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Spring Cleaning - Back to 2011 For Suggestions About Paperless Office

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Atlanta Homes ODAT Realty - Love our Great City - Love our Clients! Buckhead - Midtown - Westside

Spring Cleaning - Back to 2011 For
Suggestions About Paperless Office

 

Going PAPERLESS in 2011 seemed advanced and yet here it is 2018 and only an estimated 60% plus of work is truly paperless! Evernote (logo above) is a big part of the paperless realm.

 

For 2011 - our motto was "Don't Create More Paper Today".

 

So what were the goals in 2011 and which were implemented?
#1. has been totally implemented:
"First, listing information.  Everyone in the Real Estate industry has printed out volumes of paper on listings. Sometimes, with great regret, the Client informs us that their copies are forgotten at home!  So - we started there - e-mailing data sheets as attachments instead of printing them out.  That accomplished two things at the same time - both paper-less and  the information is always at hand on any Internet ready device."

#2. has been totally implemented:
"Second, applying the same method to driving directions..
Now maps are sent as links or embeds in an email. That orients the Client to the area before leaving home. Smartphones allow multiple map options."

#3. has been totally implemented:

"Third, we are using links to send detailed information about the neighborhoods, the schools and recreation in the area.  That way we haven't printed reams of paper about recreation when the Client wanted to hear about schools.  As each of us knows, every link leads to other links.  Going PAPER-LESS allows the Client to decide where to delve further."

 #4. has been totally implemented:

 "Fourth, an amazing benefit from Google: Google Calendar.  Everyone in the office has access to the same Google Calendar. AND BEST OF ALL - the Google Calendar is available wherever anyone has access to the Internet.  Nothing to forget at home or at the office - nothing to rewrite."

 #5. has been totally implemented:
[Next] we save paper-less memos as DRAFT emails on Gmail.  Memo retrieval is so simple:  In the SEARCH box, type the subject needed.  Gmail sorts and presents relevant ones in a neat list.  No more lost or mis-filed items!

#6. is still in progress:
"[Last], and not yet instituted, we plan to use QR codes on business cards, house signs and flyers...Not in 2011 and I see still not in 2018 --- there's another goal for me!


In 2018, for more PAPERLESS activity, we use Slide Shows, Videos and Infographics not contemplated back in 2011.

 

Thanks for accompanying me down Memory Lane.

For sure, Inspectors such as AR's wonderful  Jay Markanich and Team CHI and others have the option of emailing PDF reports and not printing 30-40 pages.

What about your career? 
In your professional work, do you use PAPERLESS techniques?

Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Thank you for the mention Lynn!  Of course I email the reports, which I have for over 20 years.  But more than that, they can be accessed by my clients as well on line.

Jun 11, 2018 02:07 AM
Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Chicago, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Good morning Lynn. Must admit to still being a work in progress! Enjoy your day!

Jun 11, 2018 05:00 AM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

Lynn, nice to go back that many years ago, and see how your business has changed.  Going paperless is an ongoing project.

Jun 11, 2018 06:17 AM
Brian England
Ambrose Realty Management LLC - Gilbert, AZ
MBA, GRI, REALTOR® Real Estate in East Valley AZ

A lot of things have changed since 2011, but the systems for going paperless are pretty much the same, but they have been refined.

Jun 11, 2018 06:35 AM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

Brian England 
And some "imporvements" are actually LESS THAN the product before. For example, in eSign, before the so-called "upgrade", one could mark a form sent as DRAFT or SAMPLE. NOT NOW.  I cannot find anywhere since the "upgrade". Big mistake IMHO.

Jun 11, 2018 09:59 PM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Lynn I have tried to go paperless, but I have a hard time letting go of the paper.  Old habits are hard to break.

Jun 11, 2018 03:33 PM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

George Souto 
I still keep ONE FULL COPY on paper of in process contracts. So many backand forths for signing electronically --- I need one copy I can hold in my hand! All the best - Lynn

Jun 11, 2018 09:56 PM
1~Judi Barrett
Integrity Real Estate Services 116 SE AVE N, Idabel, OK 74745 - Idabel, OK
BS Ed, Integrity Real Estate Services -IDABEL OK

It just seems easier to meet the document retention laws with one paper copy of the necessar documents in the file.  I love the idea of paperless and we do a lot digitally but we do keep one complete set of docs for each file as hard copies.

Jun 17, 2018 05:44 PM