Tech Trends: Are you paperless yet? Maybe you’re thinking you won’t get a big ROI out of making this transition. However, going paperless enables real estate deals to come together faster when agents can easily prepare, sign, and manage forms for each transaction in a single workspace. You also reduce errors and compliance risk by ensuring agents are using the most up-to-date forms. You can use autofill capabilities so you only enter data once, and it will flow through to all your other forms. Lastly, agents spend less time on paperwork and more time on client outreach to grow their business instead.
Now that you’ve been convinced to go paperless, you need to get there. How do you go paperless? The paperless journey begins with picking a technology provider. You might want to look at these three vendors, all endorsed by the National Association of Realtors.
First, DocuSign (https://www.docusign.com/) is a very popular choice. The company offers two real estate solutions. Agents can simplify the transaction process with an all-in-one solution the company offers called DocuSign eSignature. Also, brokers can guide agents through each step of the transaction process and maintain visibility across their business with the company’s DocuSign Rooms for Real Estate.
DocuSign made headlines when it launched its enhanced identity verification offering, Liveness Detection for ID Verification. This new feature uses artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled biometric checks to confirm signers are who they say they are, are physically present at signing and that their IDs are valid.
Another option is DigiSigner (https://www.digisigner.com/). DigiSigner software gives clients the ability to sign all their documents online, which saves time for both parties. Both home sellers and buyers can sign-off on the deal online in just a few minutes. The ability to use DigiSigner is free to the clients, and they are usually very pleased with the ease and convenience of being able to sign their documents anywhere and on almost all devices.
All electronic signature documents for which a real estate business obtains signatures are automatically stored online in DigiSigner account and can be accessed at any time. Electronic signatures have proven to be a huge advantage for many real estate companies. It enables them to work more efficiently and handle more clients. Using eSignatures also saves money on gas, paper, printer ink, and postage.
A third company to look at is Authentisign (https://www.lwolf.com/products/authentisign). The makers of this technology, Lone Wolf Technologies, boast that this service is used by over450,000 real estate agents. Founded in 1989, Lone Wolf Technologies has seen its share of market cycles, but it hasn’t let downturns get in the way of progress. Most recently, the company has been working on a new product that aims to be an end-to-end transaction platform. VP of Product Aaron Kardell said that in a tough market, “it’s extremely important we keep pushing” to make the platform available to agents.
Also, this company teamed up with Realtor.com to create Listing Toolkit, which is focused on helping agents win more listings through the search portal. Launched on Sept. 13, it’s off to a good start. The company also had 12 products featured in this year’s Tech 200, which identifies the best-in-class products among real estate tech companies, and was called out by Travis Saxton, T3 Sixty’s head of technology consulting, as one of the five technology companies leading the way in tech.
This is just a starting point. I’ll keep writing about this and provide even more great options. Regardless of who you choose, the point is to go paperless today.
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