when delegated to virtual assistants. With response rates from direct mail averaging only 1%, consistent follow-up—now requiring an average of 15 touches per conversion—is critical but exhausting to manage personally.

Bob’s marketing budget allocation reveals where he focuses his resources and, consequently, where VAs provide maximum value:

Direct Mail (50% of budget): While direct mail represents half of Bob’s marketing spend, it produces approximately a 1% response rate. However, the long-term value is substantial. “We’re getting deals from two years ago that come in right now,” Bob notes. This delayed response pattern makes VA follow-up essential—leads need nurturing over extended periods that would be impossible for a small team to manage manually.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising (20% of budget): PPC generates immediate inbound leads that require quick response and consistent follow-up. VAs can monitor these campaigns, respond to inquiries within minutes, and manage the high volume of initial contacts that paid advertising generates.

Direct-to-Seller Calling (30% of budget): This channel delivers the highest return on investment. Bob emphasizes, “Calling direct to seller, because like we said, I think direct mail is probably like a 1% response rate. We get a lot of response, but it is a high cost with a little return.” The immediacy and personal touch of direct calling, combined with lower cost per contact, makes it extremely effective when executed by well-trained VAs.

Similar to strategies discussed in our guide on raising capital without cold calling, the key is finding the right balance between automated outreach and personal touch. VAs provide that personal connection at scale.

How Do You Structure VA Teams for Maximum Efficiency?

Organize virtual assistants into specialized teams aligned with your business pipeline: acquisition/lead gen, disposition/marketing, and transaction coordination. This specialization allows VAs to develop deep expertise in their specific role while creating clear handoff points as deals progress through your system.

Bob’s team structure follows the natural flow of a wholesaling transaction:

Stage 1 – Lead Generation and Acquisition: The 22 VAs on Bob’s acquisition team handle all inbound lead management. “We have in-house acquisition guys that are calling all day long, but majority of time they can’t actually reach them,” Bob explains. “So then we have our VAs in the background too, also calling, also following up via text message because the leads are already in our system.”

This two-tier approach is brilliant. While experienced in-house acquisitions managers focus on qualified conversations and negotiations, VAs handle the volume game—making repeated contact attempts, sending follow-up texts, and warming leads until they’re ready for a serious conversation. This division of labor ensures expensive talent focuses on revenue-generating activities while VAs manage the necessary but repetitive work.

Stage 2 – Contract to Close: Once a property goes under contract, acquisition support VAs take over. They compile all necessary paperwork, create property documentation, and prepare materials for the disposition team. This ensures nothing falls through the cracks during the transition period and allows acquisition managers to immediately focus on the next deal.

Stage 3 – Marketing and Disposition: The disposition VA works with the internal disposition team to market properties to buyers. This includes creating compelling flyers, posting to investor networks, and managing buyer inquiries. As Bob notes, “We pass them off to our Dispo team. And we have VAs that work with our Dispo team, marketing it, creating flyers, et cetera.”

Stage 4 – Transaction Coordination: Two VAs support the transaction coordination process, handling the administrative burden of closing deals. They coordinate with title companies, track deadlines, ensure all documentation is complete, and follow up on outstanding items.

This pipeline structure is similar to systems used in property management operations, where clear processes and defined roles enable scalability.

What Does It Cost to Build a Virtual Assistant Team?

Virtual assistants typically cost $5-15 per hour depending on experience and specialization, representing 60-80% cost savings compared to U.S.-based employees. For a 30-person VA team working full-time, expect monthly costs of $24,000-$72,000 versus $150,000+ for equivalent local staff.

While Bob didn’t disclose specific numbers during the interview, industry standards provide clear benchmarks. Virtual assistants from countries like the Philippines, Colombia, and South Africa typically charge:

Entry-Level VAs ($5-8/hour): Perfect for basic administrative tasks, data entry, simple cold calling scripts, and CRM management. These team members can handle high-volume, straightforward tasks that don’t require deep real estate knowledge.

Experienced Real Estate VAs ($10-15/hour): These VAs understand real estate terminology, can handle more complex conversations, manage transaction coordination, and create marketing materials. They’re ideal for roles requiring some autonomy and decision-making.

Specialized VAs ($15-20/hour): For roles requiring specific expertise—like Facebook ads management, advanced CRM customization, or AI implementation—specialized VAs command higher rates but still represent significant savings versus local hires.

