Property Point

A recent edition of the New Yorker magazine featured a clever cartoon that nicely summed up the strange world we live in, where young people know nothing about some things but have far more knowledge than adults about other things.

The cartoon depicted a baby sitting in a high-chair, being spoon-fed by its father.

The caption had the father saying: “After I introduce you to solids, I’m going to need your help with some computer stuff.”

Some of us of a certain age are very familiar with having to ask our children to help with “computer stuff”.

In my case, my then-11-year-old son set up our Netflix and other streaming services and is, fortunately, usually on hand to address IT issues as they emerge.

In this IT age, it is the first time in the history of the planet that children can teach adults how certain things work.

I’m not so rude as to say young people are one-trick ponies but their knowledge and easy facility with technology is not matched, in my experience, in other areas of life.

I was reminded of this when I was explaining to a young person I work with that the housing precinct in Glenella that runs off Davey St has streets named after Australian cricketers.

“For example, Bradman Drive is named after Don Bradman,” I told her. Her blank stare showed very clearly that my colleague did not know who Don Bradman was. She had heard of Bradman Drive but not Don Bradman.

I was initially surprised, after all I grew up in a country where everyone knew who Don Bradman was.

But when I thought about it, Bradman died about 21 years ago, around the time my colleague was born. Australia has changed. It is more multi-cultural with different complexities.

Cricket is no longer the only thing you can watch on your TV (or i-pad, i-phone or laptop) during summer. Why would a 22-year-old woman know who Donald Bradman was? It’s a bit sad but not her fault.

I have a young sales associate called Skye who works as a buyers’ agent in my team but also looks after videos and social media posts to help market the properties we are selling.

I got Skye on my team because I needed extra help working with buyers for my properties but I also needed someone who had the talent and knowledge to make the most of social media opportunities when we market my clients’ properties. She fits the bill perfectly.

And, by the way (or as she might say, BTW), it would be pretty stupid of me to say: “Skye doesn’t even know who Donald Bradman is.”

That’s because Skye could just as easily say: “David doesn’t even know how to take a real estate video, synchronise the changing images with cool, trending music that is timed to avoid breaking copyright laws and post it on Instagram and other social media sites, have it all done professionally in a couple of hours and do it all on his i-phone. What an idiot!”

The point about having a team (I’ve also got my PA Sandy looking after admin, contracts etc) is that while one person might not have the ability or experience to do and know everything, as a team we have it covered.

Some of the other names in that Glenella precinct are: Lillee, Border, Grout, Hughes, Tallon, Lindwall and Chappell … that would have been a pretty good team as well.

But they’d still need Skye for their social media.

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