Words on a page. That was the Charelston MLS. I have been in real estate since 1995 and when I got in, real estate books were once published every week.
Am I getting old? Yes. Am I antiquated? No, not at all.
1995 was the year that Windows broke through to the mainstream. The internet had only just begun, so as real estate agents, me and my colleagues were able to covet the extremely private information regarding the homes for sale in Charleston, SC.
So how did my day look? Well, the books were on their way out when I was on my way in, so I vaguely remember having to use them. Seems like they were around for a month or two, and then they vanished. I do remember buyers calling in and discussing all of the different houses available. I would log into the newly computerized Charleston MLS and print off homes for sale. I would talk with buyers on the phone (seriously, I would) and then utilize the fax machine, and send properties for sale to them.
I remember having to feed the fax machine with 2-3 pages at a time, because that was all it could handle. And to think at the time, I was cutting edge. While others were out door knocking, I was using the fax to publish and help people.
Well, time progressed and the technology became more efficient. Electronic mail started to creep its way into our psyche and I remember asking people if they ever used email.
The Mindspringers, AOL fanatics and Earthlinkers started to surface everywhere. At the same time, the Multiple Listing Service started to change also.
The came the big scare. A new concept sweeping the nation called “broker reciprocity” threatened to change real estate forever. The concept was frightening to Realtors across many boards. To share information with other companies and to let other agents host my listings on their website. Was this crazy talk?
I was open minded. There very well may have been some benefits to me. I could host other agents listings on my website as well. I was no dinosaur in my thinking. The cup was half full. Maybe the pros were as good as the alternate. The truth of the matter is... Whether I agreed with this new concept or not, it did not matter. As Bobby Dylan once wrote, the times, they were a changin’ for the Multiple Listing Service too.
Fast forward to today. In full force, all homes for sale are available to all consumers, on hundreds, if not thousands of real estate websites. And while we are certainly not secret agents any more, we are more needed now than at anytime in history. Though we are no longer the gate keepers, real estate has changed from “what we know about”, to “what we know about it.”
So go ahead, use my site. It is heavily focused on the user experience. It offers access to all of the Charleston South Carolina Homes available in the Charleston MLS. Not the sales, not the comps, not the data, but what is for sale being offered to everyone in the Charleston MLS is a big change from what it used to be.
Happy House Hunting!
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Nat Wallen is a Realtor in Charleston SC specializing in residential property sales. He has been licensed since 1995 and is the top listing agent with Carolina One Real Estate. Carolina One Real Estate is the largest company in the Charleston SC area of 700 plus agents. NOTE: Nat Wallen never solicits consumers interacting with his blog unless requested. YOUR comments are encouraged and welcomed. Thanks!
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