On the 12th Day of Christmas My Divas Gave to Me….

From all of us at Team Diva Real Estate to all of our Diva Dwellers and Divotees, we wish you a fabulous holiday season!

We shot this hilarious little video after an evening of holiday GAYety at our friends’ apartment on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Lyrics by our Creative Director Ricardo Ibarra:

On the twelfth day of Christmas, 
The Divas gave to me:
Twelve Diva Dwellers,
Eleven pre-inspections,
Ten sales a-pending,
Nine offers signing,
Eight rentals finding,
Seven brand new clients,
Six FIUTS students,
Five drag queen friends!
Four power gals,
Three lesbians,
Two hot gay boys,
And a fabulous Diva family!

Kelly Mitchell is Honolulu’s sassy power gal of real estate. Beyond being a successful Realtor and technology queen, Kelly is the Founder/Producer and Host of Agent Caffeine, a weekly podcast that gives you the “buzz” on the latest in real estate, business and technology. Kelly got down and dirty with Diva Kim on the Agent Caffeine last Thursday night, just in time to celebrate WA’s newly minted laws on legalizing Marijuana and Gay Marriage. The Divas were honored to be invited on the show to talk about how we leverage our authentic brand to create and sustain a successful business and to build support for our local community businesses and non-profits.

Click here to listen to the Podcast of Diva Kim chatting about how to “un-vanilla” your branding and to embrace your authentic self! Then – stay tuned to hear our amazing and dynamic gal pal, Debra Trappen, give tips on how to re-engage/ refresh your personal brand and to marketing guru, Teri Conrad, give us the skinny on Klout vs. Kred.

Below is a quick recap from Kelly’s site Agent Caffeine or jump now to her fab site for the full show »

Episode 43 Divas on Fire! Embracing Your Authentic Brand

Divas Chavi and Kim

On this episode of Agent Caffeine we dig deep into the mindset of an authentic brand where the  Diva Dwellers are past clients, the Divotees are the fan base and the Seattle Divas work their magic on the Seattle Arts Scene.  Their brand is true to who they are and the passion they put into their business is evident from their fan base to their client base.  Kim Colaprete, the Broker of the Seattle Divas gives us the inside scoop on everything from Gay Marriage to legalization of cannabis in Washington State.  We hear how she partners with other like-minded souls to put on events supporting Seattle businesses and providing opportunities to engage and  network.

Debra Trappen returns for a talk about goals and tying your passion into your business and Teri Conrad and I go toe to toe on the validity of Kred and Klout and talk “Perks”.

~ Enjoy the show

Kelly

Quick you can see Diva Kim next to Jim Forman on King 5 and her and 2,000 of us celebrated in the streets on Capitol Hill last night. The gals watched the results at Diva Dweller Michael’s co-op on the hill. And as soon as we heard that Gay Marriage was passing and that the Presidential results we hit the streets with our Capitol Hill peeps. Kim and I really want to thank all of you who supported passing R74-Gay Marriage last night. You just made the difference in our personal lives and the lives of many of our clients. Words cannot express our feelings today!

The past few months have been crazy busy for us Seattle Divas. Now it’s October, it’s sunny, and the recession seems way behind us. The market seems to be well on its way to recovery. But- is everything really coming up rose and daffodils in Seattle? Anecdotes about multiple offers are fun to hear; houses flying off the market in 2 hours, sellers getting 15 offers, buyers paying $100K over asking price. These stories might be true but this is not happening with every house, in every price point and in every hood. So the Divas think it is time to talk real stats. What is really going on out there in real estate land? Let’s check out the numbers!

Homes They Are a Movin’
The best way to see where we are is to see where we have been. Think back to that  warm, sunny, sleepy August of 2011. Last year in August only 22% of homes on the market were pending, a very small number – even for a sleepy Seattle summer. This year in August 41% of active listings were pending. Now this huge jump is slightly deceptive. The actual number of pending sales was only up by 90 but that is still a solid increase. Part of this huge increase in pending sales/ actives is due to the huge drop in inventory. We have all heard talk of low inventory but the real numbers are quite astonishing. Last August there were 3,459 active homes for sale in the Seattle market. This year there were only 2,111. That’s about a 40% drop in inventory in one year! No wonder we have a mini housing frenzy.

