Why in the Heck Would We Need a Fax Machine?

One thing you’re going to notice as I share these Property Scoop stories is that I’m going to wander back and forth between the past and the present. After 42 years in property management, there are just too many stories to tell them in order!

And boy, has technology changed during those years.

I can actually remember when the question came up in our office: Should we buy a fax machine?

My response?

“Why in the heck would we need a fax machine?”

If I only knew what was coming!

In the very early days, keeping track of tenant ledgers, rent payments and invoices was a combination of computer work and a handwritten bookkeeping system called Safeguard.

Each tenant had a paper ledger. When someone came into the office to pay their rent—or when a payment arrived in the mail—we would slip their ledger into the Safeguard book and handwrite the payment on a receipt. The system transferred the information onto the tenant’s ledger, into our accounting records and onto a paper receipt we could give to the tenant.

And that running balance?

Calculator.

Every. Single. Time.

As you can imagine, mistakes could happen pretty easily. One wrong number and suddenly you were going back through the ledger trying to figure out where things went sideways.

Then there was our printer situation.

Our entire office had ONE printer.

It was located in the front office, and if anyone needed to print something, that’s where it came out. If you loaded envelopes, checks or anything other than regular 8½" x 11" paper, you had better announce it to the office so nobody accidentally printed their 12-page report on envelopes!

Looking back, it sounds ridiculous. At the time, it was just another day at the office.

One week, though, the girls in my office started acting a little cagey.

“Do you have any meetings next week?”

“Are you going out of the office?”

“What day?”

“How long will you be gone?”

Hmmmmm.

I was suspicious, but I didn't make too much of it.

The following week, I left for a meeting. When I came back, I walked into my office and discovered...

A BRAND-NEW PRINTER.

Right there in my office.

Connected to my computer.

Installed.

Ready to go.

The ladies in my office had noticed how many times a day I was getting up from my desk, walking to the front office, retrieving whatever I had printed and heading back to my office.

So they made a plan.

They went to my business partners, explained the situation, got approval for the expense and arranged to have a printer installed in my office while I was gone.

All without me knowing a thing about it.

I’ve really had some good people in my life.

When I think back on that story now, the printer itself isn't really what I remember most. I remember that the people around me noticed.

They saw how hard I was working. They saw one little thing that could make my day easier. And instead of just saying something about it, they figured out how to make it happen.

Technology has certainly changed during my career. Fax machines came and went. One office printer became printers on practically every desk. Paper ledgers became property management software, online payments and electronic records.

But here's something that hasn't changed:

Good people make a difference.

Never underestimate the people working beside you. They may notice and appreciate more of what you do than you realize.

And ladies, if you happen to read this someday...

I still remember that printer. ❤️