This week my I Phone Stopped Working!

Horrors of horrors.      I was in a panic!    I knew calls were coming in.  How would I retrieve them?     Would one of those calls be "the" Buyer for one of my beautiful listings?     Would I miss it?  

Well, thanks to the "Geeks" at the Apple store.   I didn't miss "that" Buyer.   But I did start thinking about the technology we have grown used to and how much we use it to sell your home or help you buy one!           




You all know I started selling real estate 24 years ago.....  Real estate even then was 24/7..( p.s. a term we had never heard of then) ...
we had what you called a "diverter"....

Sure enough, after the office was closed for the evening, the phone lines were call forwarded to one of the agents for the night.   It was that agents job to collect calls that came in after hours and help those clients out... or to take messages....  

Just imagine, no call waiting, (or caller ID for that matter!)
Your entire office depending on you in case someone was to call!    The last thing those agents wanted to hear was that their client got a busy signal or better yet, no answer because you went out for dinner!!    You know it wasn't easy to keep kids off phone...  or tell your Mom you couldn't chat that evening!   

In the past, we used a  Day Timer, basically a written data base and calendar... now, all that and more is stored in my smart phone...  My mobile security blanket!   It does everything, pictures, videos, surfs, conference calls, documents, sends reminders, plays music, games & movies...
Oh yea, and it's a phone too!     No wonder we don't know what to do when it blue screens!


Today, we think nothing of sending an offer by fax or email.     Technology, making it simple to get our offer in and maybe beat out another anxious buyer.     I remember the first fax machine at our office.   We weren't allowed to touch it as it might be used  frivolously!  (the paper was so very expensive!)    Couldn't live without it today and I daresay even that is becoming obsolete!   

But the best thing yet!   Remember Buyers driving around with the Sunday paper looking for open houses?    Today buyers can find your Home on the Internet in tons of different places.  They can even swoop down from space and view it from the road, take that little man, walk down the street and view the neighbor's homes!   Can I even imagine doing that in 1990?

Just this past weekend, I received an offer on one of my Franklin listings from a gentleman who lives in Japan!     He sure as heck didn't see it in the Sunday paper!   

And what about those Sunday or weekly papers?

Just one black and white photo of the home... that's if you were lucky!...   More likely a line ad with a few choice words like "cozy cape".    As a Buyer your information was sketchy.... as a Seller you longed to get the features of your home out there.  Today, color photos and lots of them.    Mapping devices that show the lot.    Tabs for community and school info....

If you bought or sold your home in 1990 you probably remember your Realtor belonging to  MLS, Multiple Listing Service..... She carried around a thick book.    The book was published every 2 weeks.      Now that was real timely! 
 Today your Realtor has over 50,000 properties available to her in Real Time!  

According to NAR (National Association of Realtors)

       Today, Nine in ten buyers used the Internet during the home search process!


And, why not!   You can look for homes, check out communities all without getting out of your PJs!   

So, We tweet, We text, We Blog, We search the Internet............. Technology today a huge part of how we do business.

With smart phone securely back in hand..
I realize the need and want for technology as it brings information to our fingertips lickity split....
... but really, the true factor in a successful real estate transaction is an agent with experience, market knowledge, communication skills and a little bit of match making ability.   

At the end of the day, Real Estate is about people. their families, lifestyle, communities, and their dreams.   

                                                    Care to comment?
         Can you live without your Mobile device? or some other technology?


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