Demand is on the Rise
Along with the decrease in inventory – we have seen a steady rise in demand. Why? My optimistic nature says that it’s because many of us are basking in the glow of recovery. But – let’s be serious – loans are almost free. I mean 3.49% interest on a 30 year fixed loan with 10% down - out of control! If you can qualify for a loan and afford to buy  - now is the time my friends. Now is the time! Thus the cycle starts. Buyers hop in the market faster than sellers can get ready to sell or builders can get permits/land/money to build and BOOM – you have drastic diminishing supply. Where last year we had a 5 month supply of active homes, we now have a 2 months supply. In hot Seattle hoods like Phinney Ridge pending sales and solds homes have out been out pacing active listings since March. Low supply and high demand also means buyers must move faster to make decisions which leads to homes coming on and off the market faster. And the cycle goes on until supply can catch up.

Decreasing Inventory + Rising Demand = Appreciation
I know all you homeowners and soon-to-be homeowners love that word – especially since it has been almost four years since I’ve been able to say it. Appreciation. In one year we have seen a slight increase in median prices of  about 4%. According to the Standard and Poors S&P/ Case-Shiller Home Price Indices – we seen a 3.1% increase in the Seattle area. Not anything to write home about but up is better than down. If we break that down into key Seattle neighborhoods – the price increases are even higher. For instance – single family home values in Capitol Hill are up almost by 8% since August of 2011. Then you have areas like Bellevue where even though demand and inventory haven’t changes quite as drastically – we’ve seen a price increase of over 10%.

From the perspective of this optimistic Diva, I would say everything is coming up roses in Seattle. At least right now. If you would like to know more about your home value or how the market is shaping up in your neighborhood – contact us today.  Give us a call or drop us an email. We’ve love to chat numbers with you and your family. And – the coffee is on us!

Newlyweds Shane and Jesse

Today the Divas will be celebrating our friends and Diva Dwellers’ wedding. Yes – it is a big old gay wedding. Jesse and Shane have chosen to make a commitment to each other. They met while growing up with each other in New Mexico, went their various ways, and a couple of years ago were re-acquainted at a school union. A classic love story in all ways but one. The commitment they make today in front of their family, friends, god, society, and who ever else who happens to be in the room will not be legally binding. Today the Divas full heartily commit ourselves to helping make Jesse and Shane’s nuptials legal.

Diva Pals John + Stuart Deserve to Get Married on their 35th Anniversary

The Diva’s want to see our friends and Mah Jong pals John and Stuart get legally married on the 35th anniversary of their union. You might remember them from our Divas Take the Hill event this past June. They inspired our Why Marriage Matters! John and Stuart met and fell in love when Diva Chavi was three! Think about it. That is longer than most folks we know have been together – except for maybe some of our parents. And truthfully, why would anyone think their union does not matter? I can tell you that the majority of marriages do not last as long as John and Stuart’s union.

Divas Pals Stuart and John

Divas Chavi and Kim Deserve to Get Married

The Divas, Kim and Chavi – would like to have the opportunity to legally marry just like our cousins, sisters, brothers, and many of our other friends and family. When we founded Team Diva Partners, LLC  we had to pay a huge chuck of change in additional start up costs because we were not legally married. There are numerous other ways that money could have been better spent; supporting a local artist, promoting a local business, sponsoring an event for a non-profit group, or doing something productive for our recession ridden environment. It seems like a fair idea to me!

Divas Chavi and Kim Approve Referendum 74

Marriage Matters to the Divas + Our Diva Dwellers

Like many people here in Washington State Team Diva supports Marriage Equality.  We know that Marriage Equality supports and strengthens relationships and is in the best interest of our community. Because our GLBTQ clients cannot legally marry, they have to be extra aware of their rights as homeowners when they purchase a home together. They also need to be often spend hard earned dollars on legal documents to make sure their rights as a couple cannot be over ruled by family members who do not have their best interest at heart. In cases where one person of a couple does inherit the house because the couple has spent thousands of dollars on legal paperwork, the surviving “spouse” still has to pay income tax on the “value” of that inheritance. Their is nothing fair about preventing truly loving gay couples from having the same rights as their straight counterparts. 

This is why we are asking you to please take time out this fall and VOTE to APPROVE REFFERUNDUM 74. The Divas have setup a fundraising goal of $2,500 for the campaign to protect Marriage Equality. Please help us win in November by donating to the Team Diva fundraising campaign!

What can you do to support the Divas and our Diva Dwellers?

