When It Comes to Transaction Management, a Free Solution Can Be Costly

It's clear that the digital transformation of the real estate transaction can only be achieved when agents and brokers fully embrace a transaction management system.

The latest NAR study showed the top tech tools for agents, excluding email and their smartphones, were MLS websites and apps (64 percent), lockbox/smart key devices (39 percent), and social media platforms (28 percent). Transaction management software (and document storage – arguably two very different things) ranked fifth. However, fewer than one-in-five rank it as a "most valuable tool."

It should be no surprise that despite two decades of digital progress, our industry still is trying to make a paperless real estate transaction standard! The good news is that list of the top three tech tools agents want to see includes predictive analytics, CRM tools and transaction management software.

So how do you choose a transaction management solution that's not only the right choice for today, but one that keeps your agents' or members' interests first in the future?

Why free isn't really free

Technology firms have fostered the process of enticing customers with a free offer to build market share. Apps for smartphones have led the way with the "freemium" model. In fact, 90 percent of all apps downloaded from the Apple App Store are free. More than 95 percent of all apps downloaded from Google Play are free.

Now think of all the apps that when you first downloaded were free or advertising free, and then later that changed. Either you wanted more features, exceeded the threshold of a limited activity, or simply needed more space. Suddenly, free can become very expensive.

Dropbox is a great example. It has more than 500 million registered users. Some 13.2 million Dropbox users pay an average of $121 a year, up from $114 last year, because it's not very hard to exceed its 2GB limit for free storage.

Many real estate technology offerings, including transaction management, use what is basically a freemium model (they never call it that) to build market share—and eventually revenue—when users realize they need to upgrade.

But when it comes to a vital program such as a full-fledged transaction management software solution, should it ever be free? The old adage "There's no such thing as a free lunch"  should be applied to any major offering that is "free." The truth is that there is almost always a cost – it just may not be apparent at first glance.

Key questions to ask

When evaluating any offering that is not "costing" you anything, you need to dig a little. Here are some of the questions you need to ask:

• Why is it free or so low cost?
• Does the free offering provide the services you really need?
• If you need more features or to exceed the free limit, what will it cost you?
• How long has the software provider been around?
• Has the software provider shown they can endure an economic downcycle?
• How trustworthy is the software provider: Would they sell their software solution to the highest bidder, regardless of what it means to you?

If you look back at the history of firms that have offered software solutions to the real estate industry, you can see how important these questions are to limit the risk to a brokerage and their agents in the future.

#1 question to ask

When it comes to evaluating your transaction management solution, whether you are securing your first contract or a renewal, the number one question you should ask is: "How well is it supported?"

A unique example in the transaction management space is Form Simplicity from the Florida Realtors®. Form Simplicity is unique, as it is the only transaction management software available today that was created by Realtors for Realtors and is still owned by Realtors.

At Form Simplicity, we recently updated our software to improve transaction productivity and speed up the agent and broker workflow for hundreds of thousands of Realtors across the U.S. As a result, Form Simplicity has become easier to navigate and works on any device because that's what agents and brokers want.

But most importantly, Florida Realtors also owns and operates Tech Helpline, the real estate industry's #1 tech support service, available to more than 600,000 in the U.S. and Canada. Tech Helpline provides tech support for Form Simplicity.

Tech Helpline's office and staff of professional tech analysts have 300+ years of combined IT experience. Known for no-nonsense technical advice and warm, friendly, customer service, Tech Helpline analysts are U.S.-based (Orlando, Florida), providing technical support by phone, chat or email.

Transaction management is no longer a nice to have, but a must have. Just as we need to offer tech support for all agents, we also need all agents to embrace transaction management. But the smartest path requires asking the right questions and making sure you understand what "free" really means.

More information about Form Simplicity is available online at www.formsimplicity.com, and Tech Helpline at www.techhelpline.com.

Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns both Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.