Electronic Signatures and real estate contracts

I love technology but not technology for the sake of technology.  Before I adopt a particular form of technology I have to be able to gain value from it.  Value can be in the form of cost savings, increase in productivity, or increase in revenues.

The technology to sign our Spring Texas real estate contracts electronically has been available for a while but I have not adopted it.  But why?  Because I have not found the value in electronic signatures. That is until yesterday. 

Yesterday, HUD  announced the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) would accept electronic signatures on real estate contracts.  Up until this time, FHA did not accept electronic signatures on Spring Texas real estate contracts.  The signatures needed to be “wet” signatures.  Thus the technology to sign real estate contracts electronically provide no value to me.  Now, there is a value and it is the value of increase in productivity for not only me but for the buyers and sellers I work with.  I can email the real estate contracts and buyers or sellers can sign them electronically.  They do not need to print them out and then fax or scan and email them back to me. 

If we can now get the banks who are the sellers of the foreclosed homes to accept electronic signatures, we can do away with this nonsense of “wet” signatures for good.  The signatures aren’t really “wet” anyway.