Benefits of Electronic Signature for Real Estate Agents

We’ve reached a tipping point in the real estate industry: most home buyers now expect digital experiences and processes rather than paper-based ones. It’s not just millennial buyers who crave the convenience of completing tasks online. Buyers of all ages are choosing to avoid paperwork when they have the option.

Leading REALTORS® have caught on. According to the NAR Member Profile 2023:

• You can hardly find a REALTOR® who doesn’t use a smartphone daily or nearly every day—95% have embraced the technology. 
• To communicate with current clients, REALTORS® are just as likely to use text messaging (94%) and e-mail (90%) as the telephone (92%). 
• Two-thirds of REALTORS® have their own business website.
• REALTORS® using social media for work purposes were usually most active on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

There are many advantages to implementing digital tools for your real estate brokerages. If you’re looking for real estate software that can help you quickly increase client satisfaction and improve agent productivity, consider the benefits of implementing electronic signature technology.

Why use electronic signature for real estate? 

Electronic signature technology allows your clients and all other stakeholders in the homebuying process to sign documents electronically. When you handle real estate agreements digitally, you can eliminate many of the most inefficient tasks from the homebuying process.

With e-signature technology, your brokerage can:

• Hone your competitive edge. Today’s buyers are more informed and digitally savvy than ever. There’s mounting pressure on agents to keep up, especially as millennials dominate the market. To do the job well, you need a digital toolkit to meet your clients’ heightened expectations. Start by eliminating paperwork—and the pain of endless documents that must be printed, signed, mailed and faxed. 
• Close deals faster. As an agent, your work revolves around real estate forms that can be time-consuming to complete. Any delay in the process increases the chances that fed-up clients will take their business elsewhere and tell their friends to do the same. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, members rely on repeat clients and referrals from past clients for 30% of their business. 
• Spend more time with clients, less time on paperwork. Real estate runs on relationships, which are built on exceeding clients’ expectations. Nowadays, that means catering to the digital, on-demand experiences that buyers and sellers expect. For example, clients won’t tolerate being asked to fill out and fax a purchase and sale agreement, or to print, sign, scan and mail sellers’ disclosure forms. With e-signature technology, you can drive a significant increase in customer satisfaction scores among your clients. Digital agreements and e-signature can save you time and eliminate the administrative work of managing physical paperwork and rekeying data that exposes you to risk.       
• Save time and money. E-signature enables you to eliminate the costs associated with printing, shipping and storing documents. When you replace manual workflows with digital signatures and automated processes, you can do business faster and more cost-efficiently.

Complete transactions even faster with Remote Online Notarization (RON) 

Agents understand that signing is just one step in the buying and selling process. In order for a sale to be finalized, the documents need to be signed and notarized. But the process of coordinating buyers, sellers, and their respective agents can prove to be a major logistical undertaking that has the potential to delay closings.

To get documents signed and notarized faster, real estate agents can use a remote online notarization (RON) solution to notarize electronic signatures from anywhere.

With RON, you can:

• Offer your clients time and location flexibility. RON eliminates the need for physical presence, allowing real estate agents to complete notarization processes at their convenience. This flexibility is particularly useful when dealing with clients or properties in different states or countries.
• Reduce administrative burden. Real estate agents often handle a significant amount of paperwork, including contracts, deeds, and other documents. Remote online notarization simplifies the notarization process, reducing the need for physical document transportation.
• Enhance notarization security. Reputable RON solutions use advanced security measures to ensure the authenticity and integrity of the notarization process. This can reduce the risk of fraud and provide a higher level of security compared to traditional notarization methods.

All-in-one e-signature solution for real estate

Although most agents are using electronic signatures, signature is just one part of the document management process. For many, the rest of the work is still a disjointed and frustrating process—hopping from one system to the next to find and download forms, manually fill out each one, upload for signature, and download final copies to store elsewhere.

The manual transaction process slows agents down, exposes them to risk of errors, and wastes time that would have been better spent growing their business.

DocuSign eSignature for Real Estate is the all-in-one solution for agents to streamline the transaction process by providing the tools to access and quickly fill out state and local association forms, obtain electronic signatures, and organize forms in one place. It includes:

• Real estate forms. Agents have access to the latest state and local association forms with pre-placed data fields and auto-fill capabilities to quickly prepare agreements.
• A transactions workspace. Agents can view and organize multiple transactions, including forms and documents, from a single place with ease.

Five ways DocuSign eSignature can help

DocuSign eSignature is designed to simplify the transaction process so agents can spend more time with clients and close deals faster while reducing your administrative costs. With eSignature, you can:

1. Sign in seconds. When you set up your account, you’ll choose a signature pre-designed by DocuSign or you can draw your own to use in every communication with clients. 
2. Personalize your digital communications. Just upload a headshot, and your clients will be able to put a face to the great service they’re receiving. 
3. Enhance your brand. Add professional branding into every email or digital document you send. 
4. Stay productive on the go. Our award-winning mobile app can help you to stay productive and handle every aspect of your business, whether you’re at your desk or at an open house. 
5. Save time. Use eSignature to route forms to all stakeholders in an efficient workflow.

As you evaluate real estate agent software, you may encounter solutions that were built for other industries and merely customized for REALTORS®. By contrast, DocuSign eSignature is:

• Built for real estate. It’s designed to be easy to use, mobile and always available. 
• Trusted. It’s easier for clients to do business with you when you use a solution they already know and trust. DocuSign is a trusted and recognized brand name for e-signature technology.
• Easy. You can get up and running in minutes, and your clients will always know exactly where to sign. 
• Connected to the tools you already use. Send out a listing agreement, sign a contract right from your email account, and upload documents straight from popular cloud storage solutions. With 350+ pre-built integrations, including Moxiworks, Brokersumo, zipLogix, Google, Box and more, it’s easy to embed DocuSign into platforms already in use. 
• Secure. In fact, electronic signatures are more secure than traditional wet signatures.

Don’t wait to start experiencing the benefits of e-signature for your business. DocuSign offers several real estate-specific plans with pricing to meet your budget. And because we partner with NAR (we’re their exclusive eSignature provider), we can offer special pricing for NAR members.

If you’re ready to evaluate your options, check out DocuSign Real Estate Pricing Plans.