May 10, 2018

Just Listed Just Sold – Stylish Ballard Home

We Just Listed and Just Sold this Stylish Ballard Home on Dibble Ave NW.  This home shows how our sellers are killing it in this market when they have #DivaDifference on their side. We sold this home in 6 days for $215,000 over asking! How did we do it?  By advising our clients to fix what’s broken and make it beautiful we are able to market the heck out of the home and “voilà” – magic. Without a doubt, our sellers, Kellie & Jonathan, had done an amazing job designing and remodeling this home. And it is clear the details of this remodel made many buyers’ hearts go pitter patter. Before listing the home we Divas stepped in to make sure every minor detail was completed inside and out. Then we had this home staged to perfection by the team at Open House Staging. They loved the remodel so much they even… Read More »

September 13, 2017

First Time Home Seller – Low Down On The Appraisal Process

Perfect Presentation

Congratulations, you just sold your home for $100,000 over the asking price. In fact, your home is the most expensive home to sell in your neighborhood all year. All the prep work you put into your home coupled with the marketing and market know how of  Team Diva paid off. All you need to do now is move out and wait for the check to roll in right? Not quite so fast. Selling your home for top dollar does have some risks, and one of the biggest is the Appraisal. What Is The Appraisal? The buyer’s lender wants to make sure they are not lending on an inflated sale price. To ensure this, the lender contracts an appraiser to evaluate the fair market value of the property. The appraiser is also making sure that the home is safe and habitable for the buyer. If the appraiser does not value the home at… Read More »

May 19, 2017

Love It Or List It: Deciding When to Sell in Seattle

Making the decision to sell your home (probably your biggest investment) is not to be taken lightly. Before making the leap, here are a few questions you should consider. 1. Is your current home satisfying most of your living needs? This is probably the most important question to ask yourself and your family. Between job transitions, births, graduations, and just general changes in how we live, our home needs can fluctuate drastically in a few years. Are you struggling with finding space for your growing family? Do you find that you have whole rooms in your home devoted to just the cat? Have you acquired a love of BBQing but live in a condo? Has your new job added an hour to your commute time?  Have you wanted to sledgehammer open a wall just to feel less claustrophobic? If you no longer “love it,” then it may be time to “list… Read More »

April 6, 2017

Waive Appraisal, Win Like a Pro!

Waiving any part of the appraisal contingency can strike fear into the heart of most buyers. The best tool against fear is KNOWLEDGE. Below are a few strategies for addressing appraisal issues before you submit an offer. Getting these things sorted out with the seller beforehand puts their mind at ease.

January 22, 2015

“Get It Sold!” – Seller Tips for A Stellar Home Sale

Yep, Seattle housing inventory is scarce. Yep, there are way more buyers than houses to buy. And yes – interest rates are still crazy low, hovering around 3.8% for a conventional 30 year fixed loan. All this points to a killer “Seattle Sellers’ Market.” So if you are considering selling your home this year – read on peeps. Here are some tips from the Diva for a stellar home sale this year. Follow these simple rules, get your home on the market and before you know it – bada bing bada boom – BUYERS!

March 8, 2014

Diva News: Winter Softening of Rental Prices But Still High

The rent guru and I just finished up a super fun open house for a rental we have up in View Ridge. The neighborhood is in known for it’s freaking awesome mid-century homes and superior schools. Should be an easy rental right? Well majority of the folks who came into our open house thought it was For Sale. Interesting! Well here at the DivaHQ we took a closer look at Capitol Hill and the Madison Valley area to do see what’s going on here. Two Bedroom  Apartments / 994sf Average = $2,214 Average Rent One Bedroom + Den Apartments / 767sf Average = $1,790 Average Rent One Bedroom Apartments / 674sf Average = $1,582 Average Rent Earlier this year we saw two bedroom apartments going for close to $2,600 a month. The number of calls for relocating Diva Dwellers have also gone done. The question is: is this a long… Read More »

June 10, 2013

Capitol Hill Market Update | June 2013

Everyone knows that Capitol Hill is experiencing an amazing comeback. The proximity of the Hill to the new Amazon HQ is putting a ton of pressure on rentals and homes. Our personal perspective is that the hill has seen about a 10% increase in prices from last year. Well let’s test that concept. Looks like the condo market is hot hot hot. Single family homes on the Hill have a slower appreciation due to the price point. Typically the above $700K price point moves up slower due to the fewer number of buyers. Townhouses seem to be having an amazing year. Is Capitol Hill in a condo bubble? Looking at the year overall the Divas have personally seen the average 1 bedroom co-op go for $180-200K in 2012 to $225-275K in the last six months.

March 19, 2013

Market Update | Week of March 18th

I will be totally honest. I have been trying to write this blog post for the last three weeks. But the DivaHQ has been humming with multiple offers won for buyers, multiple offers secured for our sellers, prepping for Agent Reboot, and so much more. Our office messy and I think our friends think we do not love them anymore. You know the market is back when your doctor states “Oh Real Estate. You must be doing really well right now”. Whereas my entire career in Real Estate folks have been saying “Ohhhh – that’s tough” But hey there is a lot of good news in the market right now and it is about time we saw a market as hot as the one we are experiencing right now. Now on to the news – PodMents, Hot Markets, Sustained Price Increases, oh and a Drop Off in First Time Home… Read More »

November 28, 2012

Diva Dweller Michael (aka DonntaTella Howe) Featured on King 5 News

Our fabulous Diva Dweller Michael (also know on Capitol Hill as the current reigning Miss Gay Seattle DonnaTella Howe) made the jump from renter to homeowner/lover this summer after his rent was jacked up by $100. Joe Fryer with King 5 News asked us gals if we knew anyone who transitioned from renter homeowner due to the rising rents in Seattle. We instantly thought about Michael. The best part of the interview is the bright red bathtub and the Drag closet that King 5 News showcased in the footage. You can also see Miss DonnaTella chat about the same tub from her cute summer interview with us gals. Michael’s experience is very typical of many of our new Diva Dwellers. The rents skyrocket and they find themselves seriously considering home ownership as a very viable and cost effective option. Earlier this fall we featured Michael and a few other of… Read More »

October 4, 2012

New FHA Condo Requirements | Great for Seattle's Urban Hoods!

The Seattle Diva’s HQ is is based right here on Capitol Hill and we are very sensitive to any change that impacts our Condo Diva Dwellers. A lot of our clients love the urban and very walkable lifestyle that comes with living in a dense neighborhood. For many of them that means living in our many condo buildings that dot the hill. The recent FHA Condo requirements that were just released finally allows our local condos to improve on their purchase ability. A huge number of first time home buyers purchase their homes with FHA financing. For some it is a result of having a lower credit score, having a huge amount of student loan debt, or for others it means that they have a lower down payment than the 5% minimum down payment for conventional financing. During the crash of 2008 the number one thing that hurt condos was… Read More »