Outsourcing is one of the best tools available for real estate investors and companies, but the rules are changing. Subsequently, what emerging trends are altering the landscape of remote working in the real estate industry? What do you need to know? More importantly, how can you use it to your advantage?
Outsourcing for Real Estate
Outsourcing has quickly transitioned from a beneficial aspect of the real estate industry to an essential tool. Those neglecting to outsource may be hurting their business in the long run. Moreover, those taking advantage of it are gaining an edge over their competitors. The largest organizations in the world, including banks and governments, outsource every day. Start-ups have caught on to the benefits of outsourcing certain work.
Debates continue over whether or not there are still advantages of hiring local, in-house workers or outsourcing. Both can have their advantages and disadvantages, but the answer may rely on exactly how you go about outsourcing. You must do it right in order to benefit from maximum output, quality and profit.
There continue to be a number of outsourcing platforms for real estate entrepreneurs and CEOs to turn to. However, one of the biggest changes has been the merger of two of the largest giants in the industry; Elance and oDesk. The latter is now perhaps the closest to having a monopoly on the market. They can offer simplified and streamlined job posting, recruiting, hiring and daily management as well as bookkeeping.
However, as demand and supply changes, so has the best practices for using these platforms.
What’s New with Outsourcing?
So how has outsourcing and the best practices for recruiting remote workers changed?
Those that have read books on this topic may be aware that most practices are outdated. One-dollar an hour isn’t going to get anyone much anymore. In fact, top real estate industry firms aren’t afraid to spend well in excess of $100 a page for great copywriting services. There are services like low-level data entry, which can be very affordable, but for the most part, prices are rising.
As more and more people lose their jobs and give up looking, freelance services are becoming increasingly popular. As more start-ups launch and independent professionals embrace outsourcing, the competition for the best talent is also increasing.
So while there are certainly still armies of newbies willing to work for little to no money, the top performers with established histories are becoming a little harder to land. This was made even harder due to the natural infiltration of under-handed employers that try to get work free and not pay for it.
In order to keep their own income steady and avoid being taken advantage of, top freelancers are applying to multiple projects each day and are gravitating towards taking those which appear serious and not too difficult to work with. They are no longer working for free, or close to it.
So while screening and testing prospective team members is smart, don’t sabotage your efforts to reign in the best talent. These workers are not mind readers. Many are fully capable of taking a project and running with it, without being micromanaged. However, never expect that they can read your mind, and then wonder why they didn’t get it. Take the time to be specific with instructions and it will repay big returns later.
