Going paperless has been a challenge for myself and my office but it's been a continuous goal
since I opened my own all off site agent, almost virtual real estate company almost 4 years ago.
"Green" was the word when we started. Ok, so what do we do about all the paperwork in this business? (Remember when listing and sales contracts were on just a couple sheets of paper?)
OK. First we started with myfax.com as we were going through reams of paper like water. Next, NO, we don't print the faxes out, save them in PDF format in a file! OK, got it!
OK, but what about the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and storing files? No clear answer. You must have these files readily available for inspection at any given time they say. OK, "Green" light for electronic file storage.
OK, but agents are still bringing in paperwork to the office when they turn in transactions, what do we do about that? How about Zipforms! Yaaah! More "Green"! Oops.. Agents are creatures of habits, too much trouble to learn ZipForms. Seriously?
OK... Hmmmm... What's this? A high speed Fujitsu S1500 Scan Snap Scanner. Scans a whopping 20 pages per minute! Really? How cool is that! More Green! Some of the best money I've ever spent! And what a conversation piece.
OK, now we are getting somewhere. "But Mitch, you are still writing offers on paper when out in the field" my office manager says.. Hmmm.. Chalk up one 64 gigabyte Verizon mobile iPad 3. Now this has to be about the coolest thing I have bought in a long time! So much so, that I've thrown down a challenge for everyone in my company to go out and buy one.
Thanks Krisstina and Garry Wise of The Good Life Team for the training videos, apps and templates. And Docusign!
So, we are on our way to a more paperless environment but still have a ways to go. Come on guys (and gals) in our company, Get Those iPads!
Hmm.. Maybe a contest for a monthly giveaway...
