Or is it Back to the Present as today October 21st, the day that Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown traveled to 2015 in the sequel of Back to the Future.
There has been a lot of talk lately of what they got right and what was way off… I don’t know about you but I’m still waiting for the flying cars. Of course the number one item that some of us have been waiting for are those Hoverboards made by Mattel.
Since there are a few other predictions that were made I thought I would look at some of the changes in Real Estate since 1985. Of course our economy has had a few ups and downs since then most recently in 2008, in which the housing market took a major hit.
In 1985, real estate agents relied on the inventory books that were published once a week and were pretty much outdated by the time they were printed. Agents would meet with clients and show them the inventory list that matched their needs and start going out to view the properties. Back then of course information was kept close to the office and it was harder to find out what was for sale or any real history on the property.
Today Buyers and Sellers have a lot of information they can obtain on their own, with a simple Google search they can learn about a neighborhood they are interested in, see what is available for sale and even learn the history of the particular property.
Even the property itself is exposed in a virtual “Open House” for prospective buyers to view any time they desire from their home computers, laptops, tablets or even at the beach on their smartphones..
As far as the homes themselves, they have seen quite a bit of changes including the ability to control your homes lighting, air conditioning and security from the palm of your hand anywhere in the world. You can even have dinner ready in the oven if you so desire.
As far as keeping ourselves entertained, that has changed quite a bit as well as predicted in Back to the Future, we have flat screen TV’s that can be placed anywhere we can imagine. Attach your TV to the internet and you have unlimited video streaming, video conferencing, live chat and much more.
But I would say that in real estate, the one thing that is interesting to note is the present interest rate, right now interest rates are around 4.0%, back in the 1980’s we had double digit interest rates of about 12.0% or more. So in reality, even though prices have increased, it is cheaper to own a home today as opposed to 1985.
One piece of technology in which they got wrong were fax machines, back in 1985 they were the easiest way to send documents. Today we have email, the cloud and other methods of sending documents that are much quicker.
In the end, I don’t know about you, but I’m rooting for the Chicago Cubs to win the series this year. It only seems fitting that they do so, on this year that we all Came Back to the Future!
Let me know what you think about the changes in Real Estate in the past 30 years and what to expect in the future.
Rene Sabatini
Licensed Real Estate Broker
www.AzureRealty.com
