Just put in the lease that electronic communication -text- is allowed.

If it were only so simple that would be great.The bank has to check out a lot of things about the buyer(s) and for as much as this is the electronic age, paper will never go away and the processing stages involve more than just one persons ok.The copies of your W2 (verify employment and income), your bank statements (verify balances), copies of your tax returns (verify, verify, verify income), credit cards (verify debt), credit reporting, if you have any mortgages those statement copies are also verified with those lenders and it's part of your debt check.Although you gave this up for them to qualify you, it wasn't the deep dive into all your history.Think about all your documents going to underwriting who has to verify all this information and ensure that the financing they are about to lend is not a risk to them.When I was going through my HELOC process, there was a three day wait to verify my employment.

@Alex Gronbach check out NestEgg.rent and put on electronic locks like Ultraloq

I use cozy.co or some other free (to both me and the tenant) electronic method to collect rent.The idea is to keep this process free and easy for the tenant.  

Note: The lease does not have any provisions indicating electronic notice is allowed.

If the tenant has contents that suffer loss because of a peril your policy pays for (think water backup that damages your floors and the tenants electronics or food spoilage due to power outage).

Can documents be submitted electronically or will originals be required?  

@Chris SchoonhovenFollowing are the similarities and differences between the solo 401k and the self-directed IRA.The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from creditors;Both allow for nondeductible contributions; andBoth are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m) The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (Checkbook IRA) must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2016; the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from bankruptcy creditors;Both are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m); andNeither may be directly invested in your own business startup The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (self-directed IRA LLC) must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control outside the LLC;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan; If you borrow from your own IRA, it will be deemed a taxable distribution;Unlike an IRA, a Solo 401k can invest in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2015; the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of his or her solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of his or her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;Unlike an IRA, generally when distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian, generally by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA--from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth 401k RMD requirement;Roth IRA funds are not subject to requirement minimum distributions (RMDs);The fair market value (FMV) of assets held in a self-directed IRA is reported on form 5498;The fair market value of assets held in a solo 401k are reported on Form 5500-EZ;At termination, the solo 401k is required to file a final Form 5500-EZ and 1099-R; andAt termination, the self-directed IRA is only required to file a form 1099-R.

I would not think an e-mail would be legally binding either unless it included an electronic signature accessible only to that person or a scanned document with their signature on it.