The Digital ROI in Real Estate According to Raj Qsar

An Interview with Raj Qsar Posted by Farah Ahmed with Docusign

June 3, 2014

The Boutique Real Estate Group

 

An evangelist for digital and social media, Raj Qsar embodies the future of real estate. After 18 years of successful leadership in the industry, Raj strives to inspire realtors to embrace the digital wave. As owner and broker of The Boutique Real Estate Group, he was recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders for 2013 by Inman News. Beta Brokerage also highlighted The Boutique Real Estate Group among the 2014 Next Generation Real Estate Brokerages.

We recently chatted with Raj to discover how Digital Transaction Management (DTM) and mobile impact ROI and customer experience.

Let’s talk about ROI. How does DTM and subsequent mobile integrations impact your business results?

To start, we extend our tech savvy to both clients and employees. Digital forms are the foundation of everyone’s experience. DTM molds perfectly to our culture!

I do relish the peace-of-mind afforded by DocuSign for Mobile. With the ability to belocation-independent: you carry your business wherever you go. Successful realtors understand that business runs on the fly, 24/7. With DTM and mobile, we can connect and share relevant information through a single streamlined system.

Thankfully, DTM also minimizes loose e-mail threads and phone calls since everyone involved in the transaction is actually involved in the workflow. Now that is peace-of-mind in action!

How are your customers reacting to DTM?

Digital business has been revolutionary for all parties, but particularly for clients. Previously, closing deals forced endless time and travel that infringed upon everyone’s valuable time. Before realtors had to trek 25 miles round-trip just to sign a single document, and then scan and e-mail the same document to other parties involved in the transaction. DTM has since stripped away this insanity.

Furthermore, it’s a purely intuitive function that anyone can use. Here’s a wild story: I had an offer for a property needing signature. I left a phone message with a client and indicated that we’d discuss and DocuSign later. A short while later, I return to find the offer DocuSigned and ready to go. I was utterly baffled; my client was 85 years old. Apparently, she went online and downloaded DocuSign herself to sign the offer letter. It was just that easy!

How do you see DTM influencing real estate professionals?

In order to be a leader in this industry, real estate professionals have to digitize the experience for both their clients and their teams. They will quickly see the value in social media and communicating with their clients on Twitter or Facebook.

Specifically to DocuSign, the Transaction Rooms will soon be a standard for realtors in managing a fast-paced, transparent and results-oriented practice. It’s quick to integrate and train employees, and it’s a natural boon to customers.

DTM reinforces our values. Clients come first and foremost, and with DTM and mobile we respect their time. For those without DTM, ask yourself “why should your clients run around for you?”

The answer is clear: no one should run around, especially clients.

Looking to the near future, what trends do you think realtors and brokers should keep in mind?

I definitely have three in mind:

  1. Location Independence – Regardless of location, both clients and realtors should have the opportunity to square away business with their feet in the sand and a mobile device in their lap. Likewise, clients have busy lives that stress the importance of mobility. Paper should not dictate clients’ schedules.
  2. Transaction Transparency – Everyone involved in the transaction should be involved in the document workflow. It is vital to loop in everyone from lenders, home inspectors all the way to escrow and home insurance. There is no reason to send countless e-mails that are stuffed with PDFs when you can invite everyone to a single transaction.
  3. Increased Compliance – Instant audit trails enable clean compliance, which is truly imperative as regulations become more stringent. For California, it is essential that all transaction documents are transparent and audit-friendly in order to comply with RE540.

Many thanks to Raj for sharing his snapshot of a fully digital Real Estate group! We hope it inspires realtors consider DTM and learn about DocuSign for Mobile.

How do you think DTM is impacting the real estate industry? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Don’t hesitate to connect with Raj on TwitterFacebookLinkedIn, and YouTube

Check out Boutique Real Estate Group to learn more!

Link back to original article here.

The Digital Age of Real Estate | Raj Qsar | The Boutique Real Estate Group

Episode 44: Raj Qsar: How to digitize & “Boutique-ify” your Real Estate business.

What does it take to be a Real Estate Rockstar? Join us as Raj shares his realtor mindset and a glance at his journey to becoming a “boutique-ified” Real Estate Rockstar.

