I want to start by saying this was meant to be a VLOG, not a BLOG post. I had full intentions of sitting down at my computer and taking an awesome video for you all, but then I got this cold. This awful, nasty, can’t stop coughing type of cold. So I thought I would spare you the mucous and phlegm and get down to business, in the comfort of my pj’s. You all understand, right? Please don’t hold it against me.
My topic of discussion is E-Signatures. Now that it’s finally legal (YAY!) I figured every Realtor would be jumping on the E-Signature bandwagon and all of my offers would be coming through via DocuSign, Authentisign, or some other awesome E-Signature provider. But alas, that is not the case. Since the legalization of E-Signatures on offers came into play, I’ve only received TWO, that’s right, TWO offers from Realtors that used an E-Signature provider. I had to say, while I didn’t expect every Realtor to be gung-ho, I kind of thought at least 50% would be. Clearly I was mistaken.
So I asked myself: WHY? Why are other Realtors’s not using this amazingly secure, time saving, modern day technological advancement in the real estate world? Well, the first thing that came to mind was the most obvious. Fear of the unknown, fear of change. That makes sense. When you’ve grown accustomed to doing something for so many years, it can be hard to embrace change. The second thing that came to mind was security. I’m sure the question has come up, more than once, about just how secure E-Signatures can really be (believe it or not, they are probably one of the most secure ways to have a document signed). Other objections came to mind as well, perhaps their brokerages weren’t on board with this initiative, maybe it was more of a time thing – having the time to actually sit down and pick a system and learn it – or maybe, just maybe, it was pure laziness. Maybe you fit into one of the above categories. Unsure, scared, not allowed, no time or lazy (nah, can’t be the latter). So I’m here to change your mind (ok, maybe that’s a bit extreme) I’m here to help convince you to at least TRY it. (You can thank me later!)
I’ve been using E-Signatures with the majority of my offers for a while now. I tried it, I loved it instantly, and you know what? So did my clients. No matter their age or technical inclination, I have not had one bad review on the whole E-Signature thing. In fact, most of the people LOVED it and said they wished they could have done all their previous offers this way. Here are a couple of reasons why I love using E-Signatures:
- It saves you TIME. Sometimes, meeting with a client to get a quick initial on a counter offer or an amendment takes WAY longer than it should. Maybe you’re out showing houses and your client is working late – whatever the reason may be, time isn’t always on our side in the real estate game, so this is probably one of my favourite PROS to using E-Signatures.
- You can do it ANYWHERE. Whether you’re in your car (not driving, because we all know texting and driving is a no-no), at the office, at home in your pj’s catching up on your favourite Netflix show or heck, on the beach sipping pina coladas, E-Signatures can be done literally ANYWHERE. If you have a mobile device, a computer, or a tablet, you are IN BUSINESS!
- It’s super duper SECURE. Honestly, it’s kind of shocking how secure it is. It tracks when your client viewed the document, when they signed it, where they WERE when they signed it – it’s really kind of amazing. And it acts as a witness for you.
- Gone are the days of the illegible offers being faxed back and forth and back and forth. The lawyers are gonna love us! (maybe not, they will probably question the legitimacy of e-signatures, lets be honest). But really, this is probably one of my faves – there is nothing worse than having an offer go back and forth several times and then having to re-do it because you no longer know what house your client is offering on.
So there you have it – those are some of my favourite things about E-Signatures. If you haven’t tried it yet, do it. I beg you. Give it a go! Research some providers, they all offer free trials, etc. Do some dummy offers or try a real one out. It’s easy, I promise. It’s as simple as clicking a box. And presto chango, it’s finito!
I hope I have convinced you to at least give it a go. And I apologize again that this was not my planned VLOG – I know you all would have much rather heard me, through several coughing fits, talk about this. But maybe next time! Cheers!
This article contribution is from OREA YPN Member Meg Lyttle. Meg is the Broker of Record/Owner of Nest Realty Inc. in Chatham, ON.
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