As Jonathan Pearlstein spoke to a small crowd on the sidewalk of Railroad Avenue, outside his recently opened real estate brokerage, the long-time Valley resident was nearly moved to tears.
“I grew up in a small logging town and this is a small logging town, and it’s where we wanted to raise our children, and it’s been a wonderful place,” he told the crowd.
“This is a mission driven business. I want everyone to have what we have — to have this quality of life, to have these friends and this community.”
Joined by members of the SnoValley Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 27, Pearlstein celebrated the opening of Engel & Volkers Snoqualmie Valley, a real estate brokerage he owns.
Since moving to the Valley in 1997, Pearlstein and his wife, Michelle, have been active members of the community.
Michelle has worked as an administrative assistant at Snoqualmie Elementary for the last 20 years, while her husband opened the locally-owned Summit Real Estate Group in North Bend back in 2002.
Jonathan Pearlstein, owner of Engel & Volkers Snoqualmie Valley, gives a speech. Photo by Conor Wilson/Valley Record
Pearlstein also volunteers as the announcer for Mount Si High School varsity sports and as a board member of Habitat for Humanity Seattle, King County.
“They’ve been ingrained in our community for over two decades,” Snoqualmie Mayor Katherine Ross said at the ribbon cutting.
Pearlstein and his wife both grew up in Sandpoint, Idaho. They were living on Vashon Island, looking to relocate to be closer to Pearlstein’s Bellevue job, when they moved out to North Bend — a community they fell in love with.
“I’m inspired to help anyone who wants to live here,” he said. “I want to help our teachers and our first responders find their place here, because that makes our community better.”
Pearlstein opened Engel and Volkers in January. He said the switch provides his business tools he couldn’t have as an independent brokerage and is about providing local expertise with a global reach, helping anyone who needs it.
“We are here to tell you how grateful we are,” he said. “We’re going to show you that everyday with service to the community.”
Engel & Volkers is located at 8150 Railroad Avenue. They can be reached at 425-444-7899.