Leadership, passion, strategy, and execution are the keys to success according to Raj Qsar. Raj has started The Boutique Real Estate Group in Orange County, California. It is his vision that effective marketing of residential Real Estate be, by nature, complex. Each listing they receive is assigned a best-in-class sales & marketing campaign, and it then receives industry-leading marketing, advertising, social media, interior design, and graphics/design. Each of these pieces come together to create a customized marketing plan for each client and each property. When you partner best-in-class sales & marketing with a digital Real Estate experience, you have one of the most sophisticated, strategic companies in the Real Estate industry. Join us to learn how Raj Qsar and The Boutique Real Estate Group are turning heads everywhere they go!

Raj Qsar |HibanDigital | Real Estate Rockstar

 

Real Estate AH-HA Moment

  • When Raj first entered the world of Real Estate he tried to do it all. From the fancy camera, to video, to social media, and even staging, Raj was a one-person show. He realized that in order to scale his business he needed to hire others that were experts in their field. His first hire was a graphic designer, Listen in to hear what happened next.

The Boutique Real Estate Group

  • “We are a tech start-up who happens to be passionate about people, and we happen to sell homes” Check our their website to see for yourself just how cutting-edge they are: http://www.theboutiquere.com

In this Episode, We Also Talk About:

  • How to become publicly recognized.
  • How to start a business.
  • Change the way you market a home.
  • How to find that “one shot” of a home.
  • How to learn and then tell the story of the home.
  • How to specialize in Pinterest.
  • How to take your business digital.
  • How to market a home for social media outlets.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank Raj on Twitter

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to show Raj some love for coming on the show, you can do so easily by clicking on the link below!

Click here to tweet-thank Raj

 

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you!

To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher!

Reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and  appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks!

Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me, or call 410.750.6746, and ask Pat anything. Then head on over to Bare Naked Agent for his answers, and advice.

Thanks, and keep rockin!

Upgrading The Real Estate Experience | 3 Tech Tips from Raj Qsar

This week, we have a guest post from Raj Qsar, principal and owner of The Boutique Real Estate Group in Orange County, CA,  a contributor for Inman News, and one of the Top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders for 2013. His company is one of the most dominant real estate firms in Orange County. They focus heavily on utilizing technology to provide more complete and convenient service to all of their customers. 

@RajQsar

 

Digitize the Real Estate Experience

We had out “ah-ha” moment back in 2008 as technology and social media found Real Estate. We knew there had to be a better way of not only marketing residential real estate but there also had to be a better way of managing the mountain of paperwork and people involved in a real estate transaction.  So in a sense our team has digitized the real estate experience.

Do not get me wrong….We are not robots.  We still care, are empathetic and truly love our clients.  And because of this love and passion for our clients you will never find our clients running to a fax machine and most likely never even pick up a pen to sign anything. We are a 99% paperless office.  Our agents & staff are completely mobile and can run an entire real estate transaction from our iPads and iPhones.

Our technology does not require our clients to be tech savvy – it only requires our agents to understand the benefits of technology and to implement that technology with our clients.  Our commitment to technology has even allowed us to bring in an in-house Chief Technology Officer, Jeremy Lehman, who can train our agents and enable them to provide this luxury service to our clients.

Connect More Intimately With Clients

The world is now on the web – advances in technology are changing the way businesses interact with clients and we understand this process.  People are on their smartphones, heads down and focused.  The next time you are in line at your local coffee shop just look around.  Everyone will be head down and in their phone checking emails, scrolling through a news feed on a social platform or just listening to music.  We know we need to be where our clients are, so we can be at the forefront of their minds, and more importantly, not forgotten.

Our clients are on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Linked In, Pinterest, Twitter and Four Square. However, the Facebook user is different than the Linked In user, who is totally different than the individual on Instagram.

Learn more about social media for real estate marketing here.

The Facebook user is more likely to be someone you know so the posts there are geared more like a friend to friend discussion and allows for a targeted ad campaign.  The posts on Twitter are 140 characters so its “in & out” with a specific message to an audience.  Instagram is one of our favorites and allows a more intimate connection. Newer platforms likeRESAAS allow us to engage with an international audience of real estate professionals.  You will see that our content strategy is different depending on the platform, who we are trying to reach, and what message we are trying to push.

