Cloud computing is transforming the way REALTORS® do their jobs, making everything from managing and accessing files to writing contracts easier and more efficient than ever.
By Daniel Rome Levine
As a certified CRS instructor who teaches REALTORS® about cloud computing, Mark Porter found himself in a real-life example of just how helpful it can be to have critical documents stored in the cloud.
Porter was on a class break when his smartphone started lighting up with frantic emails from a colleague in his real estate office who was at a closing and couldn’t locate a plat of survey needed to complete a transaction. Without missing a beat, Porter simply tapped an app on his smartphone called Dropbox, giving him access to a popular cloud storage and file-sharing program where he kept all his work-related files and documents. Because Dropbox allows users to access files and documents from any computer or device, Porter found the survey in seconds and forwarded it to his colleague and the others at the closing table. The deal closed successfully and Porter’s tech-savvy move was roundly praised by the participants. “I was a hero,” he says with a smile.
It is precisely this type of flexibility and access anytime, anywhere to files and documents that makes the cloud such a powerful tool for REALTORS®, says Porter, CRS, the owner of Castle Hills Real Estate, in Lewisville, Texas. “It’s all upside,” he says. “Having all my data and documents at my fingertips whenever I need them is a huge advantage.”
Know Your Nimbus
What is the cloud? Simply put, cloud computing refers to using the Internet to store data in a remote location instead of having it only on your computer’s hard drive. This means that as long as you have an online connection, you can access your files and documents from anywhere or from any computer or hand-held device.
Mark Porter, CRS, with Castle Hills Real Estate, in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville, puts it in terms most REALTORS® can understand. “Real estate agents have been using a form of the cloud for years and not realizing it,” he says. “It’s called MLS. The data is not here in your office. It’s on a computer somewhere else and we’re all sharing it.”
The Silver Lining
Cloud-based storage and file-sharing services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s One Drive are powerful tools REALTORS® can use to increase efficiency and speed transactions. Dropbox is Porter’s favorite because he believes it is the easiest to use and most forgiving for first-timers.
Any document or file that is saved to Dropbox or any of the other services is automatically stored in the cloud as well as on the computer’s hard drive. That provides Porter peace of mind because he knows there are always two copies available at any time.
“If somebody steals my computer, I can just go to another one and go to the Dropbox site, and everything I need is right there,” says Porter.
The ability to edit documents, such as marketing materials, flyers, contacts and calendar items, and have those changes automatically updated so anyone can see them from any computer or device is especially helpful, says Porter. “This capability to automatically synchronize changes is so cool,” he says. “Whenever my office administrator makes a change to a sales contract, I can see that edit, and whenever I make a change, she can see it no matter where we are or what machine or device we are using to view it.”
Michael Perry, CRS, a broker with Weichert, Realtors Graham-Welch, LLC, in Overland Park, Kansas, has been storing all his records in the cloud for three years and can’t imagine having it any other way.
Working on separate computers at his home office and broker’s office, as well as on a laptop while shuttling between two new home subdivisions, Perry uses the cloud to tie together all these computers so he can easily find updated content on any of them. “It’s just so simple and easy to manage everything,” he says. “It’s like having a hard drive in the sky that can be accessed from anywhere and on any machine or device.”
Perry switched from Dropbox to Microsoft’s cloud storage offering, OneDrive, in early 2015 because it was included for free as part of an upgrade he made to Microsoft’s Office 365 Professional software program.
Sign of the Times
Another advantage to working in the cloud, says Perry, is the ability to speed up transactions by using electronic signatures. Perry uses a cloud-based program called Dotloop (which was acquired by Zillow in 2015), which allows documents to be shared, signed and revised in real time by all parties involved in a deal. He also recommends a similar program called DocuSign.
With advances in Internet-based data storage transforming the way real estate agents go about their jobs, there’s no doubt that more and more are going to be doing business with their heads in the cloud.
Learn more about cloud computing from a recording of the free members-only webinar Reach for the Cloud! 7 Simple Steps to Move Your Business to the Cloud.
