Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays. Every year we host a get together for 30 or so of our FIUTS students, friends and family, or as diva Mia pal likes to say, framily (your friend family). The holiday is our time to enjoy some fabulous food and each other’s company. This year we decided to reflect on everything in our Diva world that we love and are truly thankful for:
Diva Dwellers and Divotees: They recommend us on Yelp, come to our events, tell their friends about us, promote us to their moms, and are the reason we LOVE real estate. Cause they are freakin’ awesome!
Garden Court Peeps:The DivaHQ is housed in the “garden level” of Coldwell Banker Bain Capitol Hill’s office. There a few other brokers who have private offices on our level. They make our life awesome. We help each other out in times of need, pick each other up when we are feeling down and, most importantly, celebrate each other’s successes. This environment is what keeps us going, knowing that our form of competition involves all of us working together to do our best and be our best every day!
Interweb Real Estate Pals + our Power gals from Real Estate Nerd Nuggets: These are our industry power peeps. They believe in elevating the client experience, the power of creative and effective marketing, and the importance of constantly striving to elevate the real estate industry that we work in. Just to mention a few: Linda Aaron, Heather Ostrom, Anne Jones, Kelly Mitchell, Debra Trappen, Chris Smith, Katie Lance, Sean Carpenter, The Geeky Girls, and many many more fabulous folks.
View of Capitol Hill: Seriously – our office location is awesome. We look out from our Macs to see a sea of fabulousness float by. In the summer time it is a parade of Trans sistahs mixed with lost tourists. We often get to see Miss Gay Seattle as she hustles to her Diva Dwelling for lunch. There is the killer view of the freaking Space Needle, the topless biker chic, Santas dragging gold reindeer and so much more. Oh how we love Capitol Hill!
Family: Our family is awesome. Our nieces, nephews and our cousin’s kids make having fun and playing games magical. Our non-biological family, or Framily, gives us an immense amount of support to go out there and kick booty!
Rosie the Real Estate Pooch: On Sunday, Rosie the Real Estate action dog, spent nine hours in the back of the Prius as we traveled all over Seattle. But she was a trooper. She makes the office fun, calms are clients, and is generally our funny little office companion.
FIUTS – International Students:Divas love our kids. Our international kids are awesome. In fact we are getting ready to host about 1o of them for our annual Thanksgiving Feast of Goodness.
K-Pop and Kikis: The Divas get their giggle on watching K-Pop (Korean pop music) and Scissor Sister’s Let’s Have a Kiki videos. They make it much easier to deal with those tough transactions and give us party inspirations.
Team Members: Seriously – we do not know where we would be without our Chris and Ricardo in the DivaHQ watching our backs and pushing us forward.
Each Other: We Divas (Kim and Chavi) are getting ready to celebrate our 15th year being together as a couple. Yes – we are a real live couple outside of Divaland. And because of this we are also thankful for the passing of Referendum 74 which legalizes gay marriage in WA State. Two very very good reasons to be thankful this season!
We Divas know we have had a super busy year this year. My old Blue CRV is down right ready to give out and the Prius has not seen a proper wash in months fromus gals trekking all over Seattle. But it is so worth it to see our Diva Dweller’s in their homes. This morning Kim and I took some time out to see how the team is doing and how we are tracking towards our goals. The results are fascinating and at the same time makes us feel super grateful to our Divotees and Diva Dwellers for their support!
Here is it how it breaks down. Team Diva is number in our Capitol Hill Coldwell Banker Bain office for 2012. We have officially closed 33 transactions and helped a handful of renters find spots in and around the city. Kim was accepted into the Management Program in August. And to top it off Chavi was a featured speaker at San Francisco Inman Connect this last July. Whew – that is a lot for two gals and Rosie the Real Estate Dog. But we would not have been able to do it without our team Chris and Ricardo, and former Diva Kaz working with us earlier this year.