Streamline the Process

When it comes to in-transaction management the mountain of paperwork that needs to happen is insane.  You have buyers, sellers, lender, escrow, title, transaction coordinators, home inspectors, termite inspectors and many others who are involved someway or somehow in your transaction.  They all have their paperwork and it all needs to be reviewed, understood and communicated to everyone in the transaction.

How do we create our paperwork?  What do we create it on?  How do we eSign? How do we store this info?  How do we share it with everyone?  This is the beauty of technology: our ability to create a REAL estate experience like no other with our clients and co-operating brokers.

This is real estate’s new normal for communicating and engaging with our clients to create a streamlined, easy to use & understand process.  It did not happen overnight but required dedication, time, and resources devoted to tech to make it happen.

Technology allows us to be a smart office, engage with our clients in positive manner and allow us to create an experience that is evergreen.

You can connect with us at www.theboutiquere.com.

If you’re interested in learning more about Raj, check out our From the Trenches interview with him. 

You can find Raj on FacebookTwitterLinked In, and Pinterest.

AREAA Vancouver | Luxury Real Estate Conference

AREAA Vancover 2014

 

CONNECT:  REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY & THE LUXURY MARKET
• NETWORK with hundreds of global industry leaders, practitioners from across North America.
• Enhance your understanding of LUXURY INVESTMENT STRATEGIES and advancements in TECHNOLOGIES.
• CONNECT with AREAA members and investors looking for real estate in Vancouver and across Canada.
• Participate in luxury real estate and technology sessions featuring industry leaders from AREAA, NAR and national brokerages.

JUST TO NAME A FEW OF THE SPEAKERS:
Ivan P. Choi – Chairman of AREAA
Nobu Hata – Director for NAR
Kelly Deck – Director for Kelly Deck Design
Ian MacLeod – President of LuxuryHomes.com
Tina Mak – President of AREAA Vancouver
Raj Qsar – Owner of The Boutique Real Estate Group
Janet Case – CEO of Proxio
Kathy Tsao – Manhattan Broker Douglas Elliman

TIME LOCATION & REGISTRATION:

Tuesday, June 17, 2014 – 8 am – 6 pm
At the Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver BC
1038 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC V6C 0B9, Canada
Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver Hotel Rooms available
Buy tickets at areaavancouver.com

AREAA Vancover 2014

Agent Reboot | Orange County | Anaheim Convention Center

The Boutique Real Estate Group will be headed to The Anaheim Convention Center today to get their tech, mobile, social & networking on.  Hosted by Inman News, Agent Reboot is a full day of all things Real Estate and includes some of the most notable names in the industry.

Click here for todays schedule.

The Orange County Ambassadors include:  Christopher Pak, Ryan KlusmeyerMelissa Sims from The Boutique Real Estate Group and Carol Farar, Stacey Smith and Hilda Ramirez.

Catch some amazing speakers as well, including Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles Star, Josh Flagg.

Agent Reboot OC

Paradise in Newport Beach | Coming Soon | Presented by Melissa Sims

This home boasts nearly 2500 square feet of luxurious upgrades, including hand scraped hardwood flooring, custom iron staircase, custom built-ins, completely remodeled kitchen with custom cabinetry,  professionally designed and remodeled bathrooms, automatic roller window shades in the kitchen, three outdoor patios, gorgeous landscaping with new landscape lighting – all on a quiet cul-de-sac in a gated community.  The ground-level master suite offers a large walk-in closet with built-in cabinetry, an electric fireplace for those chilly nights and an amazing shower retreat.  Two additional bedrooms on the upper floor, along with a loft and a built-in entertainment center, add appeal to this already amazing home.  In addition, the 2-car garage has a built-in workstation and ample cabinetry for storage. Association pools, tennis courts and club house.   For a private showing please call Melissa Sims at 714-616-6442.

