Quigler uses state law and NAR Code of Ethics deal practices to manage real estate transactions and buyer and seller communications. But is it a guarantee of regulatory perfection?
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Quigler is consumer-facing transaction management software that ensures compliance with state and federal laws and the NAR Code of Ethics.
Platforms: Browser
Ideal for: New agents, transaction coordinators, high volume teams, brokers
Top selling points
- Regulatory deal management
- UX based on deal role
- Consumer transparency
- Supports risk management efforts
Top concerns
The lack of connection with CRMs requires manual input of each transaction. Top producing agents will have little reason to be hands-on with Quigler, which in general will be delegated to transaction coordinators.
What you should know
A little more than 8 percent of Quigler is owned by the National Association of Realtors. The software licenses its Code of Ethics, which drives its transparency-oriented deal flow experience.
Every required document, disclosure, action and addendum required to make a real estate sale legal is categorized in a sequential menu splayed across the transaction dashboard.
For example, if you’re a listing agent, you would see:
- Pre-listing
- Agent, representation disclosures
- Compensation
- Listing agreement
- Seller discovery
- Marketing
- Showings
- Offers
- Accepted offers/contracts
- Escrow
Under each of the above is a legal explanation of every respective detail within it. To move the deal forward, the agent has to acknowledge each item as complete. Miss it, and they’re quickly halted by an on-screen scolding.
Buyers and sellers have their own login to see where their deal stands, encouraging them to get entrenched in how a real estate sale comes together. It’s certainly an educational experience for the consumer.
In the agent view, each detail has links to necessary forms, a borderline-pedantic explanation of why that step is legally necessary, what the buyer will see, and even an account of any penalties an agent can incur by violating the rule.
What you should understand about Quigler is that this isn’t another gamified checklist app or gimmicky Dotloop-type deal tracker. This is detailed enough for lawyers to enjoy. Want an example?
There’s an Office Signage item under Pre-listing Activity:
“Does your brokerage maintain an easily-observable sign on or near the entrance of your principal office that contains the name of the broker, along with the words, ‘licensed real estate broker?'”
The language throughout Quigler is based on state law or when applicable, the Realtor Code of Ethics. Federal law is omnipresent.
The company has state-specific compliance with Connecticut, New York and Florida. New York City is represented, and Texas and California are in the works, the latter’s integration being 90 percent complete.
One of the issues I have with Quigler is that the explanation of each step is merely transcribed from the law.
The software could be more engaging if they were summarized in lighter, conversational English. The hard language will always be available in the actual documents being signed.
Quigler also stated in the demo that its software can save brokerages by not having to hold meetings about law updates and ethics practices.
I couldn’t agree less with this claim, and I was very surprised to hear it made.
The company also communicated that a major errors and omissions insurance provider would offer a credit to brokerages that use it.
I shouldn’t have to state this, but: do not use any software as a substitute for regularly updating agents on business ethics, fair housing laws or disclosure processes.
That said, Quigler can be of great benefit to new agents and transaction coordinators who are often saddled with making sure their always-busy bosses and team leaders remain on the level.
Users can generate activity summary letters, maybe once a week or so, that breakdown everything that’s been done.
This is somewhat redundant to the alert system, but as any agent can attest, you can’t tell a buyer or seller something enough times.
I’m bothered that the letter can’t be emailed directly from the dashboard, instead it having to be copied and pasted into an outside email client. It’s a minor annoyance in light of the included alert system, but sheds light on the fact that Quigler hamstrings itself by eschewing direct connections to industry CRMs and common back-office solutions.
However, the company did state that it has started communicating with Lone Wolf Technologies about a partnership. It was down the road with zipLogix prior to it being imbibed by Lone Wolf.
Quigler put thought into its user interface. It’s easy on the eyes, ergonomic, and shouldn’t demand extensive training from its users. If so, the company has provided a healthy library of video learning resources.
Overall, this is a very unique way to manage transactions. There’s definitely value here, but its use cases seem limited to me. High-maintenance clients will love for you to use it, as it’s all about extreme deal transparency.
And again, it’s an excellent tool for new agents and something I think brokers could benefit from at least making available to their agents and teams.
However, using Quigler will not guarantee that you never wind up on the wrong side of a regulatory body, which is something I feel the husband-and-wife team behind it were a bit overzealous in promoting during our demo.
If you sign up within a 14-day trial, you can save 50 percent off the $298-a-year subscription. Quigler is free to members of NAR.
Despite the website’s advertising of mobile functionality, the apps aren’t completely ready yet, but the iOS version is close, I was told.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman. He lives near Lake Tahoe in the northern Sierra Nevada of California.
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