Walking Down Memory Lane (Transmission #274)

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In the never ending quest to build awareness, real estate agents as historians is a missed opportunity. I’ve been thinking about it for years, and its relevance has only increased as digital communities spring up to reminisce, share photos, and offer stories about a bygone era for their local community.

Take a look at real estate agent Raziel Ungar’s history section for Burlingame, CA—his project first popped onto my radar way back in 2013. Ungar’s hand-curated information about the Silicon Valley communities he serves is a bid to build more awareness in the community, but in a way that actually adds value.

Adverts on benches might convert those in the market to buy and sell a home now, but the long-game means investing in becoming part of the fabric of your community.

The latest Industry Relations podcast got me thinking about this again, Greg Robertson talked about agents knowing when local trees were planted, and even understanding their genesis. If an agent knows that level of detail, imagine what other knowledge they have.

❇️I've long been bullish❇️ on the idea of agents as the town/neighborhood historian. A large segment of homeowners want every tidbit of historical data available for their immediate community. The “You know you're from Issaquah when....” Facebook group is one of thousands of such groups where old (as well as new) photos are posted and local residents reminisce.

What if you could create a local version of 80s.NYC, which shows photos and stories from the 1980's in NYC? Dig deep for the HOAs, housing developments, and neighborhoods that you serve.

Were I a practicing agent, you can bet this is exactly what I’d be doing.

And while digital storytelling has its uses, there’s a physical world entry point for the strategy: utility boxes.