NO PUN INTENDED, WELL, MAYBE A LITTLE
MELANIE KISHK
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO RECEIVED YOUR REAL ESTATE LICENSE IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, TRY TO IMAGINE SELLING A HOUSE WITHOUT USING YOUR CELL PHONE, THE INTERNET, INSTAGRAM, GOOGLE MAPS, EMAIL, DOCU-SIGN OR ZOOM. IF THAT SEEMS LIKE AN INCONCEIVABLE CONCEPT, BEAR WITH ME. AS FEW AS 20 YEARS AGO, LIFE AS A REAL ESTATE AGENT WAS EVEN MORE OF AN ADVENTURE.
When I started selling houses in the ‘90s, I tried to be as open and honest with my customers as possible, because they relied on me for information they could not readily attain. They couldn’t just go online and find out everything there was to know about a house. If they wanted to see property records, they drove to the courthouse. If they wanted to see a house, they had to drive by it. If they wanted to see inside, they waited their turn!
I still remember my first day as a realtor. I drove for 15 minutes to my office to wait in line to use one of the three computers I shared with 30 other people. As the multiple listing service released information, we took turns looking up houses. If we found something we liked, we waited in line to use a printer to physically print out all of the information. Without easily accessible data bases, I printed out copies and put them into color-coordinated folders lined up by street names and numbers.
Now, everyone carries a camera in their pocket, but back then I kept a camera handy in the car so I could drive past a house, take photos (weather permitting), drive to the pharmacy to drop off the film and hopefully have actual photos in my hands by the weekend. I carried the photos with me, in case I met anyone who might be interested in a house. I even wrote individual letters to potential home buyers, hoping for a call back. If you think this sounds like something out of an episode of The Flintstones, bear in mind it was just a few years ago!
I remember waiting all week for the local newspaper to come out so I could actually see the advertisement I ran for a house listing. Half the time I was calling prospective buyers and the other half I was sitting looking at the phone, hoping it would ring. Inevitably, the minute I left for a meeting someone called. When I finally got back home, I listened to all the messages and started returning phone calls, taking notes and hoping I wasn’t trying to sell someone the wrong house. After that I compiled a list of questions from clients and drove back to the house to find answers. Without digital photography or Google Maps, I couldn’t answer questions without another drive by. Is there a detached shed? Is the driveway in good shape? Can the neighbors see into my bedroom windows?
Armed with information, I could finally go back to the office and schedule showings. Without cell phones, I was often at the mercy of clients or other realtors showing up when they said they would, because I had no way to reach them if they didn’t. I can remember wasting an hour waiting for another agent who never showed. I can still remember every detail of that house! The agent finally called me that night to tell me she had an emergency. Trust me, I will never complain about text messaging, again!
Without Google Maps or Waze, I often stopped to ask for directions, hoping someone knew which house I wanted to see. I’ve been lost in more neighborhoods than I can count. On the plus side, though, I stumbled across some really nice listings that way.
When it was time to make an offer, I drove the offer sheet from my home to the office, photocopied it, drove back to present it and then, if there was an accepted offer, I physically carried the deal sheet and paperwork over to the attorney’s office. The deals had to manually be chased and there was no reaching my lawyer on weekends.
Selling houses in the pre-electronic age was not easy, but the crazy thing is that it was a lot of fun! I would never want to return to those days, but the experience of scrambling and reaching out and waiting turned out to be a fantastic education about the real estate business. I wouldn’t trade that knowledge for all the conveniences we now have.
Century 21’s Melanie Kishk is a full-time broker/owner. Her team consists of top performing real estate agents serving Brooklyn, New York and the surrounding communities.