Give us the Diva Worthy Results
The Divas have officially helped 33 Diva Dwellers buy and sell their homes in Seattle as of September 30th. But to put that number into perspective let’s go through the reason this is such an awesome feat. The Average agent on the MLS only sells 2.5 homes. In our Coldwell Banker Bain – Capitol Hill office the average is closer to 12 homes (which is really good for an office). For the Divas to work with 33 buyers and sellers in nine months is AWESOME!The result being that we are officially number one in the office Year to Date for 2012. And we did it with just us gals working it out every day trying to do the best we can for our Diva Dwellers.
As you can see from our jazzed up Diva Dweller graph above is that 36% of our 2012 Diva Dwellers found us on Yelp! and another 27% were referred to us by another Diva Dwellers. Essentially, 63% of this year’s Diva Dwellers put their biggest financial investment in our hands as a result of the power of previous experiences people have had with Team Diva.All we can say is THANK YOU!
Thanks pals and we are super excited to see what the last quarter of the year will bring for Team Diva Real Estate!
Earlier this week, at our Coldwell Banker Bain Capitol Hill Monday morning meeting, we had a guest speaker who was here to sell his system of awesomeness to desperate struggling real estate agents. But wait – we are not desperate. Nor was his system awesome! In fact it was just smoke & mirrors! In fact it was actually was offensive to those of us who put in a good amount of time to elevate our clients’ real estate experience through all means of engagement – including social media. Ok – Before I go off the deep end, let’s start at the very beginning.
Our friend in the black suit and gold tie (rule #1 know how to dress for your audience!) came to our office to talk to us about the benefits of hiring his company to help us with our “branding.” Throughout his entire presentation he talked about social media and how we real estate agents should “get on board.” And the best way to do that is by paying his company $700 for their seminar where we will find out how we can spend another $10,000 on coaching and branding. His rationale? That $10,000 will just pay for itself. At the end of the conversation I asked him specifically what his twitter handle was. The response: “Well – I have my GIRLS do that for me”. Seriously. No offense but how can you tout social media if you 1.) Don’t even know your own Twitter handle and 2.) Don’t do ANY of your own tweeting! Are you telling me that I can spend a ton of money only to learn how to NOT engage with my peeps? And on top of it how freaking sexist can you be!
I was so mad that I decided to share with my cohorts the “Secrets” of making better connections with your peeps and doing a better job at creating community.And I am going to do it with my current favorite song Let’s Have a Kiki by the Scissor Sisters playing in the background ala Diva Pal Sean Carpenter (he has the best real estate lists to songs and his blog is a must read for any of us in Real Estate).
Dive, Turn Work, – Honey | Here are the real secrets for being awesome at Real Estate!
Step 1: “Dive” Into Social | Just Get Over Your Bad Self and Do It! Many people may not know this but Facebook saved my career in Real Estate. I dived into real estate in 2008 while the market was crashing. My very first open house no one came. Not a soul! And while I was picking up my signs a guy on a bike rode by and said to me “well – looks like it is all over”. Ahhhhh – I had just quit my good job at Starbucks to make a go at this real estate thing with Kim. So, I started using Facebook to invite my friends to my open houses. I created events. I talked about what I was doing and I dove into social media!
Our Diva cohort Roger is in his 50s and decided last year that he was going to re-do his brand and created the cutest concept ever: “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.” He is like every other hard working agent out there. Working his list and working with USAA clients. But he wanted a better connection with his people. Roger took Debra Trappen and Linda Aaron’sDesigning Your Digital Plan and freaking transformed his business. He went from being a good agent to a Top 5 agent in our office in one year! The way he did it is by getting him self a blog, developing content and communicating that content through his Facebook, Twitter, G+ and other social channels. It is slow going but he is keeping at it and the work is paying off!
Step 2: “Turn” This Boat Around And Start Doing Business for the New Market! Seriously, just because the market is coming back does not mean that today’s buyers and sellers do not expect you to have turned yourself around. Folks now expect you to be connected and accessible. They want a juicy look in how you present your houses in real life and on the interwebs. They want to connect with you. They want to review you. Think about it as Match.com. Home Buyers and Sellers these days want to check you out online before they can commit and trust that you are the right person.
