Contractors

Our wonderful buyer's agent, Georgia Selfridge, has essentially taken over the job of general contractor for our kitchen and electrical work.

She's jawboning every contractor she knows, to try to get someone to tackle our kitchen as soon as possible. The bad news is, the guy we thought could do it can't, meaning a bit more delay. The good news is, our electrical panel upgrade is going to be done Monday. And, they're going to lay the wire for the new water heater, so as soon as it arrives, it can be connected and plumbed.

I really can't say enough about how great it's been to have an agent, and Georgia in particular, helping us through this process as first-time buyers. As lawyers, we thought we knew enough to buy a house - and we probably could have accomplished the most simple, straightforward transaction on our own. Say, buying a brand-new townhouse in West Seattle, from the builder.

But Georgia took the time to explain her philosophy, and what she would do for us, even before we went out looking for houses. For one, she almost always represents buyers and never does "dual agency," which made a lot of sense to us - even though real estate conflict of interest rules are more flexible than the attorney Rules of Professional Conduct, she holds herself to a higher standard.

And her assistance became invaluable when we decided to make an offer on a house that was priced high, and then wanted to close in 2 1/2 weeks while still getting some work done during escrow. Georgia's network of people she's worked with around Seattle - contractors, lenders, insurance agents, etc. - have been making our house purchase happen, while Kristen and I have been working at our day jobs. I would have had to spend days, and too much time off work at my new office, just trying to get estimates and negotiate with the seller.