MORTGAGE BANK HAS 2,000 VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS
My wife Heejin and I were recently chatting with the president of a major mortgage bank and he mentioned that his firm employed 2,000 virtual assistants (VAs) in the Philippines.
He was not entirely sure what they all did, but he was amazed by their resumes, as many had STEM degrees, PhDs, and master’s degrees.
He further said that the average cost for such talent was about $2,000 per month.
What is interesting is that so many major mortgage banks have jumped on the VA bandwagon, and COVID simply accelerated the trend because everyone figured out how effective remote work can be.
JVM Lending is no exception, as we now have over 50 VAs helping us with every aspect of our business – phone reception, marketing, telemarketing, CRM management, pre-approvals, contracts, disclosures, loan processing, and much else.
I might add that this is no threat to our domestic team of superstars because we now need them that much more for VA training, VA management, and increased client interaction (a luxury that the VAs are giving us).
REASONS TO HIRE VAs
There are several reasons why I think everyone should consider hiring VAs.
- Leveraging yourself. I have blogged about this in the past, as we constantly see both agents and loan officers who could double their business with an assistant. The key of course is learning how to delegate busy work in order to free up time for relationship and business building. Because VAs are so much less expensive, people can afford to keep them on payroll while they figure out how to leverage them.
- Inexpensive. Our costs for VAs vary from about $1,400 to over $2,000 per month, with an average of about $1,800.
- Vastly reduced labor costs – more value. This is of course related to the above point, but this has the potential of reducing our overall labor costs by as much as 75%. And that in turn allows us to offer lower rates and better service.
- Creating opportunities for overseas staff. This is something most people don’t consider but it is another huge benefit, as many VAs desperately need the work in the areas where they reside. Further, we offer above-market wages, incentives, benefits and perks, and we of course encourage others to do the same.
FIRMS WE USE
While larger firms simply set up employment centers overseas and hire people directly, we still prefer to hire VAs through firms that source talent for us.
This is because these firms know the rules, the lay of the land, and where and how to source talent in ways that we never could.
It is more efficient for a firm of our size to tap into the know-how and economies of scale these firms offer.
We currently use several firms including Phone Animal (out of Jamaica), MyOutDesk (out of the Philippines), and Brivity Virtual Assistants (out of the Philippines).
Brivity, however, is our favorite resource.
This is because they offer the best talent and service, and that is probably because they are owned by Ben Kinney, who has a background in real estate; the firm well understands the needs of both agents and lenders and is able to sometimes source talent that is pre-trained with many of the skills we are looking for.
If any readers are interested in learning more about Brivity, they should click this link: Learn More About Brivity.
Brivity’s manager, Bryce Waldron, offered to knock $250 off the onboarding fee too for any readers of this blog.
He also offered JVM a $250 referral fee for everyone who signs up, but I am going to respectfully decline that offer and ask that the $250 be applied to a bonus pool for the VAs themselves. You would be amazed by how far a $250 bonus goes in most of the areas where our VAs work.
If anyone has any additional questions in regard to VAs, they are welcome to reach out to me too.
Jay Voorhees
Founder/Broker | JVM Lending
(855) 855-4491 | DRE# 1197176, NMLS# 310167