The Boutique Real Estate group

 

$20,0000,000 Home In Yorba Linda | 5005 Hidden Glen Ln | Yorba Linda, Ca 92887

Everyone always asks?  Who owns that big old white house on the hill in Yorba Linda?  How much is it worth?  Well, that home, 5005 Hidden Glen Ln has just hit the open market at a staggering $20,000,000.00.  This home has 9 Bedrooms, 12 Bathrooms, and is over 19,000 square feet in size on over a 1 acre parcel of land at the very heights of Yorba Linda.  If you do the math that is $1,033.81 per square foot.

Here is the MLS description from the listing agents on this home:

One of the Most Iconic and Famous Homes in the City of Yorba Linda, CA, known as the Satsang has just been released for sale. This architectural masterpiece visually soars from the 91 FWY & is perched among the highest elevation in the Hidden Hills Estates and boasts Amazing 270 Degree Panoramic Views of Yorba Linda and Catalina Island. The Steel & Glass Panel Construction and Massive 19,346 Square Feet Interior Structure make it one of California’s Most Unique and Stunning Homes. The estate is entirely energy efficient with over eighty solar panels and additional features include an Elegant Ball Room and Center Stage, Enormous Indoor Pool, Fitness Center, Jetted Spa, Sauna, Steam Room, Private Elevator, 12 Seat Theater Room, Coffee & Tea Bar Area & Much More! The exterior grounds are like a Private Resort complete with its own Basketball and Tennis Sport Courts. The Grand Courtyard and Free Flowing Patio Areas can easily entertain several hundred guests with Lush Palm Trees, Manicured Green Grass, Enchanting Water Fountain and relaxing Gazebo. Guests will be able to view the nightly fireworks displays from Disneyland. This One Of A Kind Estate is Incredibly Secluded, Private and Conveniently Located near OC Freeways to make it easily accessible.

5005 Hidden Glen Lane, Yorba Linda, Ca 92887

 

For a private showing of this unique home please call Raj Qsar at 714-412-5019 or email Raj@TheBoutiqueRE.com

Laguna Beach | The Boutique Real Estate Group | Chris Kwon

Laguna Beach Lifeguard Tower

Laguna Beach is like no other place in Orange County. Take a moment and soak this in. The landscape, culture, people and the colors (ohhh the colors), makes it even hard to compare even to it’s neighboring cities. Even the scent of the ocean is different. The people of Laguna Beach know what I’m talking about, so this may be a odd concept to picture if you’ve never been here before.

But for those of you that live here and had to narrow down the best thing that this city has to offer, what would it be? Would it be the effect that the cool crisp air has across your skin as you open up the door for the first time in the morning? Or what about the grains of sand in between you toes as you walk along the beach? Maybe it’s the sound of the splashing waves as they hit the shore?

For me Laguna Beach is like a botanical garden. So alive, surrounded by diversity as every element changes so subtly. A collection of organic specimens that thrive and flow freely like a poem in harmony. Nothing ever stays the same but nothing really ever changes either.

So have I done it? Have I lost you in translation? Good, because this is the essence that makes Laguna Beach so unique and abstract. Everything that this city has to offer culminates to understanding this concept. But to understand this, you have to come and experience it for yourself. Your path might be different but you will all end up in the same place. You will understand that magnificence is a word that falls short in describing this city and all that it has to offer.

For a private home tour of Laguna Beach please contact Chris Kwon at Chris.Kwon@TheBoutiqueRE.com

Laguna Beach, Ca

Are you prepared for the big one?

Are you prepared for the big one?

By:  Melissa Sims | The Boutique Real Estate Group | @MelissaSimsOC

I am not a California native. I came to California in 1986 for my father’s career. We moved to Arcadia in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record. Coming from Wisconsin, we were not prepared for the heat. Nor, would I learn, were we prepared for earthquakes. I still remember very vividly where I was when the 1987 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake hit. I was getting ready for school… out of nowhere, dishes were flying out of cabinets and the floor was seemingly gone beneath my feet. My mother grabbed my sister and I and we all ran outside. I wish I could find words to appropriately explain what I saw…the earth was flipping, side-to-side. Earthquake, you say, mom? What’s that? I was only 7 at the time, and coming from the other side of the country, we never spoke of such things. Tornados? All the time. Needless to say, we were ill prepared – no extra water or canned food on hand, no extra clothing, batteries, blankets…nada. It was a very serious quake, with several deaths and many homes destroyed.

