Should a brokerage buy showing software or hire a transaction coordinator?

They do different jobs. Showing software books and confirms the appointment; a transaction coordinator carries the paperwork from contract to close. A brokerage that misses showing requests needs the first, one whose files stall before closing needs the second, and a coordinator service sells the second by the transaction. Having the workflow built, by an independent builder such as Alea Applied AI, fits when the work falls between the scheduling tool, the inbox and the transaction file.

Updated 4 October 2026

How do the four options compare?

Prices are the ones each company published on 4 October 2026. The wage is a median from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Each cell is a summary: the detail and the qualifiers are below.

Compared on	Buy showing and transaction software	Hire a transaction coordinator	Use a coordinator service	Have it built
Cost	ShowingTime's Appointment Center: 15 dollars a month for an agent. dotloop Premium: 34.99 dollars a month. SkySlope Suite: from 340 dollars a month.	No official wage for the title. Nearest BLS median, May 2025: 48,310 dollars a year for secretaries and administrative assistants. Benefits come on top.	Transactly: 399 dollars a transaction, contract to close, on its pay-as-you-go plan. MyOutDesk: a full-time assistant from 1,988 dollars a month.	A fixed-fee audit, then a build quoted at a fixed price before it starts.
Time to live	None of the three gives a setup time on its pricing page.	The time it takes to recruit and train one person.	Transactly's pages give no setup time; its pay-as-you-go plan has no monthly fee. MyOutDesk says most clients are matched with an assistant within days.	An audit of about a week, then a first working version usually live in two to four weeks.
Covers	ShowingTime: showing requests, taken online or by phone around the clock. dotloop: documents, e-signatures and task templates. SkySlope: documents, forms and checklists, with e-signatures as an add-on.	The file from contract to close, on your checklist, in working hours.	Transactly lists paperwork review, document management, inspections, escrow and title, and progress updates. MyOutDesk places one person, eight hours a day, five days a week.	Showing requests, confirmations and document chasing, across the tools you already run.
Leaves with you	Whatever sits between the showing and the file, and someone to run both.	Recruitment, training, supervision, cover for absence, and the hours the person does not work.	Everything before the contract, unless you add it: Transactly prices listing coordination separately.	Agreeing the acceptance criteria, the cases the rules pass to a named person, and wire instructions: we do not build systems that send them.

What does each option cost, and what does it cover?

Each option is described from its own published pages, read on 4 October 2026, in the currency the page prints, and closes on when it fits.

Buy showing and transaction software
Two kinds of software sit either side of this question. Showing software books the appointment: ShowingTime's Appointment Center costs an agent 15 dollars a month and includes live appointment specialists who take showing requests online or by phone around the clock; for team and office pricing it says to contact sales. Transaction software holds the file: dotloop lists its Premium plan, for agents, at 34.99 dollars a month or 344 dollars a year, says a free account covers up to ten transactions, and quotes teams and brokers individually; SkySlope lists its Suite from 340 dollars a month, with digital signatures as an add-on, and does not say how many agents or offices that price covers. None of the three gives a setup time on its pricing page. This route fits when the gap is one job that a product already does.
Hire a transaction coordinator
Transaction coordinator is not a title in the index of BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook. The index files a real estate administrative assistant under secretaries and administrative assistants, which we take as the nearest occupation: a median annual wage of 48,310 dollars in May 2025, or 47,540 for those outside legal, medical and executive work. Benefits come on top: BLS's employer cost figures for June 2026 put them at 11.51 dollars an hour worked for office and administrative support staff in private industry, against 25.22 in wages and salaries. This route fits when you close enough transactions to fill one person's week, every week.
Use a coordinator service
A coordinator service sells the same work without the hire. Transactly's pricing page lists a pay-as-you-go plan with no monthly fee and transaction coordination at 399 dollars; its page for agents describes that as full service from contract to close, at 399 dollars a transaction, prices listing coordination at 150, and notes that California pricing may vary. Its monthly plan is 379 dollars with one transaction included. A virtual assistant firm places a person with you instead: MyOutDesk lists a full-time assistant, eight hours a day and five days a week, from 1,988 dollars a month, with a second tier from 2,500; its FAQ lists transaction coordination among the tasks its assistants handle and says most clients are matched with an assistant within days. This route fits when volume is uneven and you would rather pay by the transaction, or when you want the person without the hire.
Have it built
An independent builder builds the workflow across what you already run and operates it afterwards. That is our work: showings and viewings booked without the email thread, documents, signatures and confirmations chased on a schedule, and anything the rules do not cover passed to a named person. It starts with a fixed-fee audit; the build is then quoted at a fixed price, against acceptance criteria written before it starts. We do not build systems that send wire instructions. This route fits when the work falls between the scheduling tool, the inbox and the transaction file, and keeps coming back to the owner's desk.

