Q&A Session with One of the
Top Real Estate Brokerages in New Jersey

Jim Mesveskas, Director of Company Development at RE/MAX Real Estate, LTD. in New Jersey shares the impact dotloop has had across their business and how agents who were non-believers have turned into evangelists.

1. What for your brokerage has turned non-believer agents into dotloop evangelists?

 
The biggest thing agents who were against dotloop learned relates to the efficiency side of it. It has brought their business to a more efficient level. Things that in the past may have taken over two days to get everything signed, we’re now getting signed within an hour and getting an offer in. In today’s market, the way it is in New Jersey right now, time is everything because inventory is low. When you’re working with buyers, if you can get an offer in quicker it might be the biggest difference between your clients getting a house and not getting a house.

2. What do home buyers and sellers think of dotloop?

 
Clients love it. It’s so much easier for them… the fact that they can sit at work and sign their contracts and offers, and they can see the documents. The biggest thing is if they’re missing something, they don’t have to call their agent and ask them to scan it to them, and have to hear the agent say: “I’m showing 15 homes today, I’ll be back in the office tomorrow morning and will send it then.” They can go right to their email, pull up that document, and print it out themselves if they need it for some reason like to send it to the mortgage company — from that standpoint, we’ve heard a lot of positive feedback in terms of it’s made their lives easier. They like it. It’s quick, easy, and makes the process a lot smoother.

3. Has dotloop helped you recruit new agents?

 
It definitely has! We tell people we have dotloop and they ask questions about it, we show it to them, and they say: “This is amazing! We don’t have anything to offer like this in our region.”

Or, sometimes it’s a recruiting tool because they already have it and they don’t want to leave it — so we say that we have it and they’re going to come over because the other company they’re interviewing with doesn’t have it.

4. What are the top dotloop benefits or features?

 
From a Broker standpoint, workflows and templates are huge, especially from a compliance standpoint. Starting with the templates — where our agents go in and they select the “Ltd. Listing Packet”. Boom, it’s right there! We know they’re not going to be missing any forms because they open their Loop and it already has all of their forms in there — which is great. And having the workflows set up has helped us from a compliance standpoint. Once they turn things in for review and it goes to the next level, we make sure it goes through all of the appropriate steps to get checked prior to closing.

5. Do you use dotloop for anything other than transaction management?

 
We use it too for all of our vendors. Any time we have a marketing contract, we’re getting a billboard, a radio ad, anything like that — we throw everything in there. The stuff with RE/MAX International, we’ll sign our renewals and our contracts and throw it in there. We use it all of the time.

6. What did your transaction management look like prior to dotloop?

 
Here at RE/MAX Real Estate, LTD., they were previously using other products. One of the biggest issues was that there were a lot of different software programs piecemealed together. You’re using this, and then you have to go over to that, and then you have to use this to get it signed — you’re using different functions in different places. That was one of the hardest things.

Once we got dotloop and started doing the trainings, and I showed people where they go to upload the forms, they were like: “Ok, now where do I send it to get it signed?” I’d tell them “Nowhere. It stays right here. You just share it with your clients from dotloop.” It was this ah-ha moment — you see the light bulb go off in their face — they see it’s a lot easier. And that was one of the biggest things we saw through the transition.

7. How much have you grown since using dotloop, and how has dotloop eased your growing pains?

 
This is something that has been great for us… when I started here, and when we started on dotloop, RE/MAX Real Estate, LTD. consisted of about 120 – 130 agents. We’re now at 165, with 4 offices — we’re growing. When you have that amount of people, compliance becomes a big thing. Also, being efficient on our part from a corporate team — it becomes crucial to be efficient. Everything, from checking files to pending reports, to everything that we can do out of dotloop has made our lives easier. It’s saved time for everyone from our administrative directors, to our managers, to our corporate finance team, because if we’re missing something in finance, when we go to cut a commission check, we can pull it right up in dotloop — and there’s the piece of paper we need to clarify the question we have. We’re not calling someone hoping to get ahold of them. From top to bottom — the agents all the way up to our owners — it’s made everyone’s processes a lot smoother.

8. What would you say to brokers considering dotloop?

 
Like any change in technology — it’s not like you just walk in and it’s smooth sailing. It does take time and the biggest thing is it takes training. I think one of the advantages we’ve had by going paperless in four offices across 165 agents is the fact that we are on top of it. We host trainings every single month, in all of our offices, and make sure our agents are using it. There is that process, and you have to be ready for it, but once you get into it, and once your agents start learning it, it’s going to make everything worth it.

From a compliance standpoint, if anyone has questions, we can be anywhere and pull it up.

Another big thing is for the agents, it makes their lives easier. We have so many agents who say, “I never thought I would, but I love dotloop. It’s made our lives easier. I’m quicker. I’m getting more deals done in a day, and I’m spending less time in the office. They love it. It’s given them some personal space. If they’re sitting on the beach, they pull up the dotloop app and share something with their client, or they sign something, or they fill out a contract, they don’t have to run back to their office to pick up the paper and hand sign it. It’s not an easy, easy process, but once you get into it it’s smooth sailing, and it’s the smartest thing you can do for your brokerage — especially as you grow, and recruit, and become bigger.