Kenmore Undressed

The Home Library: A Realtor’s Observation

One of the fringe benefits of being a real estate agent is previewing hundreds if not thousands of homes. Often, we never meet the owners so we get to wander in homes and imagine who the owners might be. We agents are a curious bunch and we are careful observers of human nature. We also see into the “inner” life of a family by seeing all the possessions in their house. Think about this: I can ascertain a lot about people by what’s in their closet. Nice suits, must be a professional or office worker; She likes Elvis, check out the collection of Elvis T-shirts. You get the picture! Also, I can tell if someone is from the Middle East, or India, or Korea or Greece by the aromas that perfume the house. Sometimes I have to fight the urge to raid the refrigerator.

The Seattle area is considered one of the most well-read areas in the United States. I’m not sure this is true. What I do know is that a home library is an amazing portal into the mind of a homeowner. Think about it, books are brain food (or not). If you look over the books, it doesn’t take long to figure out the owner’s politics, religious affiliations, travel preferences, cultural interests, art tastes and culinary skills. It’s fascinating and fun to see what people read.

What’s truly amazing is how many homes don’t have libraries. I believe books have been replaced by DVD’s, video games, TV and the internet. I, too spend a good deal of time in front of the TV and internet but, I’m also one of those people who is always reading a book (or two, or three). So here are some of the books I’ve read recently:

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I hope you all have an opportunity to get some reading done this summer either at home or on vacation. Does anyone have a favorite book to recommend?

Looking Forward by Looking Back

I have an insatiable curiosity about most everything! I’m an amature historian/economist/linguist/anthropologist…..you name it, I like thinking about it. My wife accuses me of being rather boring in my reading tastes. I’m one of these voracious non-fiction readers. Believe it or not I’m usually involved with several books at a time. Right now I’m re-reading Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese” (because in the real estate industry, the cheese has moved big time!), I’m listening to the audio version of Kevin Phillips’ new book “Bad Money (a masterful study of our failing economic model of borrow & spend), and I just revisited Cullen Murphy’s thought provoking book “Are We Rome?”

I believe “Are We Rome” should be required reading for all thoughtful Americans. The author (writer of the comic strip Prince Valiant & contributing editor to the Atlantic Monthly & Vanity Fair magazines) has an keen perspective and easy writing style: neither technical nor trite, he avoids the usual Rome-fell-because-of-its-immorality/lead in the water explanations and takes the reader on a far more sober journey. The author believes that both modern day America and Rome share two huge problems: 1) that our government has been compromised and corrupted by various forms of privatization and 2) by our culture’s sense of superiority and non-recognition of the rest of the world. What’s refreshing about his book is that he does propose some positive solutions and resists the temptation of pronouncing our culture dead. 

Thought-provoking and timely, you should add this to your summer reading!