Dec. 25, 2006 - Kirkland - My Kind of Town

Truth is, the Freakonomics boys are more right on most things, than some people give them credit for.  Especially when it comes to the Real Estate Industry.   I do agree that real estate agents say more with their actions, than with their words.  In their "white paper" titled : Market Distortions when Agents are Better Informed: The Value of Information in Real Estate Transactions they touch more on the economic aspects.  But it's a short leap to my point today, that many could learn much if there were a map with little push pins denoting where agents, who have seen much and who understand value, choose to live.

I choose to live in Kirkland.  The Newcomer's Handbook has this to say about Kirkland, "some of the most spectacular views on the Eastside are found in Kirkland, with Lake Washington, the Seattle skyline, and Mount Rainier all visible from a few fortunate neighborhoods."  I am one of the fortunate few, who on a daily basis, enjoys all that Kirkland has to offer.  Perhaps it does take an agent to find that gem of a home.  The one that other people pass up for one reason or another.  The one that has everything life has to offer, at 65% or so of the price one would expect to pay to be where I am, with what I have. 

A simple truth, that I don't think Steven and Stephen take into consideration, is this.  Some people really don't take full advantage of a real estate agent's advices.  Sometimes that is the most frustrating truth for me.  Some people just absolutely insist on buying too high and buying the wrong house in the wrong place.  I don't represent too many people like that, because I can usually see it coming.  I can pretty much tell who those people are at the first or second meeting, and for the most part I say "adiós" to them early in "the game".

That's not to say that everyone wants the same things that I do, and should all live in Kirkland.  Not at all.  But everyone has a special place that will make their everyday existence more joyful.  I can see each person's special place, and most times I can find each person a special value in their own special place, the same as I did for me and mine.  But lacking Spock's powers...sometimes I can't transfer the imagery dancing in my head, and disambiguate a client's concerns adequately.  Sometimes they just simply insist on making bad choices.  No matter how much I make when that happens, I am not happy with the outcome.  Luckily those days are very few and far between.

As like many of my Articles...what started out as a "Neighborhood" post...took a turn in another direction.