COEUR d'ALENE - Seventeen years later, there was Tibor Bene with his wife Eva, checking out a house for sale on 15th Street in Coeur d'Alene.

Kitchen, living room, newly painted tan walls, bedroom and backyard, it all looked like a reality.

And if not this one, there are always more houses to look at.

So long as they're looking.

No more dreaming, no more 'one day,' no more putting it off until next year, maybe.

I told my wife, let's go now, said Bene, visiting Coeur d'Alene from Gd, Hungary, just outside of Budapest. And let's meet Marshall.

Make that meet Marshall again.

Because behind every home for sale is a seller, and that's Realtor Marshall Mend.

But the two met before, on a Regent Sun cruise ship in early 1994, Mend as a guest, and Bene as a 20-year old waiter "with skinny, east European cheeks," trying to earn money to pay his tuition, he said.

Nervous, inexperienced, Bene wasn't sure if he was up for the job. The only thing he could do was speak English.

But Mend, the salesman, helped learn the nuances of good service, attentive but not distracting.

Relax, be confident, he told Bene, and be honest.

Marketing yourself, Bene called it.

"I was honest about everything," he said. "Not that usual jive talk that waiters are supposed to say, 'Oh we hope the service was good and blah, blah, blah.' I was honest as always. I told them I'm here to make money for my tuition so I can finish the college and I'm just learning the job."

Soon, Bene was the best, promoted to Captain's Waiter. The money he earned, nearly more than his family back home, "warmed up my east European pockets," Bene said.

A bond had formed.

And sometime during the 10-day Caribbean cruise, Mend handed Bene his business card, along with a postcard of an aerial view of downtown Coeur d'Alene.

"If you ever want to move to Coeur d'Alene give me a call," Mend told him.

Seventeen years later, Bene called - e-mailed actually - to take Mend up on the offer.

The business card had stuck in Bene's mind. On its back it listed phone numbers of then-President Bill Clinton, former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus, and Mend.

If you want something done quickly, it read, "call the Realtor."

Marketing yourself, Bene, 38, called it. Like how he learned his waiting job.

The Hungarian couple landed in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday, and plan to leave today.

"I remembered him right away," Mend said of his favorite waiter, calling the reunion "astronomical."

"The voice was exactly the same," he said.

The time for the possible move - two decades in the making - was right, Bene said.

Bene, who works for the U.S. Embassy in Budapest, wants his boys, ages 8 and 5, to grow up speaking English, in America's school system. And if he dragged his feet, the idea would go cold, he said.

He's ready to take on his next career should he move, whatever comes his way: Real estate investing, home design or decoration, translation, you name it. Part of the visit included stops with local businesses and community members.

"That's what I like about the United States," Bene said. "If you do an honest job and you do well, you can achieve lots."

But the decision to move comes down to Eva.

Bene said he's up for it - with a target move date of June 2012 - if she is.

"It all depends on my wife," he said. "If my wife wants to make the move, then we are moving."

Bene warned her about North Idaho's four seasons.

"Then which season is this?" she asked as the rain and sleet fell early in the visit. But by Friday the sun had come out, and things were looking up.

Besides, life-changing decisions take careful consideration, and Eva played her cards close to her chest, taking in the sights, weather and homes.

"It's cute," she said after the tour of the 15th Street home on Thursday, nodding approval.

Now, they'll fly back to Hungary - to their home near the Danube River where Mend's cards still are - and make the decision. Nearly two decades Bene held on to those cards.

Astronomical, as Mend put it.

"I sell Coeur d'Alene," he said, having moved north with his wife from California 31 years ago. "I've been selling Coeur d'Alene since 1980. God, what a great place."

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