Here is a sampling of everything we Divas do to provide our sellers with additional opportunities to promote their homes, buyers with extra information on inspections, newbies on how to find us, and existing Diva Dwellers on how to make their homes fabulous. We want to be engaged with our peeps!
Where is the DivaHQ? On The Interwebs! We totally love our website that Craig Labenz designed based on the brand guidelines that Noel Gaudette developed for us. Now we work closely with our Design guru Ricardo from Studio 5 Design to create campaigns and implement the Diva vision. If you look back at the earlier versions of our website you’ll get hints of the Diva Design now but it was not as refined as it is now. But – so what. We “Team Diva” are constantly progressing. Diva Kim did an awesome job back when she was ‘Ms. Real Estate Diva’ of developing her brand, creating a following and community non-profit partnerships and generally just being awesome. Together we took all of that and created the Team Diva Real Estate website and blog. Even today we are not sitting back resting, we have Diva Web 4.0 in the works.Branding is a continual process of development and exploration. It’s not about the destination – it’s about the journey! Always keep innovating, creating and presenting great work visually. Your clients deserve the best!
How Do Folks Find Us?Reviews Of Course! Get your face on Yelp!, Zillow, Trulia and Google+ and have your core ‘I love you forever’ clients give you a review. Those who love you want other people to know how awesome you are. Once again, engage with the people that love you and not the guy in the gold tie who wants to charge you $10,000.
How Do we Stay In Touch With Folks? Our fabulous Diva Dweller e-Newsletter Of Course! Driving back from my parents house in Oregon, Kim and I stopped into this cutie shop called Office in Portland. We signed up for their newsletter and fell in love with it. Then we fell in love with the cute little Emma Email character and found out that it only cost $25 a month with a $250 start up cost. Well – my freaking open house that no one came to cost me $250 to send out a post card to the hood that ended up in recycling bins all over the city.Our very first newsletter went out to our friends, family, my former co-workers, and anyone else who would give us their email. Four years later it is awesome and we love Emma. They are amazing partners and create live and engaging ways for folks to stay connected to the Diva Family.
There is a lot more we do. But these are the basics. We are closely integrated with many nonprofits in the area and believe strongly in our small business pals. Hence we do campaigns to support their work. A stronger Seattle makes for a stronger Team Diva! Do not get overwhelmed! It has taken us years to get this off the ground and running. Just choose one thing for a month and make it work. Then do the next thing. But YOU HAVE TO TURN THIS BOAT AROUND!
Step 3: “Work” Sorry There Are No Short Cuts In Life! Just like any good drag queen will tell you, “You betta work!” The agents I see who do good business come in every day, know their market, stay in contact with their people, and treat this job like a business. We love our peeps. We want the best for them and will do whatever it takes to make any market work for them. Sure – you can take the easy way out and pay $10,000 of your hard earned money to the guy in the gold tie – boom – have a brand. Or you can take this seriously, do ethical work, stay educated, take advantage of the benefits your company provides you for free and get it done! Team Diva believes strongly in the value of detailed business planning, and – we have no problem paying for talented design and web professionals to help with our branding. But – in the end you have to be authentic and do the work! Write the blog posts, tour homes, and understand market metrics. No shortcuts!
The bottom line is that you have to go out and do your very best every day for your clients. You have to create opportunities to make your community a better place to live. And you just have to “Dive, Turn, Work, H-H-Honey!”
Diva HQ is so happy to announce that our very own Diva Chavi will be presenting at Inman’s Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco on August 1-3. This conference is organized by some of our favorite folks at Inman News, so being invited to present is quite the honor. In March, we were lucky enough to be the inaugural guests at Inman News’ Agent Reboot, Anatomy of an Agent. There, Team Diva’s website, Yelp!, Twitter, and Facebook communities were all showcased and we were offered advice on how to improve even more. Needless to say, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to attend and present at this next Inman event!
