Buying or selling real estate can be complicated. For help, most people rely on agents and attorneys, but coordinating these busy professionals takes effort. Delays are common, costs climb, and with so much paper flying around, sensitive information can end up in the wrong hands.
To improve client satisfaction, many brokerages turn to transaction management tools. There are several options on the market, but only Propy speeds time to closing while simultaneously resolving some of the long-standing security issues.
What Is Propy?
Propy’s Transaction Management Platform is an all-in-one solution that revamps the purchase process by leveraging the latest in groupware and blockchain technology. Groupware, or software that facilitates teamwork, ensures transparency and safe experience for agents and clients alike. Blockchain technology boosts security by encrypting client information and guaranteeing its integrity in perpetuity. Data stored on the blockchain is essentially hack-proof.
Moreover, blockchain technology enables smart contracts, which are short computer programs that automate functions like escrow. This saves time and money.
Easy Collaboration
It is still the norm for property to be transacted in-person. Clients, agents, and attorneys meet in physical spaces where they share and sign paper documents. Though some folks are fine with business as usual, most would prefer a modern approach.
The Propy platform brings parties together to manage transactions virtually. That said, the intuitive interface makes it simple to configure permissions. For example, a buyer can provide his or her agent with personal financial details without the seller seeing these details. Later, when the buyer is ready to tender an offer, he or she can do so directly through the platform.
Reporting and Analytics
Communications are timestamped and committed to the blockchain, expediting the creation of reports. Indeed, the platform includes a suite of reporting and analytics tools that can be used to summarize and sort offers or even evaluate agent performance.
This feature is especially valuable in the event of a lawsuit, a surprisingly routine occurrence in real estate. To find exculpatory evidence, a brokerage using SkySlope would have to comb through a pile of PDFs, none of which would be timestamped. An office without the software would be left to sift through emails. Teams that use Propy can find documents as easily as entering the right name or date.
Protection From Fraudsters
It goes underreported, but fraud is a major problem in real estate. A typical scam works like this: A hacker infiltrates an email account belonging to an agent or broker and monitors correspondence until a closing date is set. Using the hacked credentials, the criminal then supplies the would-be buyer with his or her own banking information for the wire transfer.
Because Propy keeps communication in-house, the risks of private email fraud are eliminated. This all-in-one design logic is also extended to third-party providers. Another difference between Propy and competitor platforms is Propy’s smooth integration with the DocuSign e-signature tool. Dotloop connects with DocuSign, too, but each software requires its own login.
Loss, Theft, Disaster and Hack-Proof
Once documents are signed, they are encrypted and stored on the blockchain, a boon for deed registration. Rather than wait for an agent to physically deliver the deed to a county office, a seller can send a copy straight through the Propy platform. The buyer will be able to verify its receipt instantly, and the data will be insulated from loss, theft, and natural disaster – all while retaining the regular hack-proof guarantee.
Borderless by Design
Blockchain technology may be of greatest benefit to the nearly 40% of foreign buyers of U.S. residential real estate who live outside the country. Thanks to the tech, the overseas crowd can finally enjoy real-time access to transactions without having to compromise on security.
Propy is friendly to foreigners in several ways. Smart contracts can be programmed from anywhere, providing overseas actors with control on par with their stateside counterparts. In addition, the platform accepts foreign currency and cryptocurrency, which skips the hassle of timing deals around exchange rates.
Take-Home Message
Any brokerage that aspires to remain relevant would be wise to choose a platform that streamlines and secures the purchase process for clients wherever they reside. Switching systems may cost an agent or two, but the migration to Propy is worth it. The world is shrinking and going digital by the day.
