A 1950's Real Estate Office

My mother, who was a Real Estate Broker in the 1950’s, is always amazed at how busy I am with administration, systems, computers, and prospecting for new business. Yesterday she was telling me what her typical day would be in 1953.

I should mention that in 1953 she was one of only five woman Realtors in Vancouver, BC.

She worked for River’s Realty in a store-front at the corner of Hastings and Penticton in a working class neighborhood with a large immigrant population.

 There was a daily morning meeting were the Realtors would recount their activities and promote any new listings. After lunch the office would preview the new listings daily when there were new listings.

 The afternoon could be spent canvassing door to door. Remember that the 1950’s were still the age of the housewife and most doors would be answered. Today if I knock on 100 doors I’d be luck to get 20 people answering the door.

 She started something revolutionary in those days. She taped a penny to a card that she left at the door. The card, typed by the secretaries of course, has the title, “A penny for your thoughts”. An extravagant business expense and approach in those days.

 Being a rarity, as a woman Realtor, people would often phone the office looking for the “Real Estate Lady” or the “Penny Lady”. Branding is not a new concept.

 In 1953 neighbourhood shopping was an important part of society. The storefront real estate office had an integrate role in the local community. Walk-in traffic was a major source of business. During that time not every family had a car and a two car family was rare and not every home had a telephone. A large majority of phones were party line phones and if you didn’t want the Nosy Parkers knowing your business you would not use the phone.

 Just as you would walk to the butcher’s or grocers you would stop in at the local real estate office to do business. In 1953 you could make a living sitting in the office everyday.

 Paperwork. That was a cinch. Write up a listing on a one page listing form and drop it the secretary’s desk when you returned to the office. The secretary prepared all the documentation including the “green sheets” that were distributed to all the salespeople.

 Advertising was pretty straight forward. Handwrite three ads and drop them on the secretary’s desk. The secretaries placed the ads in the paper on a rotation basis. Each salesperson had a five percent advertising budget that the office administrated.

 Sell a property. Drop the one page contract on the secretary’s desk and let her process it. (In those days all secretaries were hers.

 Don’t you wish we had one page contracts today.

 Sounds pretty simple. No computers producing bushels of paper. The local newspaper the only advertising expense. No websites, Blackberries, Twitters, Face Book, Craigslist, Instant messaging, etc.

 When you went to lunch you had lunch, and answered your calls when you returned to the office. How would you like to go for lunch today without an interruption?

 Doesn’t it sound idyllic compared to our busy, complicated, highly systemized approach to business? It does. But the commission was often as low as $75.00 to $100.00 a deal. In those days the split was most often 50/50 unless you were a top producer where you might get a 60/40 split or if you were a really big producer a 70/30 split.

 Ah. The good old days.