It wasn’t like it was the Dark Ages or anything.  It was less than ten years ago, in fact.  And I had a problem.

I listed a house in my neighborhood.  It was pretty, in great shape and priced right.  It was the kind of place that I knew would fly off the shelf.  And my clients were on their way to a vacation of a lifetime - a raft trip down the Amazon River.

“Not to worry,” they told me.  “We’ll find Internet cafes at little clearings along the way.  We can check our email.” 

If something were to come in, they assured me they could find a place with a printer and fax machine. 

On the Amazon?  Were they delusional?

So they took off as the For Sale sign went up and I prepared for the first Open House.  And yes, it did fly off the shelf.   After about 8 days on the market, a great offer came in.  I dutifully emailed it to them, and they actually got it the a day later.  But the elusive printer and fax machine did not materialize for about a week.

I explained the situation to the other agent.  We were lucky to have buyers on the other side who were patient and accepted an email from the sellers saying they intended to fully ratify their offer as soon as they were able to find locate a printer and fax.  It was non-binding, but the buyers trusted in the seller’s good faith. 

What could have been a major nail biter with a different cast of characters would have been really easy in today’s real estate world.  The sellers would have taken off for the Amazon with an iPad, and they could have opened up the contract and signed it immediately with the miracle of electronic signatures. 

Ah, anything to make life easier for our clients and for us!

Now I'm off to sign up for my free trial of EchoSign!

 

Subscribe in a reader

 
Posted by Patricia Kennedy on 10/26/2012 08:29 AM   Comments (12)   ActiveRain Community in the ActiveRain Channel   echosign  
Generate short URL
Post is included in group: Diary of a Realtor
Post is included in group: Addicted to Active Rain
Post is included in group: BananaTude

12 Comments on No More Molasses!

OCT
26
656,572 Points 56 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master
Pat...we have all had situations like this happen. Yes...you are lucky the buyers did not move on!
8:34am • #1
880,103 Points 48 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

I love real estate stories with happy endings. ☺ Have a great weekend!!
8:39am • #2
949,273 Points 8 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Love it...this is the part that technology delivers on!
8:49am • #3
929,592 Points 13 Featured Posts Called Shot Master

Pat,

We had a client who owned a great deal of commercial real estate in the prime area of Beverly Hills.  He refused to have a cell phont in his Rolls Royce, refused to have internet and refused to have a fax machine.  We finally talked him into a fax machine with the help of his executive assistant, and he finally saw the value of it, when he was bidding on an industrial property we were selling to him.  We were dealing with almost frozen molasses.  LOL A
9:31am • #4
361,596 Points 43 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Pat~I finally bit the bullet and subscribed to Docusign (they had a deal going through my Zipform account). Of course, I immediately got STUCK trying to manage my own signature! Had to call support...they don't allow hyphenated names (that damned hyphenating thing has cause more trouble...I always tell single women, "Don't go hyphenated!")

I had her do a tutorial with me and then I went and looked at the videos. But, how often do we just not have the TIME to figure out the logistics of these terrific programs??
9:35am • #5
1,227,445 Points 79 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Good morning Pat,

Great real estate story that I can totally believe...now with the iPad and Docusign..no more horror stories like this one!
10:11am • #6
448,827 Points 72 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Pat, You will love the convenience and so will your clients. Welcome to the new age.
11:04am • #7
1,348,130 Points 71 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Electronic signatures do indeed make life so much easier, Pat! You were extremely lucky with your buyers being so patient!
1:00pm • #8
229,179 Points Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Pat -- we have transitioned to a company that provides for easy electronic signing of documents.  Now, if I can just figure out which documents to fill out for my clients.   BTW -- don't understand why some companies still INSIST on fax copies.

Have a fantastic weekend!
1:08pm • #9
304,644 Points 27 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Pat --- EchoSign is awesome... enjoy it and have a great weekend... Beth
1:27pm • #10
1,117,306 Points 118 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Now this is a great story Pat.......who has stories like this one.  I love it!
2:27pm • #11
1,914,851 Points 386 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

I've been using Docusign, and it worked pretty well until a PhD with a law degree client couldn't make it work.  Maybe EchoSign will be a little easier.
3:31pm • #12

Login or register to leave a comment
 
Photo%20on%2012-9-12%20at%208 Ambassador_large

Patricia Kennedy

Washington, DC

More about me…

Evers & Company Realtors

Address: 4400 Jenifer Street NW, Washington, DC , 20015

Office Phone: (202) 364-1700

Cell Phone: (202) 549-5167

Email Me

Pat Kennedy -- author of The Irreverent Guide to Real Estate -- gives you a look at life on the streets as a real estate broker in our nation's capital. And her blog is peppered with great advice combined with humor!


Listings

Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog