Andrew Janos
By Andrew Janos
The number of tech savvy clients is increasing every day with the help of the Internet and smartphones. Information is at the consumer’s fingertips, which is why the transfer of documents for signature and information should be just as easy. DocuSign recently purchased Cartavi’s transaction management system and dubbed it DocuSign Transaction Rooms. As a real estate practitioner, you will be able to seamlessly and securely share documents with every party of the transaction (check out deals specifically for REALTORS®). Transaction Rooms can also link to Dropbox and Google Drive, killing fewer tress and storing files in the cloud for access anywhere.
The trend is easily visible among consumers who are becoming more eco-conscious, and the DocuSign suite allows agents to go over contracts and other documents on their iPad or computer. This makes becoming a paperless agent easy. Clients can also read the paperwork at their leisure (within reasonable time constraints of course (insert frantic multiple offer situation here)) and ask questions so that they fully understand the process. It also assists for speedy offers if there is interest from multiple parties on a property. Offers can be put together in a fraction of the time, giving your clients an edge when they are pursuing their dream home.
Currently, DocuSign and DocuSign Transaction Rooms accounts can be linked together so that completed documents can be shared and distributed across each platform. With the redesign of DocuSign’s user interface, something tells me they will integrate in the future to form one place for storage, signature, and sharing/distributing.
The practice of using e-signatures will help clean up your company’s file management. Each individual agent can share their transactions with a master account to allow for all necessary documents to be saved in the company’s filing system. This helps transaction coordinators who often receive countless e-mails with files that are not named correctly, which ensues confusion in the workplace and/or missing documents in the file.
Ever get caught in a deal on vacation or in a seminar without a computer? Have no fear, the virtual office is here – and with its help, you can work from anywhere. Spring may be over, but the time to clean and streamline your business never is.
Andrew Janon is a vice president and salesperson with U S Spaces in Philadelphia. Connect with Andrew at andrewjanos.com.
Comments 7
I’m using electronic signatures more than I thought, but there are some downsides.
1. Some banks won’t allow them (short sales and REOs).
2. For the first contract signing with a client it’s harder to go over the contract with the client if you are not there in person.
3. It’s not 100% clear that the federal statute allowing electronic signatures would apply to every real estate transaction. If you had to fall back on state law, Docusign and such do not comply with Washington state law, and so possibly would be ineffective.
ATTORNEYS (many) Will not accept esignatures. There is still a lot of resistance..
in using all electronic sigs. Happy I know the traditional transaction as it will still prevail-so say the powers to be.
Docusign is troublesome as it allows for a signature and date but no time stamp. I have recently been involved in a contract where parties use Dotloop which does place the signature and/or initials with a date and time stamp all together.
Can’t handle dot loop.
Like Authentisign.
Kathy, Docusign does allow for a time stamp. Give their tech dept a call and they will walk you through setting it up. I recently did.
So far I havnt had any issues with docusign. I have not come across a situation where electronic signatures wernt accepted.
I havnt touched a paper contract in a year, I docusign contracts from my car and on vacation. You can add a time stamp and copy yourself in email for time stamp and date.
Dotloop is a far superior product to docusign. I’ve used both and now I’ve been using Dotloop exclusively for all my deals for the past year.