75 Years of WVMLS: Lockboxes

Dear WVMLS Members,

2024 marks the 75th year Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service has been serving its members. This year, we wanted to highlight the history and stories that helped shape Your WVMLS on the 23rd of each month. This month we wanted you to walk with us through the history of Lockboxes.

Lockboxes Through The Years

With the introduction of lockboxes in the 1950s the act of showing a home in the real estate industry became more convenient and engendered greater cooperation between agents.

Over the years the technology has changed and evolved with the needs of the market. Below are some of those iterations all the way up to the Supra BT Lockbox utilized today.

Lockboxes Through The Years

Supra MARC II

This Lockbox had a cylindrical key which was gotten from WVMLS. If any members lost their key every member would need to come in and get a new one.

Supra AE II (Advantage Express II)

This lockbox utilized electronic keypads which were inserted into the middle. Over the years this lockbox had multiple electronic keypad iterations such as...

Supra DisplayKey

With the Supra DisplayKey it could receive updates and transmit information about lockbox activity. It also acted as a fob for the next iteration of the LockBox the Supra iBox.

To charge, receive updates, and send information the DisplayKey would utilize a charging dock (Pictured Below) which connected via phone line (the necessary cords included).

Supra iBox

This lockbox would help bridge the gap from old school to now school. This lockbox could use an app with the addition of the fob pictured below:

In a constant aspiration of great customer service WVMLS held a lockbox exchange January 25th, 2021 to help the transition from a more hardware controlled Lockbox to an App controlled one.

Supra iBox BT LE

The current lockbox in rotation utilizes the eKEY app for its functionality.

Bonus: Palm Pilot Shell

A small blip in the late 90s - early 2000s this shell would work with a Palm Pilot to communicate with the lockbox. It didn't last long much like the infamous PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).