Leverage Smart Forms to Save Your Agents Time

In real estate today, we've overcome the tiresome burden of having to 'lawyer' documents for every transaction we undertake. A commonly used document in real estate is commonly referred to as a form, and is so-called because its language has already been written by a lawyer. Frequently, state associations and NAR work with state legislators work to create forms that meet needs of all parties.

In olden days, when an agent was about to process transaction, they would drive to their local association office and pick up something called a forms packet. Things are significantly more complicated today. The good news is that agents don't have to drive across town to grab forms; they can simply log-in to your brokerage's transaction management software and use the forms there.

That's where things can get labor intensive, however. Depending on the complexity of the transaction, the total number of pages can easily exceed 300. Those pages may incorporate any number of forms.

Fortunately, software companies recognize the value in turning "dumb forms" into "smart forms" that auto-populate with your client's information. Form Simplicity, one of the transaction management tools featured in our 2016-17 Technology Guide, excels at this. The company can program your brokerage's forms to auto-populate with information from your MLS and synch with the forms in your Form Simplicity library.

Your agents can populate documents with a customer name and property ID, and the forms are essentially complete. The final challenge is to make sure your agents are using the right forms for their transaction. Form Simplicity makes this easy with their Broker Review features. Brokers not only have full access and insight into all transactions, but they can create review checklists that specify which contracts, documents, and forms are required for certain types of transaction. You can learn more about this feature in the video below:

Want to learn more about Form Simplicity? Check out their page in our free 2016-17 Technology Guide today!