14 Ways To Simplify the Real Estate Transaction Process

As a real estate broker, you know how complex and challenging the transaction process can be. 

There are critical due dates that need to be met, important documentation that must be signed and gathered, and there are many steps to follow closely.

If you don’t follow these steps and meet the required milestones, your deal could fall through the cracks, meaning you lose out on commission for both you and your real estate agents.

This is why it’s important to do all you can to ensure the real estate transaction process goes as smoothly as possible. You can do this by taking steps to streamline the process.

In this article, we’ll guide you through some practical steps you can take to ensure your real estate transaction process is streamlined so that every deal closes on time.

1. Create a Client Onboarding Process

A vital part of the real estate transaction process is having your clients work alongside you to close a deal. The best way to ensure their cooperation and that they handle their responsibilities in the deal on time is to onboard them effectively.

Ensure you create a structured and comprehensive onboarding process for buyers and sellers that includes welcome information, guidance on how the process works, and what might be required from them.

💡 How this helps

If your clients know their role in the real estate transaction from the start, you can ensure you’ll get everything you need from them on time to close the deal. 

It can also help clients understand the process, meaning they’ll be more willing to follow instructions when you send them.

A thorough onboarding process is also an opportunity to personalize the services you’re providing to your clients, improving their overall experience with your business.

2. Develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

You should spend time developing detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every step of the transaction process, from listing to closing. These procedures should cover tasks like handling offers, scheduling inspections, and coordinating with lenders.

It’s important to regularly review and update your SOPs to incorporate feedback, the latest regulations, and technological advancements.

You’ll need to train your employees on these SOPs to ensure they stick to them consistently when they execute tasks.

You can use tools like internal wikis or knowledge management systems to make SOPs easily accessible to all the real estate professionals on your team.

💡 How this helps

Having SOPs in place ensures that each step of the real estate transaction process is standardized across every department. 

If everyone follows the same procedures, this can help prevent a real estate deal from falling through the cracks.

It also means you’re starting off on the right foot, as everyone will know exactly what to do and how to do it.

🤔 Not Sure About the Exact Steps? Read our Complete Real Estate Transaction Guide to learn about the people involved and what needs to happen at every step of the transaction process.

3. Establish Preferred Vendor Networks

Create a list of preferred vendors, like inspectors, appraisers, and contractors, who are vetted and trusted. This ensures you get reliable and efficient service.

You may want to establish partnership agreements with these vendors to prioritize your brokerage’s transactions, potentially offering expedited services or discounts.

You can use vendor management platforms to schedule and track services like inspections easily. You can also use these tools to monitor vendor performance and gather feedback to ensure quality.

💡 How this helps

Having an established list of vendors that you have built a relationship with can help ensure you get the steps in your transaction process executed quickly and on time. 

A partnership with a trusted home inspector can ensure this step in the transaction goes smoothly. It also means you know you’ve got the best person for the job, just a call away.

If you deliver high-quality services to your clients using the best vendors, you create an excellent first impression of your business. This can help you get referrals in the future.

4. Implement Smart Digital Solutions

Using digital tools to help you manage the real estate transaction process is the smartest decision you can make for your brokerage.

You need software solutions that will help with every step of the process, from determining the purchase price of a property to assisting buyers with information about opening an escrow account.

The right technology will help you streamline the real estate transaction process by ensuring every step is met and all the right information and documents are gathered and stored.

💡 How this helps

Platforms like Paperless Pipeline are designed to help brokers, real estate agents, and transaction coordinators manage the entire real estate transaction process from start to finish. 

By storing items like closing documents in a centralized location and automatically generating intuitive checklists, nothing will fall through the cracks, and you won’t miss out on closing any deals.

5. Establish a Single Source of Truth

In real estate, things come from every direction every day of the week. What’s missing for most real estate companies is a single source of accurate and consistent data that can be relied on. 

The problem for many brokerages is getting a single source of truth. Often, companies try to bring more people into the fold—but adding more employees to the situation isn’t the right solution. 

The solution is to limit the number of people responsible for using your admin tools. 

💡 How this helps

With Paperless Pipeline, your admin controls the process and confirms what’s happening. So the next time you need to see the status of all your pending sales, check your Transactions Page for instant and up-to-date information. 

6. Start the Transaction Earlier

Some offices start a new transaction only when real estate agents have submitted documents—but there’s a better way. 

Start new real estate transactions as soon as Active Buyer (when your agents are writing offers) or Coming Soon to Market (when an agent will soon list a property). 

💡 How this helps

​As soon as a transaction is added to Paperless Pipeline, things automatically happen that will save you a ton of time. 

Paperless Pipeline can automatically sync due dates to your agent’s calendar (and yours). Task reminders can be automatically sent out to your real estate agent. Your listing or pending inventory reports will also be more accurate. 

7. Give Your Staff One Inbox for Everything

Do your real estate agents email documents and updates to you or a staff member? Do they sometimes scan or print? Do you receive contracts in one place and offers in another, and still check a dropbox in the office?

Doing this means there are too many places for agents to send documents and too many places for your admins to check. Instead, give your entire company one place for incoming documents.

💡 How this helps

Using your Paperless Pipeline Unassigned page, agents will have one destination to send documents to, and your admins will have one place to check.

With a single inbox, agents can send or forward emails with attachments, scan documents into the inbox, or have documents automatically sent from e-sign tools into the inbox. 

