Bill Looks at City of Seattle Homeowners

The Seattle Times recently published some good info concerning America’s 50 largest cities. The city of Seattle has the smallest-size families on average in the country, and one of the lowest rates of single parent homes. Seattle is third in “Non-relatives living together.” What’s the interpretation of all this? Richard Morrill, Seattle Demographer, cites many factors for these numbers, including the production of townhomes and condos versus single family homes in Seattle (not as suitable for raising children, so families move to the ‘burbs’); housing costs and gentrification; and a historically low marriage rate. So let’s build more apartments, condos and townhomes, people.

MikeWest Discusses Vendors

We, like all of you, choose our vendors and suppliers very carefully. Our vendor team is critically important to how effectively we operate as a group. Following are some guidelines that we follow around here, and that Bill asked me to share with you.

1. Of course, we want to get a good price. The people who are working are glad they are, so negotiating sharp pricing is a given. Everyone understands. Nobody pays retail, at least for now.
2. We prefer fewer, better vendors versus continual shopping. To that end, we must occasionally ‘shop’ prices and service to keep everyone honest, but thinking about vendors as an extended member of your team works best. More often than not, the vendors we rely on and build these relationships with will go out of their way to give us the top-notch, VIP treatment.
3. How about mistakes? Instead of threats, our preferred method is to correct and educate. We think about it as building trust and making our vendors, well, ours.

Hope this helps. Your insights and comments are welcome.