Diva Chavi
At the Inman Connect Conference in San Francisco, Chavi (also Chavi’s original hometown) will be speaking about Managing Your Digital Presence and Reputation – basically “Social Media Savvy 101.” As you all know, besides selling houses, playing with our social media toys is one of our biggest passions. It’s been a long road to building our social media sphere, but it’s been a fun one for sure. A few years ago, we barely even had an online presence to maintain. It wasn’t until someone we meet at an open house suggested we get on Yelp! that we were launched into this crazy fast-paced world of online image management. Now we engage our Yelpers, Facebookers, bloggers, and Tweeters on a daily basis.
The “SaturGays” Celebrating Hawaii 5-0
At the conference, Diva Chavi will have the pleasure of presenting with some of the best and brightest in the industry. Moderating the session will be Kelly Mitchell, the founder of AgentCaffeine.com(and our personal Diva of Hawaii), a weekly real estate podcast, and CEO of REcake, a client communication and brand engagement mobile app. We were fortunate enough to meet Kelly in person while we were in Waikiki for our “SaturGays” big “Hawaii 5-0″birthday celebration. Also joining the conversation is Katie Lance (our Diva of Inaman News), Director of Social Media at Inman News, who we met and were interviewed by at Agent Reboot in March. Finally, CEO and co-founder of BrandYourself.com, Patrick Ambron will also be speaking about his experience in online reputation management. It’s sure to be a super enlightening session with a ton of clever tips on how to be the best power broker you can be.
In the real estate game of today, having an online presence can be the difference between getting and losing clients. There have been countless times when our peeps have told us that they chose us because our reputation precedes us – via the interwebs. The more information that is out there, the more people know about you and the more comfortable they feel with their decision. We can’t wait to share our experiences with building our online communities while continuing to learn more from the other experts at the Inman Connect Conference. Stay tuned for more “Tales of the Connect”post the Divas San Fran tour!
Divas Kim and Chavi on the stage at Seattle's Agent Reboot
The entire Diva Team attended Agent Reboot here in Seattle (ok it was in Bellevue) hosted by the super Inman Team of Chris Smith and Katie Lance. The format of Agent Reboot is exactly that. Power down and then power up with a fast paced day of hard hitting 20 minute real estate tech trainings.
The Divas have long been fans of Inman News and their push to have real estate professionals up their online game by showcasing tools to help us stay connected to our local peeps. Agent Reboot was filled with important information to keep savvy real estate professionals on top of their game. The main topics covered by Agent Reboot were How World Communicates Just Changed, Avoid Social Media Disaster, I Suck at Twitter (a very helpful session for Ms. Diva Kim), Videos 2.012, Google Tools, Top Five Zillow Tips, Best New Apps (Cinemagr.am Diva’s new fav fun app, Evernote Diva’s new fav biz app) and many more real estate topics for the modern power real estate broker.
The key point Team Diva came away with is that social media can be powerful tool for us to communicate the passion we have about houses, Seattle, Diva Dwellers and other Diva Fab items, but it is not just about communication – it is about connection. Specifically, Inman Next/Inman News‘ Chis Smith, Chief Evangelist & Contributing Editor and Katie Lance, Social Media Director & Contributing Editor, gave amazing presentations throughout the day. One of the key items that we really took to heart was “The Consumption of Information Has Changed. Improve the content of what you are communicating.” Hence bombarding your peeps with not-stop info about your new listings or market stats is not going to get you followers or pique someone’s interests. It is just going to get you blocked! Communicate a story that will allow someone to emotionally connect to you, a house, a special project, or anything else that gets the you excited. Definitely something the Divas strive to do.
Divas Chavi and Kim were also the inaugural guests at Anatomy of An Agent, hosted by the very charming Katie Lance. The idea behind Anatomy of an Agent was for a panel of power real estate industry folks to review Team Diva’s online presence and recommend areas of improvement. Katie showcased our Yelp! Partnership, the Team Diva website, Facebook and Twitter community. The panel was made up of Nick Taylor of Zillow, Glen Sanford of eXp Realty, Michael Callaghan of Century 21, and a celebrity guest, Mauricio Umansky, of The Agency. Overall the panel was very complimentary of Team Diva and our connections to our community. Specifically they were impressed by our Yelp! profile and how we are using it to promote and generate business. The panel’s main recommendations were to specialize more in specific neighborhoods (Capitol Hill, Seward Park, Phinney Ridge, etc), fully launch our Diva TV concept, and to continue to expand the Team Diva message to a larger audience though improved SEO tools.
