In recent years a term has arisen for a new mode of operation of the real estate entrepreneur. This term is virtual real estate. As the digital revolution has changed whole industries and allowed for unprecedented freedom for those who engage in business activities, real estate has been affected by the development of new technologies and new methods of doing business.

Virtual real estate refers to the concept of running a real estate business that exists nowhere but can operate anywhere. As a quick turn real estate entrepreneur you do not need a dedicated office to work from, merely the right equipment, software, and know-how. Nor are you limited to engaging in business at or near your physical location.

The newly evolving concept of virtual business allows you to work how you want, when you want, where you want. If you do business in your local area you should quickly learn that running all over town looking at properties is not the best use of your time. You will soon learn to do most if not all of your work from your home base, and if you can do this in your local market successfully than you can effectively do it anywhere.

Technology plays a key role in this transformation. Having a phone service, fax service, email service, internet connection, and a FedEx outlet nearby allows you to do business in and from any location. But technology alone is not enough. You also have to cultivate key relationships with people in the local market who will cooperate with you to get deals done.

The types of relationships that can be employed are the usual ones: joint venture partners, with whom you act independently but share profits; paid employees, who are compensated directly for their time; and commissioned salespersons, which can include real estate agents who work on your behalf.

There are a few essential tasks necessary for carrying out your business that are location dependent. Coming up with creative ways to handle these tasks is key to your ability to operate successfully as a virtual business. One of these essential tasks is farming and marketing in your target neighborhood by capturing leads and positioning signs, fliers, and business cards within your target market area.

This can successfully be handled by joint venture partners or commissioned or paid employees in most cases. A more sensitive task is meeting with sellers in those situations where it is only possible to deal with the seller face to face. You may choose to have this handled by a joint venture partner or to simply refer those sellers to a local investor and move on.

Another important task is inspecting properties once they are under contract and showing them to prospective buyers. If you are smart about this you will get as much information as you can from the seller but let your buyers view the property themselves and make their own inspection, so this is really a non-task for the virtual real estate entrepreneur, along with attending closings. This can be a friendly way to get to know your buyers and sellers but is not strictly necessary in this day and age.

If you are the type of person who enjoys having the ability to come and go and travel at any time, then freedom is probably one of your highest values and the main reason you were attracted to the real estate business. Use the principles discussed here to design and achieve that freedom.