What is the Diva Difference? The Diva Difference is the process our team uses to sell a home in Seattle at top dollar. And this process ensures our homes beat any market we experience. This process to sell a home in Seattle was first crafted during the Great Recession (when homes were not selling). Tested during the initial Pandemic lockdowns. And coming in very hand during recent market shifts in the Seattle housing market.
Are You Ready For the Diva Difference to Sell Your Home in Seattle?
The Diva Difference is Team Diva’s 3-step process for listing homes. First, we want to “Fix What’s Broken” in the home. Then, we will “Make It Pretty,” which includes staging. Finally, we will “Market the Heck Out of Your Home”!
- Fix What’s Broken
- Make It Pretty
- Market the Heck Out of It
In this post, we are sharing a Q&A with The Original Diva and Managing Broker Kim Colaprete. Kim is sharing everything you need to know about the Diva Difference. Keep reading to learn more about the Diva Difference.
What Is the Diva Difference and How Does Top Listing Broker Use this to Sell a Home in Seattle?
The Diva Difference is Team Diva’s tried and true method for preparing homes for sale. We wanted to share more about exactly what the Diva Difference is and why it’s a game-changer for our incredible Diva Dweller clients. So, we did a Q&A interview with Kim Colaprete, The Original Diva and Managing Broker at Team Diva Real Estate in Seattle. Kim is the expert at preparing homes for sale, and she is spilling all of her secrets!
What is a brief description of the Diva Difference?
The Diva Difference is how we refer to our 3-step process for listing houses. Number one, we want the seller to fix anything that’s broken in the home. Number two, we want to make the home pretty. This goes beyond just fixing things. This is about making the house look “fluffed” and market-ready. And then number three is to market the heck out of the home. We make sure the marketing is top-notch and distributed across all of our platforms.
More Info: The Diva Difference: How to Sell a Unique Luxury Home in Seattle.
How is the Diva Difference different from what other real estate agents do?
There are a lot of great real estate agents out there. And there are even top agents who are uncomfortable having deep conversations with their clients. These conversations are about how your house needs to look in order for it to sell for the most money possible. Your average seller has the capacity to fix things in their home before they go to sell. They need to do the cosmetic work. This is a key factor to selling a home that a lot of agents just don’t want to talk about. And let’s be honest: Most agents do basic level marketing. Very few realtors have the level of digital prowess that Team Diva has.
More Info: How to Choose a Top Rated Listing Broker to List Your Home
Why don’t many real estate agents want to have real conversations with their sellers about the work that needs to be done?
These conversations can be hard to have. It takes a certain level of skill and practice. You also need to have a trained eye to walk into a house and be able to say, “Hey, visually this house doesn’t look the best it could. We need to change up a few things to attract top-level buyers.” Many agents don’t have the level of experience that we do.
“Hey, visually this house doesn’t look the best it could. We need to change up a few things to attract top-level buyers.”
And then there are also realtors who think that this market is so hot, that they don’t need to make the extra effort to list a home. They figure the home will sell anyway. Sure—in a super hot market you can slap a house on the market. It will sell. But will it get the top buyer and top dollar? If you know how to do the listing prep that Team Diva does and you use the Diva Difference method in how you approach every listing, then you’re going to be successful. And you will be successful in not just a hot market, but in ANY market. We all know that hot markets aren’t consistent and they don’t last forever.
Bonus: Guide on how to get multiple offers on your home in Seattle.
How much more money does the Diva Difference help your Diva Dweller clients make?
We have so many examples of how our clients have directly profited from using the Diva Difference. One example is a house we were listing in Capitol Hill. This home needed quite a bit of work. We knew that our seller client could have had their renters move out, cleaned it, and done minimal or no work to fix it. We could have done basic staging, and then it probably would have sold for $900,000. There was a dirty, unstaged house down the street that sold for $900,000. This was the comp that we were looking at.
Luckily, we were able to convince our seller client to spend $25,000 to fix up the house. We had the house painted, and we had new carpet installed. The windows were fixed, new lighting was added, and then of course we had the home beautifully staged. As a result of all of this, we were able to sell the house for almost $1.2 million. That’s right—our listing sold for almost $300,000 more than the house down the street that didn’t do any prep work. Our listing was not even as fancy or as grand. But because our seller was willing to do the work, they made so much more money on their sale.