Look soon for more enhancements to the Team Diva marketing machine, thanks in large part to the great interactions we had with the amazing people at Agent Reboot. We would also like to thank our #Swaggurlz, Debra Trappen and Linda Aaron, Diva Fab members of our Coldwell Banker Bain family, for being two of Team Diva‘s best supporters and, for introducing us to the gurus at Inman News!
This duo of realtors have proven their commitment to serving up a stunning level of personal service. Having worked with them for several years I’ve witnessed their sharp sense of the market zeitgeist, empathy with clients, first rate marketing, and passion for a good deal. I would recommend them for anyone looking to buy or sell a home and at any price point.
Since the housing market went tits up the Divas have not only stayed in business but seem to thrive in the tough business environment. I think because of the strain their intuitive sensing of what’s happening in the Seattle housing market has kept them in business while other realtors have disappeared. They price accurately and can gauge home values quickly.
I love the connection they maintain with me, and when I get to see it, with other clients. They take all matters seriously and I knew they were on my side through every step.
Their marketing is amazing! So much more clever and original looking than all the other BORING and STODGY real estate agents’ aborted creations floating around. If you want your house sold you need Team Diva on your side! Their style is unique, professional, and can change dynamically to compliment the home. It’s also all that professional photography they use.
If “garden variety” is your thing then choose someone else, but beware.
Ultimately though, it’s their passion that shines and it’s what wins. I’ve recommended Team Diva to everyone I know who is interested in their current home or the home of their future.
Last fall, Diva Kaz had the pleasure of helping Seattle newbies and first time home buyers, Aaron and Elena find a new home. The kids were looking for a home and neighborhood that fit their active lifestyle and could store their collection of bikes and outdoor gear. Aaron and Elena contacted the Divas after researching real estate agents online and reading comments from all of our happy Diva Dwellers on Yelp.
After a couple of home tours, Elena and Aaron found a mid-century loft style condo on the north side of Queen Anne. Knowing that they would be competing against another offer, Diva Kaz suggested that they write a personal letter to the seller, expressing their attachment to the home and their desire to maintain its many unique features. The letter worked, and even though the competing offer was higher, the seller chose Elena and Aaron’s offer, knowing that they would love and take care of her home.
The Divas were super excited to learn that Elena works for Second Use, an organization that reclaims building materials and hardware and makes it available to people looking for unique and eco-friendly features for their homes. Many of our Diva Dwellers already know of and use Second Use as a resource when remodeling their homes, or just looking for that one decorative piece that you can’t find anywhere else. For those of you who haven’t explored using reclaimed materials, we highly recommend you stop by Second Use and discover the amazing things you can do with recycled decor.
Here is Aaron and Elena’s Diva Dweller Story:
How did you meet the Divas? We found them on Yelp. We were impressed by the glowing reviews and happy to learn their office was only a few blocks from our old Capitol Hill apartment.
What type of home did you purchase? We bought a small two bedroom and 1.5 bath condo. It’s in a 1960s building with five other units. The unit needs some work, but it has a lot of wonderful existing features.
What was your first “OMG” house moment? Hands down, replacing the broken angle stops in our bathrooms! We were cursing everyone who told us it was a great time to buy.
What is your greatest home extravagance? Ha! I can’t say we have any real extravagances in our home, yet! Ask us again in five years, when we’re not poor, first-time homeowners.
What is in your junk drawer? Tape measure, pens and bike lights.
Test the smoke detectors/fix squeaky doors: Fix squeaky doors
Plunge the toilet/clean out the refrigerator: Clean out the fridge
Clean the gutters/take down holiday decorations: Clean the gutter
What is your favorite Hood hangout spot? One of the closest businesses to our condo is the Book Bindery. It’s a little restaurant and wine tasting room that is tucked away off of Nickerson Street. We drove by it several times without even seeing it but were glad when we finally did! It’s a nice spot for a special occasion.
