Then and Now
1971 seems not so long ago, but when the changes that have occurred in the real estate business are reviewed, it would be considered by the youth of today as the "dark ages".
No computers, no battery powered calculators, no cell phones or electronics, no Internet.
One of the first battery-powered, digital calculators went on the market.
In 1971. It was about the size of a small shoe box and was very heavy, but we invested several hundred dollars to have this "latest technology".
A real estate contract was one page, mostly fill in the blanks. The only contingency was that a buyer be approved for financing. Oh yes, there were no office copiers so contracts were written with the use of carbon paper and perhaps a typewriter, most of which were manual. Recently a client's daughter was in the office and asked her father "what is THAT?" THAT was an IBM top of the line typewriter. And it still works and I still use it. Actually, we have three of them still used occasionally.
The Multiple Listing Service was run by Don Helm and he made copies of our listings on a mimeograph machine for the 200 or so real estate people who were members. I'd pick those up once each week and sit in front of my black and white television set and update my binder. The MIS evolved from mimeograph to copier and in 1979 to a printed book.
If you were showing a customer houses and needed to make another appointment, you'd have to run for the nearest pay phone. In 1973 we had one salesperson, Leona Nutter, who actually had a two-way radio in her car so she could call a base station, give a phone number to dial and make an appointment. WOW!
In the late 70's the first direct dial radio car phones were introduced and the company bought three of them... pricing was in the vicinity of $4000 each. It was a real surprise to people when we'd call them from in front of their house. You'd see the curtain pull back and they'd peer out.
Today we have electronic lockboxes that keep track of who enters a property along with date and time. We have copiers that print color copies in a flash. We have phones that do everything but walk. We have second to second updates on our computers of properties sold and new. We have the latest software to print contracts that are a minimum of 8 pages and we don't even have to deliver them…just scan and email. A real estate file in 1971 might have included a half dozen sheets of paper when complete and in 2011 we feel like we "kill trees" with every file.
The things that have not changed... we still have Buyers and Sellers. Buyers still want to buy low and sellers still want to sell high. It is the REALTOR who is the catalyst to bring these together successfully. Why have we met this challenge every day for over 40 years? Because of the sincere satisfaction of helping families accomplish their dream of homeownership.
30 years from now, will you OWN a home? I hope so.
Sarah Graham