The math is compelling. A full-time VA at $12/hour costs approximately $2,080/month (173 hours). A comparable U.S. employee at even $15/hour would cost $2,595/month in wages alone—before accounting for payroll taxes, benefits, office space, and equipment. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the total cost of an employee typically runs 1.25 to 1.4 times their salary when including all overhead.

For Bob’s 30-person team earning an average of $12/hour, monthly costs would be approximately $62,400. Equivalent U.S. staff at $20/hour plus 40% overhead would cost roughly $173,000/month—a difference of over $110,000 monthly or $1.32 million annually.

How Do You Train and Manage Remote Virtual Assistants Effectively?

Successful VA management requires documented processes, recorded training materials, regular communication cadences, and clear performance metrics. Use screen recording software to create training libraries and implement daily check-ins to maintain alignment and accountability.

While the podcast didn’t dive deeply into Bob’s specific training protocols, his success with 30 VAs processing 260+ annual transactions suggests sophisticated management systems. Industry best practices for managing virtual teams include:

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Every task a VA performs should have a written SOP with screenshots, step-by-step instructions, and expected outcomes. Tools like Loom or Tango make creating video SOPs quick and easy.

Structured Onboarding: New VAs should go through a formalized onboarding process covering company culture, expectations, communication protocols, and role-specific training. The first week should include daily check-ins to address questions and ensure proper setup.

Clear Metrics and KPIs: Virtual assistants need clear success metrics. For acquisition VAs, this might include calls made, contacts reached, appointments set, and deals generated. For transaction coordinators, it could be deals closed, average days to close, and error rates. What gets measured gets managed.

Regular Communication: Implement daily stand-ups (even brief 15-minute calls), weekly one-on-ones, and monthly team meetings. Use project management tools like Asana, Notion, or ClickUp to maintain visibility into task progress.

Technology Stack: Equip your VAs with the right tools. Bob mentions using CRM systems extensively, which is essential for managing the 15+ touches now required per conversion. Cloud-based phone systems, screen sharing capabilities, and collaborative documents ensure seamless remote work.

These management principles apply equally whether you’re building a virtual wholesaling operation or scaling other real estate strategies.

What Common Mistakes Do Investors Make When Hiring Virtual Assistants?

The biggest mistake is hiring VAs without clear processes and expecting them to figure things out independently. Other common errors include inadequate training, poor communication, treating VAs as “cheap labor” rather than team members, and failing to track performance metrics.

Bob’s own early experience in real estate provides a cautionary tale about rushing into opportunities without proper due diligence. When discussing a deal that went sideways, Bob shared: “Me and my partner lost $150,000 on a knockdown rebuild… My takeaway is, and it was a great lesson to be honest with you… don’t get [caught by] the shiny object syndrome… just be very, very patient because you are not going to get rich quick in this business.”

This same principle applies to building VA teams. Common mistakes include:

Hiring Too Quickly Without Systems: Bringing on multiple VAs before you have documented processes leads to chaos. Start with one VA, perfect your systems, then scale. Your first VA should help you document processes as you train them.

Inadequate Onboarding: Assuming VAs will learn by osmosis or expecting them to be immediately productive without training sets everyone up for failure. Budget at least 2-4 weeks for a new VA to become competent in their role.

Poor Communication: Infrequent check-ins, unclear instructions, and lack of feedback create frustration on both sides. Overcommunicate initially, then reduce frequency as VAs prove reliable.

Wrong Expectations: VAs are incredibly capable, but they can’t read your mind. Be explicit about expectations, deadlines, and quality standards. If you wouldn’t expect a local employee to figure something out alone, don’t expect it from a VA.

Failing to Track ROI: Without metrics, you can’t determine if your VA investment is paying off. Track cost per lead, conversion rates, and deals generated before and after hiring VAs to measure impact.

Cultural Insensitivity: VAs come from different cultures with different communication norms and holidays. Show respect for these differences and build an inclusive team culture.

According to research from McKinsey & Company, companies that successfully implement remote work strategies invest heavily in technology, communication protocols, and management training—areas that many small real estate investors overlook.

How Can AI and Virtual Assistants Work Together?

AI tools amplify VA effectiveness by handling routine communications, generating marketing copy, and providing research support. VAs can use AI to draft responses, create content, and analyze data, then add the human touch that builds relationships and closes deals.

