Like many other industries, the real estate industry also suffers from an immense amount of waste. But when you think of waste, what comes to mind? All the paperwork that might be thrown away? Out-of-date marketing materials? Money wasted on lead generation?
Those are certainly some of the factors contributing to waste in the real estate industry, but there are others you probably never thought of. But by streamlining many aspects of daily real estate processes, you can significantly eliminate many sources of waste as well as improve productivity and efficiency.
Improve Your Time-Management
Believe it or not, one of the biggest sources of waste in the real estate industry is time. Time spent waiting on actions related to a real estate transaction to be completed. Time spent waiting for phone calls to be returned or paperwork to be emailed. Time wasted because of errors and inaccuracies that need to be fixed.
Of course, many parts of a real estate transaction are beyond your control. But there are many aspects that you can maintain complete control over simply by better synchronizing your schedule with others and eliminating activities that lead to wasted time. Proper time management can help you be more productive throughout the day.
Consider scheduling apps and messaging apps that make it easier for you to communicate with clients and other real estate professionals. You’ll spend more time getting things done with your clients instead of wasting time trying to reach them.
Smart Transportation
How much time do you think is wasted driving around unnecessarily? Excess transportation wastes both time and pushes waste into the environment in the form of vehicle emissions. You can avoid both by limiting your transportation activity to perform only the necessary functions of your job.
For example, it might not be necessary to drive to a property location to meet a client if the showing can be performed virtually (many often are today due to the pandemic). Another way to avoid time spent driving is to arrange for courier pickups of documents and packages to be mailed, as opposed to delivering them to the post office yourself.
There are likely dozens of ways you could reduce your transportation time, and thus eliminate another form of waste in the real estate industry. And, by implementing time management techniques, you can improve the efficiency of any transportation you must engage in by performing several actions at once in one trip. Avoid extra trips to properties or to meet clients, and limit the repetition of various processes, and you’ll quickly see how much time you are actually saving.
Avoid Overproduction
The real estate industry produces an enormous amount of marketing material, much of which is simply wasted on prospects who aren’t receptive to it. Plan a better and more cost-efficient marketing strategy using targeted social media marketing and real estate marketing apps that enable you to better reach your target audience and limit waste.
At the same time, you can avoid wasting money on lead generation that doesn’t convert to sales, as well as an excess inventory of marketing materials that only gets tossed in the trash.
Eliminate Paper
Printed marketing materials aren’t the only items produced by a real estate agency. Each and every real estate transaction entails a huge amount of paperwork. However, you can significantly reduce the amount of printed paperwork required by using electronic forms and documents. Of course, it is always necessary to have some documents printed, but you’d be surprised how much paper waste you can eliminate simply by using electronic forms whenever possible.
Additionally, you can avoid paper checks from clients by opting for electronic money transfers instead. Used for closing costs, earnest money deposits, and other fees or payments as part of a real estate transaction, using an ACH transfer platform can avoid the need for the manufacturing of paper checks, as well as the time wasted scheduling a time to meet with the client to retrieve, and the fuel that is wasted to get there. An electronic payment eliminates many types of waste in the real estate industry!
Reduce In-Office Waste
There are several changes you can make in your office to reduce waste and help the environment. For example, you can set up compost and recyclable bins, and switch out bottled water for a water filter and glasses. Additionally, if it is possible to work remotely, you can eliminate the amount of energy used in an office setting, as well as save time and energy driving to and from work.
Using a Secure Payment Platform to Eliminate Waste in the Real Estate Industry
As mentioned above, opting for electronic money transfers instead of paper checks can help reduce waste in several areas. Many real estate professionals and organizations have already realized this and are utilizing paymints.io, a fully electronic, secure, and compliant solution built by a team of experts in technology, real estate, lending, and title insurance. The manufacturing of paper, like a paper check, creates gaseous effluent and/or particles that are harmful to the planet. By using paymints.io, real estate professionals are helping to significantly reduce the use of paper and are reducing CO2 emissions because of it.
In addition to helping reduce waste, this ACH money transfer platform is ideally suited for the real estate industry, offering convenience and advanced security for real estate professionals and home buyers. With high-level encryption standards, ID verification, real-time tracking, and ease of use, it is convenient and secure, ensuring that the mortgage process flows smoothly with minimal risk of real estate fraud.
For more information on how to improve daily operations and efficiency in the real estate industry, and to keep up to date on the latest topics and other news, you can visit various online forums and blogs that offer a wealth of useful information and helpful resources.
You can also do your part to help reduce waste and ensure security during a real estate transaction by trying paymints.io. Once you try it, you’ll quickly see why it is the optimal choice for real estate professionals. Schedule a free demo today!