PropTech companies have exploded in growth over the past few years, and now more than ever they are setting their sights on the closing process—the final frontier for digitizing the home purchase experience. In line with these needs, realtor.com® and Qualia announced a new relationship to provide an end-to-end, digitally forward closing experience that delivers the top tools and technology for today’s homebuyers, real estate agents, and title & escrow companies.
Realtor.com® Leverages Qualia Technology to Build a New Closing Experience
According to David Doctorow, CEO of Move, Inc. (operator of realtor.com®), “realtor.com® believes an open marketplace approach that offers choice, control, transparency, and efficiency creates the best experience for home buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals.” This fully integrated digital closing experience will launch as a pilot in seven states followed by a nationwide launch later this year. Agents in the realtor.com® ReadyConnect Concierge℠ network will be able to use their existing ReadyConnect℠ Agent app to select one of the many highly-rated title partners who are powered by Qualia’s platform.
Benefits to Consumers
The closing is the final chapter in the home purchase process and it can often be confusing and stressful for buyers and sellers. Homebuyers and sellers seek transparency, security, and intuitive digital platform solutions, along with real estate professionals to expertly guide them through the process. According to Qualia’s recent Homebuyer Sentiment Survey, 62% of future homebuyers stated they would want a fully digital closing experience. Yet, only 13% of recent homebuyers were actually able to do this.
To meet consumer demand, Qualia empowers companies to provide consumers a one-stop shop for closing, bringing together the entire transaction team onto one secure, cloud-based platform to facilitate communication and document sharing between consumers, real estate agents, and their title providers.
Benefits to Real Estate Agents
Consumers have access to more online resources than ever before to aid in their home search. Yet, they still need the expertise and guidance of real estate agents to navigate them through the homebuying journey. According to the 2020 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers, nearly 90% of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker. With 1.4 million licensed REALTORS® in the United States, the key to standing out from the sea of options is providing that elevated level of service, such as delivering an exceptional closing experience.
Benefits to Title & Escrow Providers
Title & escrow providers who offer a premium closing experience, and the real estate agents who partner with them, will differentiate themselves to their clients. Title providers continuously strive to provide an exceptional closing experience that will ensure repeat business. Having a digitally connected ecosystem allows title & escrow providers new ways to differentiate their services and build relationships with real estate agents and mortgage lenders to grow their network. Real estate professionals need to be able to rely on their technology for efficiency and security in order to focus on providing expert, regionalized service.
The Digitally-Connected Ecosystem
To deliver the home purchase experience consumers expect, the industry must come together as a digitally-connected ecosystem. Qualia is transforming real estate closings from a chaotic, in-person, paper-based process into a fully digital experience, continuing its mission to make it easier to buy and sell homes. Teaming up with real estate tech companies, like realtor.com®, delivers a streamlined, digitally-forward closing experience. Real estate agents, title and escrow companies and consumers will be connected together on one secure digital platform, powered by Qualia, to provide transparency, efficiencies, and differentiation during the closing process.
