A Property Shop

I first encountered Tracy Minick when my wife, my newborn twin girls and I were moving to Seattle. We had to find a place to live and wouldn’t have a chance to do it in person before moving out there from Louisville, Kentucky. I found a decent rental condo on Craigslist and Tracy was the person who responded to my inquiry. She was managing the condo on behalf of the owner and her friendly manner helped us get over the discomfort of arranging everything, including credit check and applications through phone calls. She even helped coordinate a Seattle friend being our eyes on a visual inspection of the place. Once we’d agreed on the rental, she met my wife and babies at the place to hand over keys and help them feel comfortable while I was still driving the U-​Haul across country (they’d flown). As a property manager, she was respectful and competent. When the owner decided to short sell the property — it was 2009, and those were the times — she kept us completely in the loop and helped us find a new home to rent. It was also the first time I’d ever gotten a deposit entirely back from a rental; mind you, she made sure I’d done my part in taking care of it.
Later, when we were looking for a house to own, she was invaluable — giving great info to supplement all the research that I could do on my own (as a internet software PM) — and was willing to hop in the car to go drive out to see properties with us in an efficient manner — even though some of them involved taking a ferry across the Sound. Her energy and manner made the trip entertaining and fun, instead of drudgery despite the length of time — almost like taking a road trip with a buddy, albeit a professional one. And when our offer on the home we liked was rejected, Tracy didn’t cut and run. She shrugged and said ‘next time for sure’.
A year or so later, we found another home we really liked. Tracy was there again, and by the time our offer was accepted, she also helped us line up the right people to settle the financing, inspections and insurance and helped us navigate all the steps successfully.
I’ve had to deal with enough of agents and brokers (having worked in real estate software previously) to cringe when I encounter one. Tracy’s definitely not of that mold. I’ll not go anywhere else for anything involving property, be it management, buying or selling.