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Grilling Geordie Romer about his properties in Leavenworth, Washington. You did n’t think I’d let him get off that easily!

Second Shelters: Geordie – here’s what we Texans want to know. How dang hot is it up there come August?

Geordie: It certainly can get over 100 degrees here in August, but the average maximum temp in Aug is 88 degrees. More importantly, we don’t really get much in the way of humidity.

And the coldest it gets in the winter? The average low temp in January is 17 degrees, but it can get as low as -20 degrees.

Second Shelters (shivering): OK, you say $1.3 for a house, but I’m writing stories for AOL on how home prices are plunging up there in Washington state. Can we do better than $1.3?

Geordie: Leavenworth certainly hasn’t seen the depreciation that Seattle has. They are about 30% below peak pricing and we are closer to 15%. We really don’t see many distressed properties here – less than 10% of all sales in 2010 were foreclosures or short sales.  Will we break any records for high prices in 2011? I think it depends on the type of homes we see for sale. There certainly are some upper end homes on the water that could fetch higher prices.

Second Shelters: Where do we fly in?

Geordie: Wenatchee is the closest commercial airport and is about 45 minutes away. It is serviced by Alaska Airlines from Seattle. Cashmere has a small airport for private pilots and float planes could certainly land on Lake Wenatchee.

Second Shelters: I like that name, Cashmere. How long a drive from the airport?

Geordie: 45 minutes. The good news is that parking and luggage are easy compared to a larger airport.

Second Shelters: Any barbecue?

Geordie: This is a Bavarian theme town. We have bratwurst, knackwurst, bockwurst, – any type of sausage you need and plenty of good beer to chase it down.

Second Shelters: Nearest medical center and high-level trauma care?

Geordie: Leavenworth has a medical center which is going through a major renovation as we speak. Wenatchee has a Level III Trauma Center and the closest Level I Trauma Center is Harborview in Seattle which is a quick helicopter flight.

Second Shelters: What brought you to Leavenworth?

Geordie: I was a park ranger with the National Park Service before I was in real estate. I had been coming here for the rock climbing and mountaineering for years. It’s Disneyland for the outdoor recreation crowd.

Candy Evans

Candy Evans