What do we do, and on what terms?

We build and run the system inside the software your brokerage already uses. It starts with a fixed-fee audit, about a week, that measures the current process and models the fix. The build is then scoped and quoted at a fixed price, and a first working version is usually live in two to four weeks. The acceptance criteria are written before any build begins: what the system will do, measured how, by when. If it does not meet them, the fix is ours. After that we can keep running it, reviewed monthly, and you can cancel at any time.

How do you decide?

Separate the two jobs. Showing software and a transaction coordinator do not replace each other: one books the appointment, the other carries the file from contract to close.
Count transactions, not agents. A coordinator service priced by the transaction costs nothing in a month with no transactions; a salary and a subscription do not stop.
Ask your MLS what it already provides. ShowingTime sells a product to MLSs for their members to schedule showings.
Cost the person in full: the wage, the benefits on top, and the time to recruit and train.
Decide who owns the file when the coordinator, the service or the system hands something back.

When are we the wrong choice?

If the only gap is booking showings, showing software is the direct answer
If you want the paperwork gone by the closing and not a system to own, a transaction coordinator is the direct answer
If you close only a few transactions a month, pay a coordinator by the transaction before you build anything
If you are about to change CRM or transaction software, wait until that settles rather than building twice

Frequently asked questions

Is showing software a substitute for a transaction coordinator?

No. They cover different stretches of a deal. ShowingTime's Appointment Center is a showing scheduling service that includes live appointment specialists, who take showing requests online or by phone around the clock. A transaction coordinator starts at the contract: Transactly lists paperwork review, document management, inspections, escrow and title, and progress updates, through to the close.

How much does a transaction coordinator cost?

By the transaction, Transactly listed 399 dollars from contract to close on its pay-as-you-go plan on 4 October 2026, and noted that California pricing may vary. As an employee there is no official wage for the title; the BLS median annual wage for secretaries and administrative assistants, where its index files a real estate administrative assistant, was 48,310 dollars in May 2025, with benefits on top.

What does showing software cost?

On 4 October 2026 ShowingTime listed its Appointment Center at 15 dollars a month for an agent, a price that includes access to its live appointment specialists. For team and office pricing it says to contact sales.

What does transaction management software cost?

On 4 October 2026 dotloop listed its Premium plan, for agents, at 34.99 dollars a month or 344 dollars a year, said a free account covers up to ten transactions, and quoted teams and brokers individually. SkySlope listed its Suite from 340 dollars a month and said no long-term contract is required; its page does not say how many agents or offices that price covers.

What does it cost to automate showing scheduling and transaction paperwork for a brokerage?

It depends on the route. For an agent, showing software is 15 dollars a month on ShowingTime's published price and transaction software 34.99 dollars a month on dotloop's Premium plan; neither prints a price for a brokerage. A coordinator service is 399 dollars a transaction on Transactly's. Having it built starts, with us, with a fixed-fee audit that measures the current process and models the fix; the build is then scoped and quoted at a fixed price.

Sources

Every statement on this page about a named company, a price, a wage or a rule was read at its source on 4 October 2026. Prices, wages and policies change: read them again before you rely on them.

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