Changes in Real Estate technology in 25 years..looking back on the 80's

For those that were not practicing real estate 20 or more years ago let me take you on a little trip of a typical day and the issues we faced working with primitive equipment. Picture no modern day computers, the architects drew the homes the accounts used paper ledgers, and we mailed black and white listing to interested prospects.

the typewriter one on each desk, we were encouraged to type in the blanks on our listing sheets and type in the blanks on a purchase document but neither was mandatory.

Photographs of listings were taken and brought to the local drug store where you would return in a few days for the prints..you were advanced if you had a one hour photo hut or a Polaroid camera.

The next step was to fit the photo on to your typed listing sheet and Xerox it, sometimes this meant physically cutting the photo so it fit in the blank spot left on the page. Multiple black & white handouts were produced for the file.

Now off to the post office to mail the listing sheet to other brokers and any current customers who might have an interest is seeing this new listing..you just truly cut and pasted together.

If you were an office that hoped to reach people at a distance you called in your ad copy, so the type setter could get it ready for the Sunday classifieds, we mostly went on faith they got it right.

Lastly if you were very sophisticated you did your ads with photos, which took all of the above steps and still we pretty much went on faith that the paper got the price and description right.

So to all you newbies out there with your digital cameras and web sites, don't cry over your spilled Google Juice.We got in the car with a buyer and stayed with them until we found them the right property..when we saw a Cadillac pull up to the office we would say I'm going to marry this guy until he buys. Now don't get me wrong I'm not waxing nostalgic here today's technology is much faster and easier. But many of us had it rougher when we started selling real estate. Adding Machines, everything went by mail and we waited for it to be returned by mail, buyers met with loan officers, and we went to all closings with the escrow check no matter how far away it was or how long it took for everything to be signed. I don't miss the old days, but I remember the hours spent with customers (not clients then) clients were only the sellers.Who Remembers?