Quality Real Estate Service in Port Townsend, Washington

As of the end of business on Friday afternoon, Coldwell Banker in Port Townsend closed it's doors.   Most of the Port Townsend real estate community was shocked, and dismayed, as this is a long standing company with a very excellent reputation.  As far as I could tell, it was about 3rd in the rankings of volume, number of transactions, and number of listings.  They had about 5 or 6 top producing agents, and the owner of the company was a working broker who also owned 3 other locations.  The Port Ludlow office was sold to the top producer there, and he will continue to work out of his Sequim office. 

This left many agents literally out in the cold along with a lot of sellers whose listings they held.  I can't think of much worse in our business than moving to a new office, but to do it without having the luxury of checking things out first would be really difficult.  Of course this is a very small town with only 4 (now 3) offices with a total of 100 agents in our county.  So we all actually do know one another pretty well.  Still there will be contracts to be resigned, signs to move and new flyers to make.  Glad it's not me, for now anyway. 

For more information look for an article in the Peninsula Daily News http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20100711/news/307119980/port-townsend-real-estate-office-closes-putting-up-to-18-out-of-work

I will always remember getting my Broker's License in CA back in 1985.  I studied a long time, put in 4 long years in RE just to be able to take the exam, and waited many weeks for the results.  It was a hard exam (with questions like what is the Treaty of Hidalgo Guadalupe, and what is a riparian right or an aluevian fan?).  I did this not for any real reason, other than just wanting to be the best I could be in my chosen field.  In the 25 years since then, I may have been asked 3 or 4 times by clients if I was a Broker or not, and I certainly cannot say it has earned me any more money.  But knowing I was in a smaller category of Realtors, and also that I could practice RE without any one else overseeing me, has given me a bit of satisfaction over the years.

When I moved to  WA state, I got my  Broker license right away.  Now as of July 7th, every licensed realtor in WA state is a Broker.  If you already had a Broker's license, you are now a Managing Broker.   Makes no difference to me, as I have no one to manage,  because it's enough taking care of my self, and my own business.  As far as I can tell, the purpose was to keep teams from running amok!  So if there is a team, one person has to take control of paperwork and overseeing the transaction.  Also to oversee the actions of assistants.   So now we have Brokers, Managing Brokers, and Designated Brokers, but no sales agents!  Weird if you ask me.  But no one did.