Now and then: Looking back on business in 1995
November 16, 2015
Imagine snapping up a house in Marcoola for only $115,000 or paying just $245 per week to rent the area’s most upmarket property.
While this may be unheard of in today’s economic climate, it was very much a reality for Sunshine Coast residents in 1995 — the year real estate agency North Shore Realty commenced operations on the Sunshine Coast.
Celebrating 20 years in business this month, one of North Shore Realty’s founding partners Keith Blanchard said the milestone anniversary had prompted the team to reflect on how business on the Sunshine Coast had evolved over time.
“The business landscape and property industry have changed dramatically over the past 20 years, with the evolution of technology having significantly shaped business processes and even the way we interact with one another,” Mr Blanchard said.
“When we first launched North Shore Realty, property contracts were written by hand. Any slip of the hand would have you starting back at square one…there was certainly no ‘undo’ button!”
“The internet and email services weren’t mainstream at that point and while mobile phones were in existence, they were very bulky and often more of a hindrance to carry around than a help!”
“It’s actually quite comical to look back at the size of the computers from that era and also see the minimal storage space that was available on floppy disks.”
Mr Blanchard said it was commonplace in the 1990s for buyers looking to purchase a property to pile into their real estate agent’s car for the day and drive from house to house until they located the ideal property.
“As a society today, we are very time poor, so I’m sure this practice would seem laughable to the modern generation of buyers.”
“Nowadays, buyers have unprecedented access to information and images online, so they’re able to do much of the research themselves, shortlist properties that suit their tastes and even access suburb profiles, property sales figures and historical property data at the touch of a button.”
Mr Blanchard said the property rental division of the business had also undergone exponential change over the past two decades, with open homes not even in existence in 1995.
“At that time, prospective renters would come into the office, show their ID and collect keys to the property to inspect it by themselves.”
“Rental lists were only available in hard copy, so interested tenants would either call the office for information or drop in to collect a breakdown of the available listings.”
“These practices weren’t the only things that changed over the past 20 years; the needs of customers did too, so we adapted to this by introducing our body corporate management and holiday accommodation management divisions to satisfy customer demand.”
Mr Blanchard said North Shore Realty and business in Australia as a whole had come a long way since the turn of the millennium, largely thanks to advances in technology.
“Things like internet connectivity on mobile phones, email services, the introduction of scanners and cloud computing have streamlined modern business practices and allowed businesspeople to accomplish much more over the course of the day,” Mr Blanchard said.
“It will be interesting to see what advances are made in the coming years and what changes we can expect to see another 20 years down the track.”
“If technology continues to invade our lives further, I wonder if we’ll look back on today and laugh at how business was conducted or feel quite nostalgic about days gone by.”
North Shore Realty marks its 20th anniversary this month and to celebrate, it is giving away more than $20,000 in prizes to its loyal customer base and also holding an open community event at Tickle Park in Coolum on 21 November. The event will take place between 9am and noon and will include a free sausage sizzle, jumping castle and face painting.
To find out more, please visit www.northshorerealty.com.au/20years, call the Coolum Beach office on (07) 5446 2500 or contact the Marcoola office on (07) 5448 7444.
Blast from the past
Then (1995) Now (2015)
Houses cost approximately $110,000-$190,000 Median sale price $446,500
Contracts handwritten and copied Fully electronic
Rentals cost approximately $170 per week Average rental cost $360 per week
Rent paid by cash or cheque Predominantly electronic payments
Properties advertised in print media only Properties advertised across print, electronic and broadcast media
Prospective renters would inspect properties Open homes commonplace
by themselves
Internet and email not mainstream Email a primary communication method
// Ends.
Media contact
Kristen Roder
Ph: 0406 546 461
E: kristen@freshprm.com.au
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