The dawn of electronic signature technology can be appreciated by anyone who’s been asked to physically “autograph” and scan a document within the last decade and thought — shouldn’t there be an easier way to do this?
Multiply that one document by many stacks of paperwork and hours spent at the closing table, and that’s the potential value of e-signing and sharing to the real estate transaction.
This seems to be the sentiment behind Re/Max’s new “strategic alliance” with DocuSign, which includes several updates to its agreement with the e-signature provider that’s been in place since 2011. The news was announced at the 2016 Re/Max Broker/Owner Conference (BOC).
Transaction Rooms — mobile and secure
Specifically, DocuSign has created an exclusive version of Transaction Rooms — defined as secure, mobile locations to organize and share documents relating to a real estate transaction — available for Re/Max broker/owners across the U.S. and Canada for free.
Transaction Rooms allow parties to share emails, PDFs and fax files, all necessary components of the paperless transaction, without risking client security.
The new deal also outlines negotiated corporate rates and price reductions for embedded eSignatures and other features. Current customers’ level of savings with the new rates will vary based on their existing individual arrangements, but new customers are getting up to 50-percent off regular rates.
BOC attendees were showing their enthusiasm about the news from the floor:
“Huge, exciting news from the Re/Max BOC today! The entire Re/Max network will have free DocuSign Transaction Rooms for transaction management and a very steep discount ranging anywhere from 30 to 75 percent on DocuSign eSignature. This applies to every RE/MAX associate, even existing DocuSign customers,” wrote Valerie Garcia, director of training Re/Max Integra, on Facebook.
When does this become official?
The changes apply to the entire Re/Max network — company-owned, independent and global regions — with the exception of Transaction Rooms, which are only available in North America.
The new package will officially being rolling out fully in late September. The agreement doesn’t require all Re/Max agents to use DocuSign and brokers still have free range on system selection.
An announcement on the partnership from Re/Max and DocuSign explained the benefits in layers: “Brokers will benefit by saving money and improving compliance. Sales associates will benefit from the ability to do business anywhere, on any device. Buyers and sellers will benefit from faster, smoother closings.”
