Part 3 of 3.

I have been reflecting on the past five years as I am marketing the home of some of my first international clients. They moved from the UK to Crozet (their house is for sale and is shown at the end of this post). When we were meeting a few weeks ago, they were looking at the faxes I used to send them, discussing the websites I used to put up for them – photos of neighborhoods, areas, houses, etc. and we were talking about how things have changed and evolved since then.

When we put my clients’ house on the market a few weeks ago, they were looking back at their files from when they built five years ago. I wanted electronic signatures then. I knew they would come. It’s a shame they’ve taken so long to get here. These are simple in that they allow me and my clients to operate more efficiently than ever. We just ratified a contract with zero printing and ink. All parties signed electronically. This is not the norm, but it will be.

– Paperless transactions – Docusign – No more driving 20 or 3000 miles for a signature. No more faxing or scanning. Simple, efficient. Brilliant.

– I’m also looking at Echosign again due to their new social identity feature:

EchoSign, the web-based electronic signatures and signature automation service, is launching new functionality today that allows users to use their web identities (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google) to e-sign contracts or other documents.

Now, signing a contract is the same for my clients three miles away as it is for those 3,000 miles away.

Limitations:

– Banks. Lenders. Attorneys. Realtors. Not understanding that an electronic signature is legal. – Fear. Of doing something differently. In 2011, I am strongly considering not recommending lenders who don’t get this – if their processors, their underwriters etc think that electronic signatures aren’t “real” I am going to have a very difficult time working with them.

Now I need to figure out what I want in the next five years …

Part One – Real Estate Technology I wanted Five Years Ago is Finally Here – Interactive Floorplans
Part Two – Real Estate Technology I wanted Five Years Ago is Finally Here – Real Estate Video
Part Three – Real Estate Technology I wanted Five Years Ago is Finally Here – Paperless Transactions.
Prologue – What’s Next?