Donate to Team Diva’s Approve Refferundum 74 Fundraising page » Every dollar counts. There is a ton of money that is being poured into the state by outside entities to repeal a law that was voted on by a majority of our state elected officials. It is going to take every $20, $100, $1,000, or whatever else you can afford to make sure that these out of state people leave Washington State alone!

Support our Capitol Hill Apartment Dwellers whose homophobic landlord donated $20,000 of his gay renters’ money to the anti-gay marriage campaign» You may have heard this story – a landlord who owns several apartment buildings here on Capitol Hill donated $20,000 of his money to the anti-gay marriage campaign. Money he made from renting to the GLBTQ community! Can you say “Douche Bag!”

VOTE and talk to your other Divas about VOTING! Every last vote is going to count this election. Think about Shane + Jesse, Stuart + John, and last but not least your own Divas Kim + Chavi!

Piper Doodle and her Human Athena

Athena is a testament to sticking it out in this crazy market – poor girl. We had her house listed three times, scheduled two photo shoots, and had to rearrange of all of her furniture before we could finally sell her North Capitol Hill condo at the Ives. Then we immediately turned around and had to go through just as many multiple offers before we finally found and won another multiple-offer on the most adorable house in Columbia City. Whew – and then right when we were about to close on the Ives the selling agent for the condo went missing and almost jeopardized the purchase of the Columbia City house. In the end it was soooo worth it to see Athena and her cute little pup Piper walking through their new neighborhood!

Here is Athena and Piper’s Diva Dweller Story »

How did you meet the Divas? The gals were mentioned in a newsletter from 826 Seattle, a nonprofit writing center for kids where I was looking into volunteering. Their willingness to donate a portion of their proceeds to that community organization jived with my sensibilities, so I called. Plus they turned out to be super savvy with just the right amount of sass.

What is your favorite Hood hangout spot? While I haven’t had a ton of time to hang out just yet, walking the dog is a must. We recently discovered that it’s possible to start out down the street by the community center and end up at Lake Washington without leaving the park system. Now that’s what I would call a parkway. I never knew this was here before moving into the ‘hood.

What is your favorite local organization/non-profit? With so many worthy causes out there and amazing organizations and people working to improve our community, it’s hard to pick just one. But I appreciate the mission of Real Change and have a soft spot for the men and women who navigate all the institutionalized prejudices around us to work as vendors.

Market Watch – Showcasing the Decreasing Inventory for the Last Seven Days in Seattle!

Diva Kim attend one of her first Management meetings last week at the Coldwell Banker Bain HQ. One of the points that came out of the meeting is that right now in all of King county there is only two months of inventory. In the surrounding counties we are still at an all time low of three to four months of housing inventory. Bottom line, this is the lowest inventory has been in Seattle in a very very long time. So what does this mean for the Diva peeps on Capitol Hill or some of our other favorite hoods?

Shadow Inventory – What Inventory? We have been working through this market with some really frustrated home buyers who cannot find a house or have been outbid in a multiple offer situation. They often ask us “What about all of those foreclosures?” or as we call it in the Real Estate world “Hidden/Shadow Inventory”. Well believe it or not the 206/Seattle area has a very low foreclosure rate. Do not expect a magic bullet to fix the inventory problem any time soon. The Wall Street Journal had a great article on this issue that we think is well worth the read. The part that resonated with us smarty pants gals was the following excerpt: “There are several reasons why the shadow inventory isn’t as scary as it sounds: It’s concentrated in a handful of markets—it isn’t inherently a national phenomenon. It is being offset by improved demand, particularly from investors. And the housing vacancy rate is low, a product of very little new home construction over the past few years that could counterbalance continued high inventories of foreclosed homes.” Read the whole article at the Wall Street Journal Blog>

Rising Rents – Rents skyrocketed 10% from July 2011 to July via our friends at Trulia. Every day we get a call from someone who is moving to Seattle and cannot find a place in many of our urban neighborhoods. At the same time we have gotten calls from our friends who are renting on Capitol Hill telling us that their rent was just increased from $1,200 to $1,500 for a two bedroom apartment. We tell them to sign a 48 month lease and count themselves lucky! Right now you would be lucky to find a decent two bedroom for under $2,000 on Capitol Hill.

