When Do I Know It’s Time to Hire My First Assistant?

By David Brough

From a young age, real estate captured David's interest, and that passion has remained throughout his life. Over the past 15 years as a Realtor.

One of the most common (and most important) questions I hear from agents is: “When do I know it’s time to hire my first assistant?” It’s a significant leap. If you hire prematurely, you might strain your finances. But if you wait too long, you’ll miss opportunities and eventually burn out. The key is to look for specific, tangible signs in your business.

Here are four signs that it’s time to bring in some help:

1. You’re drowning in administrative work. If you find yourself spending more time on transaction coordination, scheduling, and email management than on revenue-generating activities like meeting clients and prospecting, it’s a clear signal. Your unique value is in your expertise and relationships, not in pushing paper. An assistant handles the operational backbone, freeing you to focus on the engine of your business.

2. You’re missing golden opportunities. Have you ever missed a lead call because you were at a showing? Or taken too long to follow up because you were buried in tasks? When exceptional client service and lead conversion start to slip, it’s a major red flag. An assistant acts as a safety net, ensuring no opportunity falls through the cracks and that every client feels valued and attended to.

3. You’re capped out on time and income. There are only 168 hours in a week. If your calendar is packed and your income has plateaued, you’ve hit the ceiling of what you can do alone. The only path to growth is through leverage. Hiring an assistant allows you to multiply your efforts, taking on more clients without sacrificing service or your well-being.

4. Your budget supports the investment (the rule of thumb). This is the practical checkpoint. Hiring should be a strategic investment, not an act of desperation. A solid rule of thumb is to consider hiring when you are consistently closing enough volume to cover the assistant’s compensation while still maintaining a healthy profit margin for yourself. Starting with a part-time or virtual assistant is a brilliant, low-risk way to test the waters.

Hiring your first assistant is the transition from being a solo agent to becoming a business owner. It’s about investing in leverage to create a sustainable, scalable practice. If you’re observing these signs in your daily routine, you are likely more ready than you think.

Have any questions? I’d love to hear them! Feel free to call or email me. I’d be happy to answer everything on your mind and help you make a solid plan to close the year successfully, so you can enter the new year strong.