I realized last week that I was approaching the end of my 35th year in the real estate industry. I've seen a lot of change in the last 35 years. I got into real estate when buyer agency didn't exist! Everyone represented the seller whether they realized it or not. I was licensed in 1988 and buyer agency didn't become a thing until the early 1990s.
In those early years, I sold a lot of homes that required lead based paint letters. The government banned lead based paint in 1978 so anytime we sold a home built prior to that, we used the mandated form and gave the prospective buyer the LBP brochure. Now, most of the homes I sell don't require a LBP letter if they are newly built or less than 45 years old.
We used to write offers in sextuplicate and drive back and forth to listing agent's homes after hours getting signatures in order to have an accepted contract. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE in real estate!
I was around when fax machines were installed to make our lives easier. Still, most lawyers didn't want to accept a facsimile and required a "wet signature" in blue ink for a contract to be valid. I still remember those curled up faxes printed on a roll of thermal paper, where the ink would vanish in a file after a period of time. Those were interesting days, to be sure!
I've been through almost every real estate market imaginable; good markets, slow markets, buyer's markets, seller's markets. Foreclosure years and short sale years. High interest rates and low rates. You name it, I've been there. And I will continue to be here for my clients when they need me.
As we say goodbye to 2023, I looking forward to a productive new year of serving buyers and sellers in 2024.
Cheers to 35 years in Real Estate, and here's to many more.
Happy New Year!
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