When asked about AI implementation, Bob immediately highlighted practical applications: “Marketing is obviously one of them. You could create different response campaigns, right? So a lot of us have CRMs. You could actually go, you put this scenario in the chat GPT as an example, and you say, here I have a CRM, here I have a motivated seller. What kind of copy and what should we send them back every time they send us a message?”

The synergy between VAs and AI creates powerful leverage:

Email and Message Drafting: VAs can use AI to draft initial responses to seller inquiries, then personalize them based on specific property details and seller motivations. This dramatically speeds up response time while maintaining quality.

Marketing Content Creation: Rather than spending hours writing property descriptions, social media posts, or email campaigns, VAs can use AI to generate first drafts and then refine them with local market knowledge and company voice.

Research and Analysis: AI can quickly summarize market reports, property records, and competitive intelligence that VAs then verify and incorporate into decision-making processes.

Translation and Localization: For investors operating in multiple markets or languages, AI can help VAs communicate effectively across language barriers.

Bob personally uses ChatGPT “10 times a day for research and all that kind of stuff,” demonstrating how even experienced investors leverage AI for efficiency. The future may include AI agents that handle initial seller conversations, with VAs stepping in when deals require human judgment and relationship-building.

As Bob noted when discussing AI-powered conversation agents: “Everyone’s building an agent every day. So it’s like, you know, the next best thing is their agent. I always look at all that stuff to see what works.”

What’s the First VA You Should Hire?

Start with a lead management and follow-up VA who can handle inbound calls, send text messages, and nurture leads in your CRM. This immediately frees you from the most time-consuming, repetitive task in wholesaling while directly impacting revenue generation.

For investors just beginning to build their teams, the lead follow-up VA provides the highest immediate ROI because:

Direct Revenue Impact: This role directly influences deal flow. The market now requires an average of 15 touches before conversion, making consistent follow-up non-negotiable. A dedicated VA ensures no lead falls through the cracks.

Time Liberation: Following up with dozens or hundreds of leads consumes hours daily. Delegating this frees you to focus on high-value activities like meeting motivated sellers, raising capital, or negotiating deals.

Measurable Results: You can easily track this VA’s impact through metrics like response rate, appointments set, and deals generated—making it clear whether the investment pays off.

Foundation for Scaling: Once you have systems dialed in for lead management, adding additional VAs becomes progressively easier.

Your second hire should typically be either an acquisition support VA (to handle paperwork and documentation) or a marketing VA (to create property flyers and manage listings), depending on where your bottleneck exists. Most investors find that once they’re consistently generating leads through their first VA, the paperwork burden becomes the next constraint.

Key Takeaways for Building Your Virtual Assistant Team

Bob Lachance’s journey from door-knocking solo investor to running a 30-VA team processing 260+ annual transactions provides a blueprint for scaling real estate operations. The key insights:

Start Before You Think You’re Ready: You don’t need to be doing 100 deals annually to benefit from VAs. Even at 2-3 deals monthly, a single VA focused on lead follow-up will pay for themselves many times over.

Build Systems First, Scale Second: Document your processes before hiring. Your first VA should help you refine these systems, creating a foundation for rapid scaling.

Focus on High-Volume, Repetitive Tasks: VAs excel at tasks requiring consistency and volume—lead follow-up, cold calling, data entry, and transaction coordination. Reserve complex negotiations and relationship-building for yourself or senior team members initially.

Invest in Management Infrastructure: Proper CRM systems, communication tools, and performance tracking are essential. The technology investment enables effective remote team management.

Think Long-Term: As Bob learned from his early real estate mistake, “This is a long-term business to get into.” The same applies to building VA teams. Invest in training, develop talent, and build relationships with your team members.

Leverage AI Strategically: Combine VAs with AI tools to create multiplicative efficiency gains. VAs handle the human judgment and relationship building while AI handles routine content generation and research.

Follow Up Relentlessly: With conversion now requiring 15+ touches versus the traditional 7, having VAs dedicated to consistent follow-up isn’t optional—it’s essential for competing effectively.

Whether you’re pursuing creative financing strategies, virtual wholesaling, or building a turnkey operation, virtual assistants provide the leverage necessary to scale beyond what’s possible as a solo operator.

The real estate investing landscape continues evolving, but one truth remains constant: sustainable success requires building systems and teams that can execute consistently at scale. Virtual assistants aren’t just a cost-saving measure—they’re a strategic advantage that separates struggling investors from those who build lasting, profitable businesses.

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