Your admins will have just one place to check. Plus, they can receive instant notifications when new documents are accepted.

8. Communicate Quickly and Often

Effective communication with your team requires consistency and timeliness. The solution is to have automatic updates and instant email templates in your transaction management software. 

💡 How this helps

​Some messages are necessary, but they take time to create and send each day—but not with Paperless Pipeline. 

You can turn on automatic email reminders for upcoming and overdue tasks, daily activity emails, and more. 

You can also streamline email updates and communication with saved email templates and auto-fill tags. 

Using both will allow you to send customized emails for the specific transaction and the people on it in just a few clicks—no typing necessary. 

9. Give Agents Appropriate Access to Your System

How often have agents called or emailed you with questions that could have been answered if they had access to your single source of truth? 

When a system isn’t a single source of truth, agents, and admins can’t rely on it. When the system is only available to certain people, agents can’t access it.

The solution is to give agents access to your account with specific permissions only so that they can view what they need, but nothing more. 

💡 How this helps

​With appropriate and necessary access to your system, agents can see what they need and when they need it. 

During the real estate closing process, on the go, or when they’re preparing for tax season—production, commission, and contact information are at their fingertips with Paperless Pipeline. 

10. Provide Your Clients with Regular Updates

You can use automated tools like customer relationship management (CRM) platforms to set up automated reminders for clients for important milestones in the transaction process, such as securing their earnest money, paying property taxes, and signing the purchase agreement.

You should have your transaction coordinators establish a routine for check-ins with clients to provide them with updates on the process. 

You can create email templates that your coordinators and admins can use to provide updates, like when an offer is accepted, a home inspection is scheduled, or when documents need signing.

💡 How this helps

Keeping your clients updated regularly helps you build a positive relationship with them and create a good impression of your business. 

Clients are often anxious and uncertain during the real estate transaction process, and hearing from you at regular intervals will help assure them that everything is going smoothly.

Regular updates also ensure that you don’t miss any important steps within the real estate transaction, such as a client not signing a document on time.

11. Develop Client Support Resources

Your real estate team has many responsibilities to handle at any given time, especially when trying to close a transaction.

Answering frequently asked questions (FAQs) that clients come to you with can waste time and resources that could be better spent on the closing process.

Instead of having a client contact a real estate agent with a common question, develop guides and FAQ documents about the buying and selling process, common pitfalls, and what to expect.

You can make these resources available online or as printed materials. They’ll make a good addition to your welcome packet for the onboarding process.

💡 How this helps

Anything you can do to save your real estate team time benefits the real estate transaction process. 

The process is already time-consuming and resource-intensive. If you can save team members from having to answer routine questions, you have a more efficient real estate process.

12. Implement Feedback Loops

Once you’ve completed a transaction, set aside time to gather client feedback. This can help you identify areas for improvement and changes you can make to your business and processes to serve your clients better.

If you speak to your clients and learn that they find a particular aspect of the transaction process difficult to follow or understand, you know you need to communicate this more clearly at the start of the process.

💡 How this helps

It can be challenging to understand your clients and improve your business if you don’t understand how your processes are working (and where they’re not). 

Implementing feedback loops means you get feedback from the most important people involved—your clients—on what you need to improve or change.

13. Conduct Regular Process Reviews

Once you have feedback from your clients, you can start reviewing your real estate transaction process. You can also speak to the people on your team to determine if they’re struggling with any aspects of your process. 

You should regularly review and update transaction processes to incorporate new technologies, regulatory changes, and best practices. This keeps your clients (and team) satisfied.

💡 How this helps

Regularly reviewing your processes helps you ensure that every step is working and lets you know what you can do to improve any issues there may be with the way you’re doing things.

14. Invest in Training and Development

Providing ongoing training to your real estate team is important. It keeps them updated on the latest industry trends, regulations, and technology. It’s also an opportunity for you to provide them with guidance and coaching on handling the transaction process better.

Let’s say you notice that your agents are taking too long to submit important paperwork. You can train them on new tools or methods to ensure they’re more organized.

If you change any processes or make any adjustments to your SOPs, you’ll also need to provide training to your team on these, too.

💡 How this helps

Regular training and coaching keep your agents happy and help them develop in their careers. As we’re sure you already know, happy agents are key to productivity and motivation.

Motivated employees are more likely to adhere to your real estate transaction process and ensure each step is completed without fail, ensuring you close more deals.

Holding regular training sessions also ensures your entire team is on the same page so that they can work together to ensure a smooth and streamlined transaction process. 

Streamline Your Real Estate Transaction Process with Paperless Pipeline

At Paperless Pipeline, we’ve helped thousands of real estate companies streamline their transaction management processes with ease.

There’s no one best approach or perfect workflow that works for everyone—but there are best practices that lead to time savings, more productive staff, and a happier team.

Our software has been specifically designed to streamline and simplify the real estate transaction process, from listing to closing. It assists brokers, agents, admins, and transaction coordinators to make sure the process goes smoothly and without a hitch.

This ensures you close deals on time, every time, without anything falling through the cracks.

We’d love to show you how our fast and affordable platform can help you streamline your transaction process and help you close more deals. 

Visit our website today for a free Paperless Pipeline trial. You can also visit our pricing page to see how cost-efficient our software is. Plus, we won’t ask you for any credit card details, even for the setup process!