Fast forward 7 years, we are living near Northridge, CA. We must have had a knack to follow where the next big earthquake would be. My mother and I were living alone in a condo, on top of a subterranean parking garage. I was awoken at 4:31 am by being physically thrown out of my bed onto the floor. I looked up and saw a huge free-standing mirror about to crash over me…instinct told me to roll under my bed while the mirror shattered where I had just lain. The intense noise, not just the shaking, is what was so terrifying about this quake – I screamed the entire time, as did my mother, neither of us hearing anything from the other. As we got our bearings and cautiously went downstairs, we had no idea what had happened. How big was that? Is there power anywhere (not here, obviously)? As we scrambled in the dark, I am still thankful that my mom had just recently decided it was time for an ‘earthquake kit.’ We had water, food, blankets, a flashlight, radio and extra batteries. We sat in our doorway for probably close to 3 hours, listening to the battery-powered radio in the dark, trying to find out how bad the quake was, getting tossed over and over with aftershocks. We stayed in the house for over a week with no power or clean water, until the fire department finally made its way to us. To let us know that we couldn’t stay. While the Northridge quake was a 6.7, the ground acceleration of that quake was one of the highest ever recorded in an urban area, making it feel more like a quake in the 7.5 range.

Looking back on both quakes, I am so thankful that we were more prepared for the second quake. Nothing can prepare you, really, for the disorienting feeling of having the earth beneath you come to life, and rock your senses silly. After this most recent La Habra quake, we are reminded yet again that we live in ‘earthquake country’ and most of us are embarrassingly unprepared for the aftermath of a good shake.

seismograph

Here are some tips for an effective earthquake kit. Some things to remember: you may not have access to water, electricity or emergency services for a few days, if not more.

1. Water. The single most important item you’ll need. Another option: steri pen. Will sterilize water from any source. You’ll need at least one gallon per day per person in your house.

2. Food – canned food (don’t forget an opener), boxed food that has a long shelf life. Pastas, canned tuna, canned vegetables, etcetera. Camping food is another good option.

3. Camp stove and fuel, along with utensils.

4. Whistle, in case of need for rescuers.

5. Extra set of clothing & shoes.

6. Emergency cash, in small denominations

7. Tool kit (to turn off gas/water)

8. Copies of your vital documents.

9. Tarp, plastic bags – in case of rain. Or, if preferred, a tent.

10. Toiletries.

11. Toys – if you have kids

12. Lanterns, flashlights & batteries.

13. Portable radio – don’t think your cell phone will work. You need the good ol’ fashioned antenna radio.

14. Solar panel for charging any items that might still work.

15. Portable power generator. There are solar versions out there as well. Most generators run on gas, and if there is a main break at your local station, no-can-do. There are other personal preference items you can bring, of course, but try to make your kit as accessible as possible. It should be in a waterproof container, easily accessed OUTSIDE. Do not keep it in your garage – you’ll probably not be able to access it if the damage is severe.

Nothing, like I said, will prepare you for the moment a large earthquake hits. The fear and adrenaline are intense and the disorientation is dumbfounding. But, your preparedness for the moments right after a quake can make the comforts of home enough to get you through mother nature’s moody behavior.

To connect with Melissa Sims please email her at Melissa.Sims@TheBoutiqueRE.com

xPlode Orange County | Real Estate Technology Conference | Anaheim, Ca

Hope you can join us for the 2014 xPlode Conference in Anaheim for a jam packed day of real estate, technology and next level marketing!  As always, The Xplode Conference will feature the best of the best speakers and educators from all over the USA.

 

xPlode OC Schedule

 

Plus all the top technology products and services from companies like www.Realtor.com, www.Homes.com, RESAAS, RPR, eMerge, IDX Broker, Onjax, The Boutique Real Estate Group and many more!

You’ll get a 2014 update on mobile technologies, websites, contact management, email marketing, video, content marketing and much more!

The venue for this conference is the fabulous Marriott Hotel in Anaheim at 700 W Convention Way Anaheim, CA 92802.