That was Then.  This is Now.  |  Part 2 of 4

Then:  Multiple Boards of Realtors and Multiple Listing Services:  There were four boards of Realtors for each of the four principal counties which make up the Capital Region of New York State, each with its own multiple listing service.  For agents and brokers who principally transacted business in one particular county, that was the county board of Realtors and the multiple listing service they were a member of and the professional institution to which annual dues were paid. 

If a broker or agent was working with a prospective purchaser who was interested in a home in another county in which they were not a member of that particular multiple listing service, that agent might contact a colleague in that county to ask if they might “borrow” the multiple listing book or perform a dumb terminal search for available homes in that county.  Toilsome effort compared to the standards of the modern day. 

Now:  Through a series of mergers, there is now one unified regional board of Realtors and one multiple listing service. 

Then:  House showings were arranged by making individual phone calls to the listing broker’s office or the listing agent themselves.  It was labor intensive effort since the person taking the phone call had to call the owner for permission and subsequently confirm the showing appointment.  There were countless occurrences of back and forth message taking.   I had a beeper in which the “agent on duty” at my office could leave a ten second request for me to call the office so they could relay a message or convey a showing confirmation.  Then, the search began to find the nearest working pay phone.  Keep in mind, this was several years before the first car phone was introduced. 

Now:  Thankfully, there is a centralized showing service which utilizes the Internet and a smartphone app for showing requests and confirmations VIA Email and text messages.  This is far more efficient – and preferred - for all concerned. 

Then:  Once showings were confirmed, a real estate broker or agent typically had to pick up keys at the listing broker’s office, well ahead of the scheduled showing and return the key after the showing concluded.  This was not difficult to do, yet it was time consuming.  There were instances when I arrived at the listing broker’s office to pick up a key to show a property that was listed for sale, but the key had not yet been returned to the office from a previous house showing.  So, I had to return, at some point later, to the listing broker’s office with hope and a prayer the key was returned by the previous agent or broker who showed the property.   

Now:  Lockboxes (key safes that are located at the property offered for sale) were introduced in the early 2000’s and have become widely used, saving the trip to the listing broker’s office to pick up and return a key. 

Then:  Prospective purchasers would ride in my car.  I had the route mapped out and coordinated in the proper order.  Prospective purchasers didn’t know what houses were available for sale or where the houses were located, so this practice was efficient and sensible. 

Now, most prospective purchasers meet their broker or agent at the first house they wish to see and drive in separate cars. 

Then:  Company Caravans were held once a week, traditionally on the morning of an office or company sales meeting for many real estate companies. 

A caravan was a practice utilized by the brokers and agents of a real estate company who travelled by car to preview newly listed homes for sale.  I personally never saw the value of this inasmuch as I made it a practice to familiarize myself with the homes which were recently listed for sale.  Yet, it made an undeniable impact upon sellers to see 20 or 30 cars drive up their street with 60-80 real estate professionals exiting their vehicles to tour their house.  This sight made an impact upon the neighbors, too.

With the introduction of the Internet and web 1.0 in the mid 1990’s, caravans began to fade away as the Internet enabled the geographic market area for real estate companies to expand.  No longer did agents list or show houses “in their immediate area of concentration”, the expanse of the market area spread.  This made company caravan impractical since the distance between houses listed for sale were increasingly spanning multiple towns and counties apart.   Real estate brokers and agents were reluctant to spend ½ or ¾ of a working day touring houses that could be 30-60 miles apart from one another.

Some of the outlying local county boards of Realtors attempted to pick up this tactic with “regional caravan’s”, yet, that effort did not appear to be supported by companies, brokers and agents and this practice consequently stopped.

I'll explore more in "Part 3" of "That was Then.  This is Now."