Daily Real Estate News  |  July 16, 2008  |   'Office of the Future' Is Nearly Paperless
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate’s new branch at Lakewood Ranch in Bradenton, Fla., has a strikingly different look from its competitors.

The office has no cubicles, no desks, and almost no paper.

Managing broker J. Michael Taylor says the goal is to give associates a place to “touch down” and use their laptops, and also encourage them to go quickly on their way.

Each associate gets just one small drawer in a file cabinet, but they can access records wherever they are using tablet computers. By making use of scanning equipment and electronic signatures, the aim is to go entirely paperless. “It’s like going from the Flintstones to the Jetsons,” Taylor says.

If the methods used at the new Lakewood Ranch office prove successful, they’ll be used at Coldwell Banker locations across the region and the country, says Sue Louis Wolverton, regional senior vice president.

Source: Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune, Aaron Kessler (07/14/08)