Tech Pulse: Real estate referral landscape; new e-sign tool

Welcome back to Tech Pulse — HousingWire‘s weekly series rounding up the latest in technology news, including tools, integrations and trends that impact mortgage and real estate.

Here’s what happened this week:

From Zillow to sphere: Why you must know the source of your real estate referrals

Real estate agents are navigating a shifting lead-gen landscape — balancing referrals, paid portals like Zillow, and tech tools such as CRMs. While some, like Callie Kelley, spend heavily on third-party leads, others, like Charlie Wills, thrive almost entirely on referrals. For brokers, tracking lead sources is becoming mission-critical.

Florida Realtors builds e-sign tool available nationwide

Florida Realtors has rolled out Sabal Sign, a built-in e-signature solution for Form Simplicity Ultimate Edition users nationwide. Designed specifically for real estate, Sabal Sign offers unlimited sessions, mobile access, reusable templates, audit tracking, and full ESIGN Act/UETA compliance.

Closinglock adds automated payoff ordering to combat fraud

Closinglock has acquired Viking Sasquatch’s payoff retrieval solution, adding automated, AI-driven and insured payoff ordering to its platform. The tool cuts processing time from 75 minutes to seconds, verifies statements with $2.5M insurance per transaction, and works across thousands of lender systems.

Rate targets Latino homebuyers with Spanish mobile app

Chicago-based lender Rate introduces a game-changing Spanish mortgage app, providing Latino borrowers with equal access to homeownership tools. This launch follows Rate’s successful Spanish-language initiatives, which have already tripled their Latino salesforce and doubled funded loan volume in Latino communities.

MoxiWorks names Kim Koraca chief marketing officer

MoxiWorks has appointed Kim Koraca as chief marketing officer, bringing over 20 years of strategic marketing leadership in real estate technology. Koraca will oversee marketing as MoxiWorks expands its platform with new AI-driven features.

New tool gauges homebuyer interest in off-market properties

Real estate technology firm Unlisted has launched a new feature called The Waitlist — allowing buyers to express interest in homes not currently for sale. The tool enables homeowners to showcase their properties online and attract potential buyers without formally listing. 

Ardley launches Ardley OneLink for personalized mortgage offers

Ardley has launched OneLink, a tool that provides custom loan offers to qualified borrowers in seconds, addressing low conversion rates from generic marketing and limited reach to new prospects. The platform authenticates identity, checks eligibility and produces real-time pricing offers. 

Rechat launches AI-powered tool to connect real estate agents

Rechat has launched Agent Network, an AI-powered platform that helps real estate professionals instantly connect with agents who’ve recently closed deals near their listings. By combining listing data, location filters and automated messaging, the tool enables faster collaboration, lead generation and deal flow — with some agents already reporting multimillion-dollar results.