Accelerating Workflow in a Digital Era: Docusign brings security and reliability to real estate transactions

By Paige Tepping

Setting agents up for success begins with providing the tools, technologies and systems they need to work smarter and more efficiently. But with so many products to choose from, the decision-making process can be overwhelming for brokerages large and small.

“There are many wonderful products out there, but if agents aren’t going to use them, does it even matter?” asks Jason Lytz. As Vice President of Operations at Bradley Real Estate—an independent, family-owned firm in the San Francisco Bay area—Lytz goes on to explain that getting agents to successfully buy-in begins with evaluating the product from the brokerage standpoint. From there, it’s all about taking the time to understand how agents are going to use the product, and why.

For Lytz, Docusign is a perfect example of a technology that’s become widely adopted in the industry because of the efficiencies it has created.

Working with Docusign since 2009, Lytz notes that the relationship originated due to the incredible efficiencies their eSignature product provided the firm. “In my opinion, Docusign is an efficiency company,” says Lytz. As a document-heavy business, the efficiency of Docusign’s eSignature product is of great value to us. Not only does it allow our agents to get documents signed quickly and in the proper manner—with the right tracking—but it also allows the transaction to happen faster, while providing document security.”

With 11 offices spread over three counties in the North Bay, 90 percent of the firm’s agents are currently using Docusign’s eSignature service.

Underscoring the importance of starting small to scale big, Lytz is focused on expanding the firm's use of Docusign in the future, beginning with the addition of Docusign Transaction Rooms. Secure, mobile locations to organize and share documents, Lytz has been following the product for some time now.

“We require transaction coordination for agents 100 percent across the board,” says Lytz, who points to Docusign's ability to bring together the transaction or file from each real estate deal, the eSignature platform and its integration with zipForms as an important piece of the puzzle. “From a technology standpoint, bringing together these three pieces that are heavily used by real estate professionals and integrating them all in one place is very appealing,” says Lytz, who has a lot of confidence in the team at Docusign.

"Not only are they all passionate about what they're trying to accomplish in the real estate arena, but they've always been great to deal with from both the customer service and leadership level," concludes Lytz.

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