Just about anything can be purchased online these days – but a new home? That’s the vision that is now a reality, courtesy of Vancouver technology company Yongle Technologies Inc.
After a 16-month design process, working in partnership with residential development marketing company rareEarth Project Marketing, Yongle has been creating a system to write and sign presale purchase contracts digitally, as well as selecting chosen colour schemes and home specifications online. Following the launch of Westbourne Residences in New Westminster, the process is seeing great success so far.
And now another project will be the first development in Vancouver to adopt the paperless process – The Grayson, a collection of homes on the Cambie Corridor by Pennyfarthing Homes, which launches presales Friday May 6.
The man behind Yongle Technologies is regular REW.ca columnist and lawyer Richard Bell of Bell Alliance, who told REW.ca that there are lots advantages to the new digital system.
“Not everyone wants to line up at a sales centre. Families have busy lives and this technology gives them the opportunity to fit the buying process into their schedule.”
Bell added that it has never made sense to him to use so much paper in the purchase of a home, especially when oftentimes companies will scan the paperwork for electronic storage.
“Disclosure statements on a new home are often 50 to 60 pages, and contracts can be 20 pages. And while these alone might not seem like much, by the time purchasing is complete, the numbers add up.
“In a project the size of Westbourne (55 homes) we estimate that 12,100 sheets of paper will be used [if not using Yongle technology]. Image a 300-home project and we estimate 85,800 sheets of paper used. Now imagine the consumption in Vancouver’s current market. We estimate savings of over 200 trees per year simply by using Yongle’s system.”
The company is also keen to point out that paper and scanned-copy versions of contracts can degrade and lead to mistakes, whereas digital documentation avoids these problems.
The system also means that developers can easily track which projects are selling, which informs their marketing processes. Bell said, “The real-time data that is available to the developer enables them to understand the current market demands and adjust their project and/or marketing to match the demand.
James Askew, president of rareEarth, which is marketing the Westbourne Residences project, said, “Eight months ago, I challenged the rareEarth senior team to develop a digital contract process in which buyers could purchase a new home with a click of a button from our website. Fortuitously, we were introduced to Richard Bell at Yongle, and now we've just sold 80 per cent of our new development, Westbourne, using Yongle's paperless contracts.
Not only does this technology offer a secure, effortless experience for our buyers, it provides our sales and marketing team as well as our developer clients with an intuitive, intelligent method for signing, managing, and understanding our new home contracts.”
Shayna Macquisten, managing partner at BLVD Marketing Group, which is marketing The Grayson project, said, “This front-of-the-line technology is advancing the purchasing process, ensuring a simplified and seamless online transaction. For the first time in Vancouver, we are thrilled to provide our buyers with this enhanced level of service and innovative technology."
Now that the system has proven successful in presales, Bell said there is no reason why it can’t be extended to the resale market too. “Yongle intends to introduce a version for independent real estate agents in 2017,” said Bell.
