You should see me when I pull up to a client's house to list a short sale. I look like a human coat rack with all the equipment I'm hauling inside. Sometimes, I shoot a virtual tour, depending on the size of the estate. So, I've got a tripod for that, which requires an extra trip to the car. I generally carry a lockbox, my MLS display key, a bluetooth device, my BlackBerry, Mac Pro laptop, a cross-platform mobile scanner, my iPad, Nikon camera with flash attachment and zoom lens -- hey, if I can shoot the photo from the property it can go into MLS.
My goal when listing a Sacramento short sale is to use as little paper as possible. But it also depends on who I am meeting with because I try to tailor my technology to fit my client's needs and not the other way around. There are some sellers in Sacramento who are not comfortable touching a high tech toy. I respect that. To each his or her own. But collecting paper isn't necessarily practicing very green real estate.
Every Sacramento short sale agent is loaded up with paperwork. We have to collect our seller's tax returns, W2s, bank statements, payroll stubs, financials, hardship letters, bank short sale applications, and all of that can add up to 100 pages or more. When I'm at a client's home, I don't need to remove any of their personal and sensitive financial information from the premises. I simply attach my mobile scanner to my Mac Pro laptop and wirelessly scan all those documents directly to a PDF file on my computer.
Signing the listing paperwork and delivering the tons of disclosures about short sales is a breeze. Even without wireless, I can turn on my 3G connection in my iPad settings and, through DocuSign, my sellers can sign that short sale listing right on my iPad. Tap, tap, tap and the listing paperwork is signed. After signing, sellers can elect to receive a signed copy sent straight to their own email.
If there are other short sale agents reading this blog, here is how to use your iPad with DocuSign. Download the DocuSign mobile app. Open DocuSign and upload your docs. DocuSign cannot read docs scanned to a PDF from a mobile scanner, for some reason. (I asked why but they can't figure it out.) But DocuSign will read any other docs in a PDF format, even those odd forms you FAX to your own email. Change the "signer" drop-down menu to "in person." For the email address, type @me. It will also insert your name as the host. Type your client's name in the signer box. Tag it, and send it. When you get to your client's home, open your email, and hand the iPad to the seller, after entering your DocuSign password. Tap, tap, tap. This is the coolest app. You won't know how you got along without it before.
Photo: Big Stock Photo
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
