Life-long Tri-Cities Resident – blessing or curse?

By in Buyers with 0 Comments
Published on February 18, 2007 / Last updated on February 18, 2007

First, let me say I’m not one.  I grew up in southern California, lived in Bishop, CA, and Twin Falls, ID before landing here.  For the last several years, I wondered what it would be like to live your whole life in one spot.  Or, even go away to college but come back and build a career and family surrounded by people who remembered the time you threw up in Mrs. Roig’s 2nd grade class.  It would be strange, I would think.

You will often read of Realtors who say they’re a ‘life-long resident’ of the area in which they’re selling homes.  I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good thing to broadcast. I know that that’s supposed to convey they know the inside scoop on all the neighborhoods.  And I’m sure they do.  But how much of that spills over into their job?  How much prejudice about an area comes out in their actions? 

When I moved here I was told the following; rich people live in Richland, poor people live in Pasco, and everyone else lives in Kennewick.  Long-time residents still prescribe to this maxim.  I have seen this community evolve, and because I came to it as an outsider, I have been able to follow the changes and judge each city on its own merits, as opposed to trying to fit the new city view into its previous mold.

I know life-long Kennewickians who would never live in Richland, and Pascoites who’d rather stay in a far-too-small house in order to not move across the river.  Some of the people I know who feel that way are Realtors!!! How effective are they at accurately painting a picture of life in the city they don’t want to live in?

I’m not saying don’t use a life-long resident Realtor when you’re buying real estate.  I’m saying consider the fact that a relatively new-to-the-area Realtor can have a different perspective, maybe similar to yours. And therefore, they’ll be more likely to truly listen to you and match you to the nieghborhood you’re looking for.

 

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About The Author
Cari McGee

My husband and I came to the Tri-Cities in 1994, and we thought it would be a temporary stop on our way to larger cities. He was a television sports anchor at the time, and we planned to go wherever the "next step up" took us. Twenty-plus years later, we're still here and we've loved every minute of it! We have two children now, and we've found the Tri-Cities area is a wonderful place to raise a family. It's a great place to do outdoorsy things -- I like to hike Badger Mountain or run along the river path. I also love reading ... by a cozy fire in the winter or a beautiful picture window in the summer (with the A/C on!). I've been a licensed Realtor since 2004. I earned my managing broker's license in 2016, which means I can run my own brokerage, or create a team of real estate agents and supervise them, which is exactly what I did when I formed the Cari McGee Real Estate Team in 2018! We have administrative and marketing personnel, as well as additional agents to serve you. I became a director of the Tri-Cities Association of Realtors Board of Directors in 2016, became Secretary/Treasurer of the organization, and was elected to Vice President in 2019. Want to talk about real estate? Click here to schedule a meeting with me!

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