DocuSign Empowers Agents and Brokers to Get More from Their Real Estate Business by Transforming Transactions from Lead to Close

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 6, 2016 -- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS ANNUAL CONFERENCE — Demonstrating significant progress in its recently-announced 'lead to close' strategy, global eSignature and Digital Transaction Management leader DocuSign today announced several product updates, partnerships and commitments  that will help agents and brokers get more out of their business.

There are three key elements to the news – updates to the DocuSign eMortgage solution, partnerships with Homes.com and zipLogix, and participation in Upstream's pilot program. All of these enable DocuSign to connect multiple people, systems and processes in a real estate transaction to make it simple, efficient and fully digital. And they are all part of the 'lead to close' strategy for the real estate industry, first announced by DocuSign Chairman and CEO Keith Krach in July this year, when DocuSign made its biggest investment in the real estate industry to date.

"Agents are at the center of every real estate transaction and we know just how hard they work to make a home sale as easy as possible for their clients. Our mission is to help them save time and deliver more value for buyers and sellers," said Georg Gerstenfeld, general manager: Global Real Estate Solutions, DocuSign. "Our 'lead to close' strategy integrates DocuSign with the software that agents use every day so they don't need to re-enter data. Our mobile app means agents can keep a transaction moving even if they are on vacation or if their clients are traveling to another city. And our new eNotary solution means you never need to print another document all the way through the settlement process."

"By using DocuSign to close nearly 3 million transactions a year, real estate professionals have made DocuSign a verb in the industry. We're excited to see NAR's strategic partner DocuSign continue to innovate to enhance the agent and client experience," said Bob Goldberg, senior vice president of Sales & Marketing, Business Development & Strategic Investments, Professional Development and Conventions of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR).

As part of the 'lead to close' strategy, eMortgage is transforming the industry, simplifying the consumer experience, helping agents present a more professional face to clients and improving brokers' ability to stay compliant with increasingly complex transactions.

DocuSign recently announced several new features to enable a complete eMortgage – including eNotary and eNote. For most homebuyers and their agents, the home financing process remains a cumbersome, paper-based process. DocuSign's product investments in eMortgage shorten and simplify this process – enabling a better, and quicker, closing experience for buyers.

With DocuSign's eNotary solution, there is no need to print, scan or mail closing documents – all actions can be performed within the DocuSign platform, including applying a seal and exporting a notary log. In addition, the company is seeking approval to become a certified eNote service provider for Fannie Mae, a certification only granted to a handful of organizations.

Today's announcement with Homes.com integrates another leading app with DocuSign Transaction Rooms for Real Estate to reduce data re-entry and simplify the experience for agents. With Homes.com – a top consumer real estate resource and provider of marketing solutions for real estate professionals – DocuSign will streamline and simplify the experience for agents, brokers,  and their clients by connecting leads and listings directly from the Homes.com CRM system into DocuSign Transaction Rooms.

"At Homes.com, we're committed to connecting real estate professionals with the highly engaged consumers that visit our site and use our marketing products. Partnering with DocuSign takes this one step further by streamlining an agent's workflow, creating a seamless process of moving a consumer from lead status into a transaction," said Dave Mele, president of Homes.com. "Agents will avoid duplicate data entry and the inconvenience of logging into different systems, offering a big win that simplifies the transaction process."

DocuSign is also announcing an extended partnership with zipLogix, expanding its partnership around the zipForm® solution.

"zipLogix and DocuSign have worked together for years to simplify the transaction process for agents, brokers, and their clients. This extension signifies their commitment to partnering to simplify the experience for the hundreds of thousands of agents and brokers using zipForm®," said Joel Singer, CEO at zipLogix.

DocuSign's participation in Upstream's early access program will provide feedback and input before the solution is generally available. Working with Upstream will lead to innovations that simplify the agent experience while ensuring brokers remain in control of their data.

"We're excited for DocuSign to support our pilot program. As a leader in the real estate industry, its vision for making real estate transactions digital from lead to close – while empowering brokers to control their data – is an example of the kind of innovation Upstream will create across the industry," said Alex Lange, CEO of Upstream.

The real estate industry has been a key focus for DocuSign for many years – and according to DocuSign's Krach, that will only heighten in the years to come.

"The real estate business is all about trust and relationships, and that starts with brokers and agents," said Krach. "At DocuSign, we are laser-focused on providing those real estate professionals with a platform that's available, secure, and easy to use. This has been vitally important to us from the beginning and we will continue to put agents, brokers and their clients at the center of the transaction so they can do business on the DocuSign Global Trust Network with confidence."

DocuSign also formed a real estate advisory board in August this year, which replicates the principles of its global advisory board that has been instrumental in shaping the company's direction. Members include: Rick Davidson, CEO of Century 21, a sub of Realogy; Gino Blefari, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices; Mike Ryan, EVP of RE/MAX; Joel Singer, CEO of California Association of Realtors & zipLogix; Pam O'Connor, CEO of Leading Real Estate Companies of America; Dale Ross, CEO of RPR; Gary Simonsen, CEO of Canadian Real Estate Association; and Craig Cheatham, CEO of Realty Alliance.

For more information, visit https://www.docusign.com/real-estate.

About DocuSign, Inc.
DocuSign® is changing how business gets done by empowering anyone to send, sign and manage agreements anytime, anywhere, on any device with trust and confidence. DocuSign and Go to keep life and business moving forward. For more information, visit www.docusign.com, call +1-877-720-2040, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.