The Paperless Lease

here were those folks who said it could never be done. The idea of presenting and concluding lease terms via a simple, standardized automated process over the Internet was just too unrealistic for most professionals in our industry.


from RealcommAdvisory, August 31, 2006


"The excuses were wide ranging - too complicated, needs the human touch, each situation is different, could never get all the parties to agree on the process, tenants would never go for it, too expensive to automate...the list goes on. Up until now the excuses may have been legitimate but that has all changed.


In order to head off the naysayer we need to clarify one thing early on in the conversation. Automating the lease process is complex and there are a number of situations where automation is not practical in the foreseeable future. For example, a 50,000 sq. ft. law firm or that 100,000 retail space are now, and will be for the foreseeable future, deserving of the traditional leasing process.


Okay, now that it's been said, let's focus on the simple, redundant, not-so-unique leases that we often find:


(1) in the multifamily world,


(2) with small office space,


(3) with many industrial incubators, and


(4) a handful of retail situations.




Just these categories alone make up a large number of today's leasing transactions.


This automated process is not applicable to the larger more complex leases we find in our industry, at least not yet. This automated transaction is, however, perfectly suited for the millions of leases done annually where the terms and conditions are fairly static and the legal issues and far more simplistic." for more inforamtion see: www.houstonrealtyadvisors.net
or www.houstonrealtyadvisor.com