What is your favorite local organization/nonprofit? I work for a community business called Second Use Building Materials. When someone is, for example, remodeling his/her kitchen, Second Use goes in and takes the cabinets, sinks, countertops, etc., to prevent them from going in the landfill. Then, we sell the materials in our store at a discount. We also put our inventory online and update it daily http://www.seconduse.com/catalog. The whole concept is a great win-win because it reduces waste, but it also helps people save money.
What do you love the most about your house? Easily our favorite things about our condo are the vaulted ceilings, the two balconies, our view of Ballard, the mid-century fireplace and our reading loft. Those things make it feel like a unique, special space.
The Divas want to give a special congratulations to Elena and Aaron, who got engaged during a recent trip to the Caribbean. A new house and a new stage in your life together – what an amazing way to start off 2012! We look forward to following the kids as they redo their home (using materials from Second Use, of course!), get married, and build their life in the city we love so much.
Jeff and Tracey are in the category of down right awesome Diva Dwellers. We were heart broken when they were forced to relocate to San Francisco for a new job opportunity. It was more than losing “just” a client. We were losing a couple of fabulous friends. Our Chez Diva events have not quite been the same since they have left our little village of Divas. But we have no doubt they are taking the Diva flag with them to the Bay Area.
We sold Jeff and Tracey’s house in the spring of 2010. At the time their house was sandwiched between a recent foreclosure and a short sale. Not the best situation but we knew we had to do it for our pals. Despite these odds we staged , beautifully photographed and managed to sell this fabulous Diva Dwelling in no time using the Diva Difference strategy. Jeff posted the following comment directly to our Yelp page.
Kim and Chavi helped me find my Seattle house shortly after I moved to town a number of years ago. At that time the market was difficult in a whole different way, they helped me find a well priced home in a good neighborhood. They made sure I did not pay too much at time where it was very easy to do so. Flash forward 6 years and Team Diva was able to help me sell that house when a new job forced a move to the Bay Area. Despite the fact that I was 700 miles away they were able to facilitate all details that got me a full priced offer in a matter of weekend all in a really crappy market. Their listing of my house was fabulous, everyone I know who saw it were really impressed.
Here is Jeff and Tracey’s Diva Dweller Story:
How did you meet the Divas?Met the Divas through my mortgage broker who recommended them, we met for coffee and I immediately knew things were going to work out well.
What type of home did you purchase?Purchased a mid 1960′s ranch (from the original owners) in the ‘burbs that need just a little TLC
What was your first “OMG” house moment? Replacing a front door is harder than it looks on TV and painting Cedar siding for the first time 25 years takes a lot longer than you would expect. Hire a painter next time. Or Call Team Diva. We have numerous recommendations for professionals.
What was your favorite home transformation? It’s a tie between re-landscaping the front yard and the renovations we did to Swank Up for the Sale. The bathroom and kitchen needed a little refresh to make it stand out from the crowd. It was amazing to see what a little bit of tile work and paint did to show the house off.
What is in your junk drawer?Matches and an inordinate number of flashlights
What was your favorite Hood hangout spot?A cute little restaurant in downtown Burien – The Tin Room and Bar
Good pals and would be Diva Dwellers of ours asked us for a recommendation for a fabulous Diva-licious real estate broker who works Manhattan. I made the call for an outgoing referral and promptly the next day I received two phone calls from obviously experienced but definitely not well-matched agents. They knew their market well. All answered my questions calmly and easily explained the process to me. Great, right? Then I asked them how they maintained long lasting contact with their clients if they were six to twelve months out from buying? I asked, “For instance do you have a newsletter or email system?” I also asked how they educated their clients on the first time buying process and what type of materials they used. Both agents responded that they did not see the value in a newsletter or in a “system” for keeping in touch with their clients and neither provided any information in writing for their clients to educate them on the process. Does this work for them? Probably. Would that work for us and our Diva Dwellers ? Definitely not!
