Finally, we got affiliated nationally and had big listing books we carried around everywhere. In the early 90’s came fax machines, which basically changed the way we did business. We thought it was just amazing that someone could stick a piece of paper in a machine somewhere across the country and it would come out in our machine!
letters. Instead of sticking our heads in computer screens, we were scouring MLS books or the Buyer’s Guide for available properties. Answering machines where people could leave messages after hours was a welcome change. As opposed to today’s multiple offer situations where speed is paramount to the process, it was a rare occurrence to have two offers on the same property at the same time. If that ever happened, though, the first offer would have been given preference and dealt with before the second one. Oh, and because we didn’t have all the legal information from the courthouse online until years later, many properties didn’t have 911 addresses, so the legal information on the contract might read something like “the Smith house off Highway 64 West.” I’ve heard stories of Realtors selling people the wrong lot, because they never had a survey, and the owners were never quite sure where the lot began and ended! We never gave a thought to safety and would put most anyone in our cars to travel the area’s backwoods territory miles from town. I never heard of an instance where anyone was harmed, though. We also never went out of our territory to show other properties. If I had someone looking in Cashiers, I would refer them to a Realtor there, rather than take them myself. Now we go anywhere our MLS goes and more if we want to, even to neighboring states if we’re licensed there. “We’ve moved from “local” to “global” now with the internet blasting listings all over the globe.”
It took quite a while to get rid of keys, though. I remember the crowded summer days when you needed to pick up a key from another office and couldn’t find a parking place. Often you would have the listing realtor meet you out at the street and they would hand you the key as you drove by. Our electronic lockboxes of today were only a dream back then. I remember there was a lot of sitting around in offices in those days. Mostly we were waiting for people to walk in the door or call on the phone. Or we were farming neighborhoods for listings with personal
The Way We Were
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