"We've come a long way, Baby!"
That's a huge understatement when it comes to eliminating inefficiencies in real estate. Just imagine working in this business without computers, lock boxes, fax machines, email, digital cameras, cell phones, GPS, or even the Internet. Talk about inefficiencies in real estate! We HAVE come a long way since I got my real estate license almost 40 years ago.
From my perspective, these technologies address some of the most significant inefficiencies I've experienced in real estate, but the pursuit of better tools and systems is ongoing. That's probably why I tried blogging on Activerain five years ago, as well as many less effective innovations over the years, including talking ads, various lead-capture systems, and contact management programs.
Activerain and Docusign have joined forces to sponsor a contest this month that challenges participants to share something we could do more efficiently or some inefficiency that we've already eliminated from our business. It's called Eliminating Inefficiencies in Real Estate. Click on the link to learn more, if you're not already aware of this. There's still plenty of time to participate.
"Mission NOT Impossible"
MY TOP THREE PRIORITIES FOR 2011-12
1. Use ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES as a time-saver for clients (and me)
Military relocation is a large portion of my business, and some of my clients are located in distant places such as the West Coast, Europe or the Middle East. Scanning and emailing documents for their Maryland real estate transactions was relatively efficient on my end - certainly better than fax or the U.S. Mail - but recipients didn't always have access to a scanner for returning them signed. Electronic signatures solved that dilemma, and now I typically receive same-day turnaround for important documents, even when my clients are located in a war zone. Now THAT is efficient!
Local clients appreciate this convenience because they can use electronic signatures for everything from making a lease application to providing a missing initial on a document or even responding to a counter-offer or lease application. (Did I mention that any time saver helps to improve my quality of life, as well as my clients?)
If you're not already using electronic signatures in your business, check out Docusign.
2. Go 
paperless
I may not be able to go totally paperless, at least not yet, but I can reduce the paper on my desk and in my files.
First, I hired a former client who is a stay-at-home mom with 3 pre-schoolers; she is very happy to get out two nights a week to help digitize my current and recent case files. She began by saving email attachments to/from my clients to a CD so she could shred the paper copies in my files. Now she is scanning and saving other documents in those files so they can be shredded.
In addition to saving documents to CD (a master CD plus one for each case), she's saving them to Dropbox so all my case file documents are accessible from her computer, all my computers, and my iPhone and iPad. At two recent closings, I was able to give my clients a CD containing all of the saved documents from their case files - they were thrilled to know they could now discard their paper files.
My case files will always be a priority, but we've also begun to scan general real estate information that comes across my desk and throw away the paper: chlorination procedures, mold mitigation, legislative updates, etc. By the end of the year, I expect to eliminate completely the two files drawers of general "stuff" collected over many years.
(As I'm typing this, notices are appearing at the bottom of my computer screen about files being added to, deleted, or synched with my Dropbox. My assistant is evidently working on this project from home today. I LOVE it! Without her, this project would still be on my to-do list and not getting done.)
If you're not already using online storage for your documents, check out Dropbox.
3. Better, more tech-savvy presentations:
The content of my listing presentation has changed little over the years, but its delivery method has spanned the gamut from 3-ring binder to a simple handout and everything in between. Then, along came the iPad...
I used Keynote, a standard app that comes with the iPad, to update my listing presentation for iPad. It was SO easy to create and dress up the presentation with scrolling text and other Keynote features. I used many of the same photos/images from my MS Word presentation by saving them to Dropbox, which is accessible from Keynote. The best feature of this new presentation format, however, is the ability to quickly access an Internet page directly from the presentation with the touch of a finger. No logging in, no waiting for the Internet connection...
By the way, I can use the Keynote Remote app on my iphone iPhone to operate my listing presentation on the iPad. Is that cool, or is that cool!?!?!
In addition to my iPad presentation, which focuses on the subject property, I've compiled into a 30-page booklet many of the handouts I've created and used over the years. I got a copyright for the booklet last summer, and the next step is to publish it as an eBook. I'm exploring several options, including Kindle Direct Publishing, the iBooks Author app, and Issuu. If you have any other ideas, I'd be happy to consider them.
In the meantime, I printed a few copies and have shared them with clients (who have been very impressed, I might add). I'm looking forward to completing this for my fully updated tech-savvy presentation: The eBook, which addresses the home-selling process and my recommendations for all home sellers and the iPad presentation which focuses on the subject property, the comps, and market trends for the area.
Electronic signatures, online storage solutions, iPad presentations and ebooks will likely become the norm in our industry, just as lockboxes, cell phones and digital cameras are commonly used now. However, I'm not willing to wait until "everybody does it" because I like being on the cutting edge with new technologies... it gives me and my clients a competitive edge over most of the competition in my market.
Thank you, Activerain and Docusign, for giving us the incentive to share our solutions for eliminating inefficiencies in real estate. I hope my efforts and the products I recommend inspire someone else and I look forward to being inspired by other entries in this contest.
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