Seattle’s Population Grows by 2% in One Year – Many of these peeps are moving to Seattle’s core central neighborhoods and adding pressure to the rental market. As the rents rise more and more folks are making the decision to go from Renting to Buying which is also contributing to the super low inventory for good homes in Seattle. Great little article with some hard numbers which of course gets the nerd in us going>

Expect Multiple Offers in Seattle’s Core Neighborhoods – One of my super adorable Diva Dweller’s was recounting the experience one of her friends have been going through trying to find a home in Seattle. Now mind you the friend was not in the Diva Dweller club. And as many of you know – we Diva like to win and know how to be successful in any market. Basically, the friend was one of FIFTEEN offers on a home in Ballard. They offered 20% over asking and still did not get the house. The NWMLS just released a press release once again siting low inventory and awesome mortgage rates as a factor for the hot cha cha market >

According to Ms. Barb Hindle, the Diva of our Capitol Hill CB Bain office, we will  more than likely not see an increase in inventory until there is about a 4-10% increase in prices. Ok Diva Dwellers and Divotees – do not get discouraged. If you are in the market to buy a home in Seattle right now trust that the right house will shows up at the right time. Plus, the Divas will be ready to jump for the goal and score you that big win when it’s time! Sellers – trust that the bleak days of long market times and brutal concessions are coming to an end. Soon you will be able to make the move you’ve been waiting for since 2008!

Diva Kim & Broker Barb After the Big Announcement

Today is a special day at the DivaHQ her on Capitol Hill in Seattle. This morning Broker Barb announced that our dear Ms. Kim has officially been accepted into the Managing Broker Track at Coldwell Banker Bain. Everyone here at the DivaHQ has known that Kim brings a certain finesse and passion to the real estate world that is really difficult to replicate. She really cares about her clients, Team Diva, and wants to elevate the experience people have while going through their home buying/selling process and everything in between.

Look out Coldwell Banker – time for a little Diva gal power at those management meetings. Join us at the DivaHQ in wishing Kim lots of success in her new adventure!

Divas, SaturGays + Their 2011 FIUTS Students

My partner Chavi and I love to travel. We love learning about new places, discovering local customs, meeting people from around the world, tasting new and interesting dishes and everything else wonderful and exciting about jet setting around the world. Alas – we cannot travel the world all the time ( you know – career, pets, house, etc.) But we can still have all those great travel experiences while staying right in our home town. How do you ask? FIUTS!

FIUTS  is an amazing organization housed at the University of Washington campus whose programs foster cross cultural dialogue and  international awareness by bringing students from around the world together. One of their most valuable services is their Homestay Program. FIUTS connects incoming UW international students with host families in Seattle to help them transition easier into life in the US. We have an constantly growing number of international students coming to the UW to study. For most of them, it is their first time in the states and often, their first time away from home or their families. Being part of the Homestay Program offers them a friendly and safe environment where they can adjust to their new life in the states.

But being a Host Family is more then just providing a short term safe haven for an international student. It is about building friendships across cultural borders and creating  cultural ambassadors. Sign up now for a Homestay Program!

Divas Kim and Chavi Connecting

Divas are back at the DivaHQ and are jazzed from our first Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. Inman News produces the Real Estate Connect conferences and Agent Reboots. The Divas made their first showing at Agent Reboot-Seattle as part of their Anatomy of an Agent this last spring. At Agent Reboot-Seattle we met Katie Lance and Chris Smith. They are the Diva and the Divo of technology and Real Estate marketing tools. Let’s us just say that I think it is time we need to send these two a Diva metal of honor – or maybe a tiara! 

Real Estate Connect was AWESOME! We are inspired, engaged and ready to continue to shake up the way the masses interact with real estate professionals. Oh and yes – we are “connected.” There were so many fantastic conversations and panel discussion that the Divas brains were on information overload for days. Plus, I now have acquired a repetitive strain injury from over zealous tweeting! Since there is just no way to cover it all, here are out top three  - Power Gals, Brand Management and CRM Tools.

Power Gals (l-r) Heather Ostrom, Linda Aaron, Chavi Hohm, Anne Jones & Kim Colaprete

The Power Gal Row – Day one at the conference we connected with other CB Bain diva gals, Anne Jones from our Tacoma office and the lovely Linda Aaron who is the Diva of Operations at the Coldwell Banker Bain HQ. The gals introduced us to the very funny and super smart “the Bossy Marketing Pants” Heather Ostrom from Roseville, CA. It was heavenly being surrounded by such smart woman who are taking real estate to the next level. Together we spent most of the conference learning, laughing, having fabulous meals and so much more. Amazing as the conference was, we definitely noticed early on that there were a surprising lack of women on many of the panels.  The sessions that did have a power gal represented were hands down the most interactive and informative. So why are there not more power gals of real estate being represented? A brief chat with Kelly Mitchell of Agent Caffeine was quite insightful as to why there may be lack of Power Gals on the big stage. Kelly mentioned that men often ask to be on her show whereas woman wait to be invited. The majority of the people in the Real Estate industry are woman but very few of them are in leadership and management roles in many of our companies. Challenge to all of our fellow Divas – time to start asking, insisting and taking charge. No one can change this but us sisters!

