After successfully joining forces with Cartavi last year, DocuSign, the global leader of eSignature platforms, has released its first-ever broker-centric product. The new offering called DocuSign for Real Estate PLUS, Broker Edition allows for a collaborative and mobile cloud-based solution for document sharing and transaction management within the real estate space.
Previously, Cartavi’s transaction management app was primarily aimed toward agents. Now, as a part of DocuSign, both systems have been combined and strengthened to empower all real estate professionals to streamline their transactions, stay organized on the go, and keep all transactions running as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
The new DocuSign for Real Estate PLUS, Broker Edition allows agents to keep brokers updated like never before. What was once a program for eSignatures and document storage is now an all-inclusive system that covers the entire gamut. Transactions can now be fully managed through the DocuSign system, with brokers overseeing transaction details, reviewing documents, and approving final transactions.
“We believe our Broker solution is a game changer for the real estate industry,” says Glenn Shimkus, DocuSign’s Vice President of Product Management and former Cartavi CEO and co-founder. “The number one request we’ve had over the last year has been for a solution to help brokerages manage their transactions. We took our time to get it right because the way we look at it, we’re building a platform for brokerages to run their companies on for 10-20 years.”
Throughout that last year, DocuSign worked with brokerages from all over the country, wanting to ensure that when the Broker Edition launched, it would work for brokers’ businesses and not the other way around.
“We built our solution to be flexible so that the technology doesn’t dictate how you manage your transactions, but it supports them and allows you to run your business and transactions the way you need to,” says Shimkus.
DocuSign for Real Estate PLUS, Broker Edition puts brokers in the driver’s seat, giving them all of the power and functionality they need to properly oversee their business. Brokers or top-level executives can add as many members or agents as needed. Members are then given an access level: company, region, or office. The broker can then determine what each individual can do by setting specific permissions for each member (the ability to delete a Transaction Room or a Transaction Room document, for instance). As agents begin creating Transaction Rooms, adding signed documents to the transaction, or compiling listing data for the property at hand, brokers can search by transaction and see what is happening across the board for every one of their agents’ active transactions.
Another new feature is the document checklist. Every different purchase type requires a certain number of documents. By activating a checklist, users can see what documents are required (and optional) in order to complete the transaction. Having a checklist enabled helps the transaction stay organized and ensures that the workflow for that sale stays continuous. As before, documents can still be signed and sent using DocuSign’s tried-and-true eSignature component before being uploaded into the checklist for review. Users have many flexible options for keeping the action all in one place, such as uploading documents straight from a computer, dragging them from their desktop, importing them from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive), or zipForm, or by emailing or faxing them.
Once all documents have been compiled by the agent, he or she can submit that transaction for review. The broker can now go into the transaction and make sure that all the pieces are intact before approving the final sale. If a certain document needs to go back for any reason, details can be typed in as to why the document was rejected and the agent will be immediately notified.
Also new to the Broker Edition is a true Broker dashboard, which allows members to see big-picture data.
“Brokerages can see how they’re business is trending over time, view the number and dollar amount of closed and pending transactions, and see what transactions they have lost,” says Shimkus. “You have a true pulse on your business that even goes so far as performance rankings by agent, office, or region.”
Despite the Broker Edition having just gone live a couple weeks ago, DocuSign’s new offering already has hundreds of brokerages lining up to take advantage of what is primed to be a truly revolutionary (and paperless!) way to conduct business. One of these companies, NP Dodge Real Estate in Omaha, Neb., began its relationship with DocuSign a year ago when it signed up for the company’s digital eSignature services.
