Selling real estate in the marina takes a special mind-set, a certain amount of creativity, and a solid sense of what the harbor community is all about. Few other Realtors have these things the way Kim Dolan does.

Dolan has lived in Oxnard's Mandalay Beach area for many years, and has long been the top-selling agent in the area. The secret to her success, she says, is all in the attitude.

She believes it's important to realize that people who buy property in the harbor are not just buying a house: "My clientele are people who are buying a dream."

Many of her clients, Dolan asserts, are retirees who have dreamed for years of living on the water, and have liquidated all their other assets in order to do so.

Dolan therefore encourages clients from out of town to come and spend a couple of days in Oxnard's harbor and get sense of what the community is all about and the amenities it offers. And she would know plenty about that since she has lived on the secondary channel for many years.

Living in the area is a huge advantage when it comes to selling homes, she says. Dolan knows and can explain the rules and regulations of the waterways and understands the details that clients are looking for.

"Because I live on the water, I know what people are looking for. Living here, I really can sell it."

For Dolan, living in the harbor is far more than a marketing tool, though. It is her own dream, and she considers herself very much a part of the community. She is a member of the Channel Islands and Pacific Corinthian yacht clubs, organizes an enormous annual community yard sale and affectionately is known to residents as "Mrs. Dockside."

As Dolan's assistant, Rachael LaRochelle says, Dolan is firmly entrenched in the neighborhood. She can often be seen out on the waterways in her trademark red electric boat, which LaRochelle says is an invaluable tool for showing properties to clients the way they should be seen — from the water. Dolan also uses the boat to deliver groceries to elderly residents and, on holidays, to deliver free teddy bears to children in the area.

It works as a marketing tool, but it's about way more than that. "It's not about the money," Dolan says. "It's about making a difference."

Dolan genuinely loves the area and its people and wants to foster an appreciation of it in her clients. She is an enthusiastic booster of the harbor's unique lifestyle and culture. Though the name "Oxnard" has less-than-positive connotations for many Californians, Dolan wants people to realize that the harbor is really like a resort community, where neighbors watch out for each other and are "like a big family."

It is that kind of understanding, along with a good deal of marketing savvy and what Dolan insists is the best-located office in Oxnard (it sits right on the beach at the entrance to the harbor), that has made Dolan one of the area's most successful Realtors. She says she sold 25 properties last year and currently has 18 listings on the market and two in escrow.

Dolan believes that right now is the perfect time to buy in the area. While the subprime loan disaster did not particularly affect the harbor, prices here are much lower than in places like Newport Beach and Santa Barbara, where many of Dolan's clients are from.

"I believe these prices are down where they're going to be, and will now start going back up," she says. Adding to the demand for Oxnard property is the fact that Oxnard is the only place left on the California coast where new marina homes are still being built; there is just no room left elsewhere, so buyers looking for a recently-built home on the water pretty much have to shop here.

To see any of Dolan's current listings, check out the Web site, http://www.mrsdockside.com, or call her at 382-2112. And if you're ever in the harbor, look out for Mrs. Dockside in her little red boat.