Going Green in 2017

Real estate agents and brokers know that having a transaction management program today is a must-have to remain competitive, compliant and become more productive. But there's another huge benefit to a paperless transaction that is often overlooked: it's remarkably Earth-friendly.

Being more eco-friendly remains important to a vast majority of Americans. In fact, 79 percent of Americans "agree that they consider themselves an environmentally conscious person," while only 6 percent strongly disagree, according to a Harris Poll conducted last year.

The impact of paper

Consider for a moment the amount of paper the average real estate agent handles during a single typical transaction—from the marketing materials and often hardcopy of a CMA at a listing presentation, to the contract, addendums, title, appraisal and documents at the closing table—the stack of paper would likely be as thick as an old telephone book for a major city!

Now think about the fact that there are typically 5-6 million new and existing homes sales each year, and the fact that the typical sales transaction still provides multiple sets of paper documents for all the parties involved, and we are talking a huge negative impact on our environment.

Now according to experts, it takes a little more than half a tree to make 10 reams of 100 percent, non-recycled 20-lb. copier paper. One ream of 500 sheets of paper uses about 6 percent of a tree. The bottom line is that if every real estate agent went paperless, we could potentially save millions of trees each year.