More Info: How to prep your home for sale in Seattle.
What’s another example of the Diva Difference at work to sell a home in Seattle?
Another great example of the Diva Different paying off is with a home we recently sold in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood. The house was not in the best condition, and the sellers didn’t have a ton of money to fix it up. They originally bought the home with the intention of doing a huge remodel, but they ended up having to move. So we said, let’s get the house to the point where it’s move-in ready. After hearing what we had to say about fixing the home and getting it “fluffed,” the sellers agreed to do way more work than they initially planned.
What work was completed?
The additional work we advised cost $10,000 over what they were originally planning to spend on prep work. We got the house to a state where it was clean, move-in ready, and looking pretty sharp. A porch had to be redone, the kitchen needed a refresh, painting, and flooring had to be redone, and new lighting was added. Our Magnolia listing sold for about 20% over the list price. This was way more money than our sellers expected.
The additional work we advised cost $10,000 over what they were originally planning to spend on prep work. We literally sold the house for—once again—about 20% over the list price.
Luckily, we are not afraid to have these conversations with our sellers. I have the experience and confidence to show you the great results you can get if you put in the work. On the other hand, if you don’t do the work, you’re at the whim of the market. Or you’re at the whim of a buyer who is going to read your inspection or do an inspection and make you jump through a bunch of hoops. We make sure all of this is taken care of in advance.
Anyway… we have tons of examples of the Diva Difference making a big impact. And we take the same thorough approach to every house we list. Every single listing. This is regardless of price. Whether it’s a studio in Capitol Hill or a $1.5 million home in Queen Anne, we consistently sell our Diva Dwellings for more money.
More Info: Check out all of our super star just sold homes.
Is there an average amount of money that a seller should expect to spend when preparing their home for sale?
Most people spend about $5,000 – $15,000 depending on the size of the house. And of course, it depends on what needs to be done. Some people don’t need to do any special prep work; maybe their home was lightly lived in. But this is really rare. We usually walk into a house and see opportunities for painting, flooring, and some repairs. Our perspective is that all of these updates and refreshes should happen. Fix everything to eliminate any fear from a buyer.
Just for example… Floors need to be clean, walls need to be clean and painted. And you can’t have chipped cabinet paint and broken appliances. Get everything in tip-top shape, because you can’t stage a house that isn’t clean and all fixed up.
What if your client needs to sell their home as-is?
Team Diva may not be the right team for you. Would you like to leave $100,000 on the table, for example? That’s what you’re going to do if you don’t follow the Diva Difference. If a seller hears this and they’re still resistant to even fixing what’s broken, we would tell them we’re not the right real estate agents for you. The type of marketing that we do only works if the house looks a certain way. Team Diva has beautiful photos were taken of your home, including drone shots and twilight shots. We also market our listings through video, social media, email marketing, and more.
Would you like to leave $100,000 on the table?
If you work with an agent who isn’t going to do this marketing, they’ll just put your home on the MLS and wait to see what happens. If this is fine for you, then you probably don’t care about marketing. You’re also not going to get the same amount of buyers in the door. If you’re hiring us, then you want us to do the marketing! If not, it doesn’t make sense to hire Team Diva.
Thank You for Taking the Time to Learn More About the Diva Difference
What is the Diva Difference? Why is this important when selling my home in Seattle? The Diva Difference is Team Diva’s dialed-in 3-step process for listing homes. Our Diva Difference method makes sure that your home sellers quickly and for the most money possible. We begin by fixing what’s broken and making sure that your home is in excellent shape. Then we make it pretty! This includes staging. And then finally, we market the heck out of your home. Thank you for learning about the Diva Difference in this Q&A with The Original Diva and Managing Broker Kim Colaprete.
Bonus: Several years ago Kim did a series of videos that were super sassy about the Diva Difference. Check them out.
We are here to help. Our team understands that this process can take a year or two. And we are more than willing to give you a personalized plan to get the ball rolling. Feel free to contact us directly at thediva@teamedivarealestate.com or call/text 206-271-0264.
