From Fax Machines to AI... What an Amazing Ride!

When I first got into real estate, I thought the fax machine was a huge time saver.

Our contracts were handwritten or typed. We needed copies for the buyer, seller, agents, title, and lender. Remember carbon paper..." press hard, it's cheap carbon.'' The copy machine looked like it needed its own instruction manual. Everything seemed complicated, and yet every new piece of technology promised to make life just a little bit easier. Not sure what order the pager came in.

There was the bag phone. Remember those? It felt like carrying a suitcase just so you "thought" you could make a phone call. 

Next came the Palm Pilot. My daughter looked at me and said, "No way will you ever use that." Challenge accepted.  I remember taking a trip and making it my mission to enter every single name and phone number into that little device. By the end of the trip, I had done it. I was so proud of myself.

Years later, I sat across the lunch table from Ira Serkes, one of the CyberStars who had just purchased one of the very first touch-screen tablets. We spent more than half the lunch sliding our fingers across the screen like two children with a brand-new toy. It seemed almost magical.

Technology kept changing. Desktop computers became laptops. Laptops became tablets. Cell phones became smartphones. The scanner was added. One monitor became two. Emails and texting replaced letters and handwritten notes. Digital cameras replaced film.

ActiveRain and blogging came along.  And FaceTime. We had meet-ups. And then Zooms. Meeting buyers and sellers and taking our CE classes online. 

Who would have imagined that writing a blog could introduce me to friends all across the country? Those friendships became real. They became referrals, support systems, brainstorming partners, and lifelong relationships.

One of my favorite stories happened because of those connections. Friends of mine in Florida had their condo on the market for months without success. They jokingly challenged me. "If you're so good, why don't you sell our house in Florida?" I smiled and said, "I can't sell it, but I know someone who can."

Through ActiveRain, I knew an outstanding REALTOR®, Elyse Berman, PA. I told her to go meet my friends. "But it's already listed," she said. "It won't be by the time you get there," I replied. She took the listing. We talked about it on my Baltimore radio show. Someone listening in a Florida flea market heard the broadcast, contacted the new listing agent, and within a week, the house was under contract after sitting unsold for more than six months.

Think about that for a moment. A radio show in Maryland... heard in Florida... because of technology... leading to a real estate sale through friendships created by blogging. How incredible is that?

Today, AI allows me to record, talk as fast as I can, write blogs and stories, organize my thoughts, create colorful illustrations, improve my writing, and sometimes even remind me of ideas I almost forgot. And all of that can be done before I get up.

As a former pediatric nurse, every note I wrote was handwritten. As a ceramic artist, I worked with clay instead of keyboards. Today I can sit in Baltimore and instantly talk with friends, clients, and fellow REALTORS® across America. I can create images, prepare radio shows, answer questions, write articles, and help buyers and sellers list and sell, all without leaving my desk.

The technology has certainly changed.  But the purpose hasn't.

Technology has never replaced relationships. It has simply given us more wonderful ways to build them. Looking back, I never imagined this journey would take me from handwritten notes and fax machines to blogs, podcasts, smartphones, AI, and friendships that span the country.

I can't wait to see what comes next.