With its goal firmly stated to keep the real estate agent at the center of the transaction, ezClose.com is making its debut as the nation's first Internet-based title and escrow company. ezClose plans to operate in the traditional manner (translation: no savings in fees,) but aims to offer more in service and convenience to all parties - specifically, easy-to-use, password-secured online document management which can be controlled by the listing or selling agent.

From start to finish, the listing agent will manage and be the sole decision maker on which service providers, Realtors and principals have access to certain documents online. One of the most convenient features is the ezDisclosure - online disclosure packets. These enable seller disclosures to be downloaded, filled out by the seller, faxed back, inputted, and viewed. Approved buyer's agents can be given a five-digit passcode which offers them entry to an assortment of pre-selected documents. By taking control of the transaction, the Realtor can prod late service providers to hurry up with their piece of the transaction.

Ease of Use

The ezClose concept is one of flexibility. Agents can work either online or offline, via the ezClose.com website, phone and fax. Registered real estate agents receive a private and secure online account and a toll-free, personal fax number. Within their account, they can manage online files for each client buying or selling a home, and work directly with their ezClose escrow officer throughout the closing process. Agents can register their clients so they can work together online, an innovation which serves to demystify the process for consumers and allows them to participate in their own closings.

The primary advantage is that the system is loaded with easy-to-navigate checks and balances. A timeline tracks key dates including documents due and the closing. A Checklist supplies the agent with a day-by-day agenda of steps which must be taken on all their closings. Each transaction can be viewed separately. An email alert system is in development which will notify the agent if a document, such as the lender's appraisal, is missing its deadline.

Any service provider can fax their service contracts and reports to the agent's toll-free number. The system converts the fax into the ezClose system where each document is branded with the agent's account number and client code for proper filing into the secured account. Upon receipt the agent is emailed or paged, upon his/her preference.

Online Closings

Until the U.S. government greenlights electronic signatures, (bills have already passed the House and Senate), and open standards are adopted to facilitate online document input and export, ezClose plans to sidestep those road blocks and rely on document transfer systems with which people are already comfortable - faxes, email, and overnight delivery. How they do it is so obvious that other competitors may think, "Why didn't I think of that?"

For one thing, few brick and mortar title and escrow companies are willing to dispatch officers to a buyer and seller to close a transaction. But that is exactly one of the points of difference offered by ezClose, which has recruited "some of the top title and escrow agents in the city of San Francisco," according to Des Cahill, vice president of product marketing. The closing officers are mobile and can come to the agent's office or the seller's home to finalize the closing. "The approach we have is let's don't wait for digital signatures, or XML standards," says Cahill. "Let's work with current technology." He adds that the company will immediately embrace any technological breakthrough which may facilitate the process.

Rapid Growth

To launch, the company will be relying heavily on the portfolios of their recruited closing officers. Cahill acknowledges that one of the unique challenges of migrating a fiduciary service from brick and mortar to the Web is convincing agents that the service will be better than that which they enjoy within long-standing relationships. This raises the question whether ezClose might license its technology, but Cahill says the company has no plans to do so. Instead it will deploy rapid growth, branching out to key relocation destinations across the nation which are known to be Internet-friendly. The company will look at "organic growth or acquisitions, depending on which makes the most sense for the market," explains Cahill.

He sees a great deal of opportunity in marketing to Realtors. "Agents can do more deals, manage their time, and provide better service," maintains Cahill. "We closed an escrow recently, and the seller was moving from Mountain View to San Francisco, a 600-mile difference. The agent got ezclose to establish a file and disclosure packets and allowed the client access.

"The seller told us," passes on Cahill, " We've seen the future of closing."

Editor's Note: ezClose.com has created a site of screen shots specifically for Realty Times readers. These represent only a few of the many transaction/escrow management features offered by the company.
Click Here For More Screen Shots

Published: February 15, 2000

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.