Team Diva absolutely appreciates the idea of being there personally for your clients in the delivery of information and education. We also understand that “email newsletters” do not replace the long term cultivation of personal relationships. But, the world is changing, buyers are changing and we as agents need to change with it! We felt that both the agents we interviewed had not transitioned to the new way of doing real estate, which for us means educating our buyers and utilizing all forms of media to help our Diva Dwellers be as engaged and empowered in the home buyer process.
This experience made me realize that there are still brokers out there who fear the “educated buyer.” The concept is totally ridiculous to us. First off, lets think about the type of buyer we have in today’s market. Today’s buyers saved every damn penny for their 20% down payment. They are often purchasing below their financial power and are conservative with their hard earned money. They are smart, savvy and in touch with the news of the day. So – why do real estate brokers still want to treat these buyers like children?
Our Diva Dwellers are highly educated. Majority have their undergrad degrees and already have their masters or have it in the plan to do so. Many of them work at companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks or have high level research jobs. What I like the most about our clients is that THEY ARE SMART! But more importantly, we trust them to make the right decision for themselves and have no fear of them becoming “over educated.” By the time we hand over the keys to their new home our Diva Dwellers know everything there is to know about the house, the neighborhood, possible long term value and how to create equity in the home. Plus, they can clearly communicate the experience of what it is like to be a Diva Dweller.
Becoming a Diva Dweller is an involved process but it is also fun! Right from the very beginning we assume people come to us because they love the urban lifestyle and want to be involved in their communities. But we also know that its critical that our folks are informed on the process. The way we accomplish this that we start early by sitting down and going through our Diva Dweller home purchasing packet. From there we enroll them in the Diva Dweller newsletter where they are kept informed with fabulous information on local Seattle communities, best restaurants in town and honest discussions on where the market is going in Seattle. Sometimes it takes only a couple of months for folks to move from prospect to full fledge homewoner. But, we also have clients who are quietly and patiently saving up for their down payment. It might take some of our folks over a year or so to move into their first home.
Once we are actively in the home search process we educate our Diva Dwellers about every aspect of finding the right house and the right community. During the inspection we quickly pull in our team to ensure our clients do their due diligence about the home’s condition and to effectively negotiating a positive outcome on their behalf. After the transaction closes our relationship does not end with handing over the keys. We keep in touch with our Diva Dwellers, invite them to our yearly client party and various events, help them with referrals for everything from a yoga studio to a roofing contractor. The result being a mutual long term building of trust between us and our Diva Dweller. We have a high return rate of existing clients and our Diva Dwellers recommend us constantly to their friends, cohorts, family members and, sometimes even on YELP!
We love to meet other brokers who feel the same about real estate as we do. I strongly believe that it takes all different types of brokers in the world to work with different communities. Where we meet is where one of us has a home to sell and one of us has a buyer for that home. But in order to accomplish this more effectively and move our industry forward we think it’s time to re-evaluate together how we work with our clients. It’s critical that together we strive to create an amazing experience for our clients to remember. Home buyers excpect this from our indsustry and we should bring it to our daily practice as real estate and community experts. After all – Tis the Rise of the Smart, Savvy, and Conservative Home Buyer!
I’m so glad that Team Diva finally got a Yelp profile so that I could yelp and howl their praises.
My partner and I went looking for ideas around green homes and sustainable building practices and stumbled upon Chavi and Kim holding an open house on Beacon Hill. They were no-pressure and really – *really* know their stuff. When we explained to them what we wanted to find out about and why we were there, they were perfectly accommodating and welcoming in attitude and information.
They followed up with us with the names of reputable green builders that they have personally seen and stand behind and offered to show us any homes by builders we were interested in examining further.
I don’t know if we will end up building or buying, but either way – I will look to Chavi and Kim for either recommendations on builders… or if we do end up buying, they will be the ladies we work with!!
I would recommend them to anyone looking for a positive experience with buying or selling a home. They are fantastic.
