When Real Estate Technology Attacks

I guess you can call me a real estate dinosaur since I’ve been licensed since 1983.  Find out all about me here. 

When I first started in real estate there were no computers.  We had this little fax-like machine for MLS access with the paper that turned black when sitting in your car with the heat and sun.  No photos – how did we sell anything?!

Speaking of fax machines, nope, we didn’t have one.  Thank goodness we had a copier, but I still always carried a supply of carbon paper around.  What a mess.

My first “cell” phone was bigger than my purse.  But anyone who carried their bag phone around was considered pretty advanced (and cool).  I wish I had saved mine instead of selling it to some kid at a garage sale.

Oh, and the pagers.  For some reason they annoyed me more than my cell phone.  No catchy tunes, just the beeps.  Maybe it reminded me of an alarm clock.  I always hated them.

 How did we store our databases?  What databases?  It’s my biggest regret.

No pda, no laptop.  The closest thing was a Day-Timer.  As much as I love technology, I still don’t have a pda.  I keep looking at them, but I can’t see them.  They’re too small.  I told you I’m a dinosaur.

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I have tried many different resources to keep my notes in.  I have a cell phone I can record notes but I forget how to use it and I don’t think it’s easy enough to quickly get back to.  I love the computer and type very fast but I use both a pc and laptop and don’t have access all the time (I never carry the laptop around).  Loose papers get lost.  So after all these years and with all the available technology, my quick notes are written down in a spiral notebook.  I tear pages out and file them or throw them away when they’re obsolete.  Very unprofessional but it works for me.

This week I had several technology meltdowns.  I guess I need to vent.  Aside from my spiral notebook and lack of pda, I pride myself at using most of the latest technology.  If I can use it and it streamlines things (or is a necessity for the business), I have it. 

Even though my brokerage, Classic Realty Group, has two offices I can use, I work in my home office as much as possible.  I rely on my Internet service to provide my cable Internet access.  They’re normally very reliable. 

The past couple of days my cable Internet service kept going in and out.  It might have been because of bad weather.  I’d be typing something online and it would disappear (I’m creating this in Word right now).  I’d need MLS access and couldn’t get to it.  It would be fine one minute, down the next.  Did I really have to get out of my pajamas and go into the office!  Damn!

One time I needed to access the Northern Illinois MLS right then and there and couldn’t.  Even if I ran into the office for one thing, I would have had to sit there all day – just in case.  So I stayed home and managed to make it through the multiple downtime without feeling “unprofessional.”  No one on the other end knew what was happening and I was able to get the important things I needed done but it was in bits and pieces.

Although this was a problem that hurt me more than it did my clients or other agents, it was certainly a pain on my end and wasted a lot of time.  I didn’t get half of what I had planned done like working on my Tinley Park real estate website. 

I remember one time my prior office had computer problems and even phone line problems several times.  When things like these happen and it affects your clients and other agents it also affects your professionalism.  We all know that things happen that we might not have control of, but it sometimes feels like we’re just making an excuse when one of our technologies is not working.

Internet access – I never heard of it in my first years in the business, now I can’t live without it!  This is part one of a 3 part series.