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This year is Minnesota Realtors’® 102nd birthday, and a lot has changed since 1919. Though our commitment to helping our members succeed remains the same, today’s real estate industry has profoundly transformed from a century ago. From fax machines and cell phones to a digital MLS, most Realtors® have seen a shift in ‘business as usual.’ 

In honor of MNR’s 102 anniversary, we asked some emeritus* members to share their thoughts on the changes they’ve witnessed in their 40-plus year careers. 

  
Betty Cole (CRS, SFR) – Edina Realty 

I started as a Realtor® in 1974. There was only a one-page purchase agreement; offers were accepted with a brief telegram; MLS listings were loose sheets that would be filed or pulled out of a binder every day. To obtain a key for showing the property, you had to drive to the listing company and then return the key when finished! 

  
Tom Wiener – Cardinal Realty 

It has been a great 45-plus years in this business. I have met many great people and created lasting friendships that I cherish. 

The most obvious change is that paperwork and regulations have greatly increased. I got my real estate license as a senior in high school at the age of 18. At that time contracts were a total of two pages. I remember a home that was supposed to close, but the bank changed the rate on the buyers. So, we contacted another bank and had them close on the loan that same afternoon. That would not happen today. 

Other changes have increased professionalism in our industry. This is helped by taking required classes, mediation between Realtors®, and the ability to question the ethics of fellow Realtors® through the state association. 

The most significant change, in my opinion, is that we have a better understanding of representation. This was not present when I first got my license. Buyers and sellers didn't know who was representing them. It has become clearer to the public because of the agency representation form. This makes Realtors® more transparent as well. 


Jeff Anderes – ­­Edina Realty 

Some of the things I’ve experienced over 40 years include drawing up one-page purchase agreements that had the financing clause, and doing the math longhand without a calculator on a net sheet. My first pocket calculator was a Panasonic that cost $120. You could do addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. Percent features were a game changer! Of course, there were no computers or word processors—and I had my own typewriter. 

Offers for buyers were presented in person with the seller and listing agent. At one of these meetings, we sat in the seller’s basement with their cat. When I was on the road, I always had a pocket-full of quarters for pay phones so I could make calls on the fly. Later, I got a hard-wired car phone and had to pay 25 cents a minute. Another high-tech innovation for the office was the DECwriter dot-matrix printer. 

Jim Luger 

I founded Luger Realty in 1976 along with my wife, Judy. The biggest change I've seen during my four decades as a broker is changing communication with clients. We’ve gone from in-person meetings and telephone calls to emails and texts. 

Kevin Knudsen – (AHWD) Coldwell Banker Realty 

For over 40 years, I have been proud to be a Realtor®. There have been numerous changes in how we do our business. Today’s Northstar MLS, with more than 80 photos, supplements, and links to tax records has replaced a three-ring binder with a single sheet describing the listing. This book was updated weekly. 

Communication evolved from the desk phone, to a pager, to a car phone. Then came the flip phone, the Blackberry, and then the iPhone. While so much has changed over the years, some things are exactly the same. This is a business based on building and maintaining relationships. Our job is to represent the best interest of our clients in a professional manner 

Dewey Bakken – Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty 

Salespeople were required to sell for two years and then needed tribunal MLS approval to earn a Realtor® designation. The 1970s brought Truth in Sale of Housing (TISH), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), formaldehyde inspections, and 18% mortgage interest in 1980. The MLS developed a listing book that was delivered weekly from which to conduct searches. Then there was this new machine called a FAX.  

Changes were frequent when computers were introduced. They compelled office preparation for what was ahead. From MLS books to email to active online searches conducted in front of your clients ­– wow! Then 2000 came and the market was wild with computerization. But that was too slow for a rapidly demanding system for pricing, showing appointments, clients shopping online at home and now buying online without looking at the property. One new platform after the last! We know what happened in 2008, where will 2021 take us? 

The past 30 years of rapid changes have been both mind boggling and often frustrating -- ­– a very complicated experience. But what stays the same is the meaning of real estate and the knowledge and experience Realtors® need to guide both sellers and buyers. 

Steve Westmark (ePRO, ABR, CRB, CRS) – ReMax Advantage Plus 

When I began my real estate career in 1973, listing sheets were sent to the office that every agent managed. Next, bound and printed MLS catalogs were sent every two weeks, plus updates with new information every two weeks. Then we went to computers with thermal-print paper. Books moved online - which has changed immensely over the years with multiple add-ons or changes every year. I also remember getting my first CRM in the mid 1980’s and using floppy disks on my Compaq Portable computer that weighed 25 pounds. Look at how 2020 changed how we conducted open houses virtually in the pandemic environment! 

You have to learn to love and embrace change. Always be ready to adapt or to make change and innovation in your business. What will it be in 2021? 

Denny Mathis – Edina Realty 

When I was licensed (along with my wife Lynn) to Thorpe Brothers Realty in 1980, the MLS books had just started replacing weekly tear sheets. The books came every Friday, and you waited for them to find new listings. I think that is the biggest change. Based on saved searches, new listings now pop up in your inbox as soon as they go on. And of course, technology is amazing and now critical to all of us doing business. 

  
Rich Hansen (CRS, GRI, SFR) – Coldwell Banker Realty 

First and foremost, my wife and I are still very much involved with the challenges we enjoy in this great business. We just closed two properties in Maple Grove, have two pending sales in Edina, and a new construction being built in Lakeville – so much for retirement! 

I am pleased to think I’ve been helping people realize their dreams since starting my career in 1968. I’ve been part of this great industry for more than half of MNR’s 100-plus years. 

Obviously, technology has changed our great industry as it has the world. Imagine waiting for pages of new listings to be delivered each day, and manually inserting them in a ringed binder while removing pages of sold properties. Today we see all that information on our phone within seconds! 

 The contracts have grown from one page to more than 30 to 50 pages. Today, the majority of mortgage lenders and real estate agents could not imagine a contract of only one or two pages.  

For the decade of the 1970s mortgage interest rates were no higher than 8% per state law. Early in the 1980’s we saw rates at almost 20% and later in the decade they dropped to around 8%. Hard to believe we are now expecting to be below 3%! 

Here we are now in a pandemic and homes are selling for record prices, in record time and in record numbers. What a fantastic opportunity to have lived and worked through all these changes in this great industry. Here’s to a great 2021! 

• 40 years of Realtor or Realtor®-Associate (or both) membership. 
• Proof of one year of service at the National Association level.