Courtesy of Dave Matos on Flickr
Many years ago I prepared a 3 ring binder for my Clients after closing escrow. The binders were custom ordered with pre-printed separation pages. Hours of time would be taken re-printing the transaction file and placing them in the appropriate categories. The completed project contained hundreds of pages of documents, disclosures, and reports for future reference. I was ahead of my time as most agents did not provide such a service.
Now many real estate companies and transaction coordinators offers a CD-Rom at closing of your home. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, trying to find any documents on the CD-Rom is pretty frustrating, and the media is limited in storage capacity.
For most of this year I have been using Box.net which is an on-line storage and collaboration system. As a new contract, disclosure, or report comes in I post it on Box.net for the client to review. The system is broken down into 5 easy folders which include Agency, Contracts & Addendums, Escrow and Title, Disclosures, and Reports. All of the documents are converted to Adobe PDF and are completely searchable for key words or phrases.
While Box.net is excellent for the on-going transaction, I wanted to offer my Clients something beyond that system at close. I noted that LaCie made this really cool USB drive that looked like a key – in fact it is called iamaKey. While the transaction file remains backed up both on Box.net and Docu-Sign servers, this is yet another backup of data. Once given to the client they can back up the entire file to multiple computers or hard drives, and store the USB drive in a secure location.
The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 has the ability to put together PDF portfolios. Not only are my transaction files stored in an easy to search and organized portfolios, but base line searches for clients and comparative market analysis is also provided in this manner.
Not only are all the contracts, addendums, and reports included in the portfolio but also media. One of my standards of care for my Clients during my visual inspection is to completely photograph a home for later reference. Using a professional level digital camera the size of these photographs add up quickly making saving the file on a CD-Rom or DVD impossible.
So now at the close of escrow I provide my clients a complete transaction file in a PDF portfolio that is organized and easy to search. The whole file is placed on a LaCie iamaKey USB-Drive with 4GB. The USB drive will work both in windows and mac machines, with the design being sturdy enough for use on a keychain. It has Gold SIP technology and is both water and scratch resistant. Imagine, rather than a notebook full of hundreds of pages your entire transaction file and media is available on a device the size of a key. That is what I call progress!
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