Kelly Mitchell of Agent Caffeine Photo by Linda Aaron

Brand Management Track – Kelly Mitchell was an amazing moderator an this track. Not only did she connect the audience with the speakers but did a great job creating a dynamic environment for new ideas to be explored. The very first discussion regarding “The Experience Counts: Delivering on Your Brand Promise” definitely got the crowd going.  Great dialogue between agents, brokers and the panelist regarding branding on the “Company” level compared to individual agent branding. This discussion really revealed how disconnected the higher “corporate” brand image is in many instances from the local franchises and their agents. Whether it is in making sure the “brand” is being projected by all their agents or whether the company is delivering to the agents on their brand promise. Locally what is the brand expectation of all of us who work under the Coldwell Banker umbrella? Great questions! Some of the solutions edged up in some of the later sessions in the same Brand track. In one session, Debra Trappen, talked about developing individual ambassadors within each of our organizations whose sole purpose is to foster the next generation of agents to be tech savvy and highly ethical in their practices. Looking forward to working through many of these ideas here locally in Seattle with our Power Gal Row.

CRM Tools – Dear developers. We have needs and we could not find you anywhere at the conference. The Divas, The Ostroms, and a bunch of us really need a good robust CRM tool that compliments a high functioning real estate individual/team. Here is what we need. A tool that tracks our clients life phases, source of how we met them (a client is not a lead they are a PERSON!), when they closed, anniversary date, birth date, track our plan to results, and integrate with our Emma e-marketing system (which is not a drip marketing system). The system should show us who is a priority which week. It should be mobile, cloud based and Mac friendly. And it needs to cost $25 a month! Unfortunately, the systems we found were either to cumbersome, cost to much or they were going to be a one stop shop for all of our social media needs. But for those of us getting results from social media we all know that you need to access different points directly to get the best results. #StillLooking

Debra Trappen, Linda Aaron, Kim Colaprete, Chavi Hohm & Katie Lance

Honorary Divas to Follow
Debra Trappen – Our very own Seattle Diva is getting ready to launch her new power gal company. Debra has been critical to our success. Her encouragement, insight and perspective has directly resulted in the Divas showing the world that there is an ROI in being active on Social Media. @Debra11

Kelly Mitchell - We met Kelly in Hawaii this past March. Her Agent Caffeine show is insightful and informative. Kelly was also the moderator for the Brand Track that really blew some hats off in the room. She had an a great way getting the best from her speakers and engaging her audience. One of her key words that is still stuck with us gals is “collaboration”. We just need more of it in Real Estate. It is dumb to think one agent can be expert at contracts, marketing, therapist, etc. Time for more of us to work together in a team environment. @KellyMitchell

Katie Lance - Diva of Inman. She is a rock star and we just love her to pieces. One she is a mom of two very young boys. She travels all over the nation teaching Divas like Kim how to use twitter. Katie also put together probably one of the best presentations on how to curate content for your online presence that I have ever seen. We immediately sent it out to our team and integrated it into our marketing plan. LOVE! @KatieLance

The Geeky Girls – You think the Divas are Sassy? Meet the Geeky Girls. These gals are down to earth and are really working hard to change the technology landscape for real estate agents. And to top it off they do more business than us gals. And we know that has got to be tough. Amazing! @TheGeekyGirls

Tina Mak – Probably the most honest and funniest people to have ever graced the stage. This girl is so sassy, stylish and is a down right hard working Vancouver, BC agent. She knows her business and does it probably better than anyone else does in her market! @tinamak

Chris Smith- I spend a good afternoon in Chris Smith’s track on technology tools. The thing that I really appreciate about Chris is that he has the ability to overwhelm me with his knowledge of the intricacies of different media tools, apps and so much more geeky tech related items. I often feel like the expert in our own office so to have someone inspire at a new level is always refreshing. @Chris_Smth