Four Curtis Vikings On One Closing: Why Your Agent's Roots Matter More Than Their Resume

I've been in real estate for 17 years. I have had some remarkable days at the closing table. But only one of them featured four Curtis High School Vikings on a single transaction.

The Setup

Justin and Nicki were looking to buy a home in Tacoma.

Justin and I are both Curtis High School class of 1993. We grew up in University Place, where one junior high feeds into one high school. Most of us met as twelve-year-olds at Curtis Junior High in seventh grade, then walked into Curtis High a couple of years later. That single-feeder structure is the whole point of Curtis. Bonds get forged early and stay forged. So when Justin and Nicki decided to buy, he called me. He knew I'd take great care of them as their agent. The deeper reason is simpler: our Curtis Viking roots run deep. He trusted me. Because we were Vikings together.

The Plot Twist

When I saw who the listing agent was, I had a feeling this transaction was going to be something special.

First, Nicki is also a Curtis High graduate. Class of 1994. Two Vikings on one side of the deal.

Second, the listing agent on the home they ended up buying. His name is Bryce. Also Curtis. Class of 1991.

Third: I am also a Curtis Viking. Class of 1993.

Four Curtis High School alumni on a single residential real estate transaction.

The odds of that happening by chance are somewhere between winning a modest regional lottery and being struck by a polite lightning bolt.

Why It Actually Matters

The deal went well because four people at the closing table trusted each other on sight, before a single contract term had been negotiated.

When Bryce and I worked through the offer, the counter-offers, the inspection negotiations, we weren't starting from zero. We were starting from 30+ years of implicit cultural trust.

This is not a small thing.

In real estate, rapport is leverage. Every negotiation I've ever been in has gone better when I had a personal relationship with the other agent.

That's why "known" is better than "best."

When you're hiring a real estate agent, you are not just hiring their resume. You are hiring everyone they've known for the last 30 years. You are hiring their local relationships, their alumni networks, their referral circles.

You are hiring the flywheel, not just the person.