essays

Old Dog Learns New Tricks

san miguel de allendeThe world is changing inexorably, and as usual I am trying to keep up with it. I’ve been on vacation in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, glued to the computer but sitting on a turquoise straight back chair with two cushions that raise me to the appropriate level to be able to function without massive back trouble in my at-home office, next to the interior patio and its trickling fountain and garden. And what have I been doing for the last two weeks in this multicolored paradise? Taking a long, hard course in marketing property through the Internet, something there is no time for when one is in the trenches.

Now I want you to know that I am a child of a huge stand up Underwood typewriter, my grandfather’s, which I used sitting in his study at night (with a telephone at my side) pretending to be his secretary when I was a wee little girl. Eventually underwoodI had in my life a small, barely portable Olympia, which went to South America and back with me, and recorded my families lives and adventures for a couple of years. Then, major breakthrough, the IBM Selectric — Praise the Lord—with removable balls of letters. Then came Xerox machines – an vast improvement over carbon copies. Somewhere in there was the memory typewriter and then well into my real estate career, there emerged a fax machine—the most extraordinary gas saving mechanism ever invented.

Now, of course, one can’t be a real estate broker without the right technology tools. The information is at ones fingertips, but how to find it, how to produce it, how to send it, and who to wax lipssend it to and in what form, and how much to pay for it – that’s the challenge.  The world is accessible from my home office, wherever that may be, but how does one market to it. I owe this knowledge to my sellers, and this is the way I will find the buyers of the future. Print copy can only go where I carry it, or mail it. Computer generated material can goanywhere if I know what to do with it. 

So here I am in Mexico. I did trot down the hill to the plaza, (and back up—an incredible Curves substitute) daily for my wake-up cappuccino and churro.  I did go horseback riding with my grandchildren, I did take in an evening of chamber music. I did climb Los Picachos, and I did read about five novels.  But most of every day I worked on understanding, marketing, publishing, service and support through the Internet. Now I just have to put it all into action. And guess what? This old dog can learn new tricks. 

Lucy Noyes is co-founder of La Puerta Real Estate outside Albuquerque, New Mexico and has a million stories in her head, just waiting to get out.

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