“Johnine was super down to earth,” Kelly said. “We just hit it off right away.”
We loved Kelly and John—and their son, Dean, too, who can talk to anyone about anything. The family found us through a referral. They had heard that Johnine was a good negotiator, and they wanted someone honest. Someone who would be realistic about which houses had long-term value and which ones didn’t.
“Johnine offered lots of information about the housing market in Seattle right away,” Kelly said. “I was impressed with how thorough she was during our first few meetings.”
“She understood what we were looking for really quickly,” John added. “She honed in on what we needed, so we didn’t waste a lot of time looking at stuff that wasn’t going to be the right fit for us. She was really direct and straightforward with her advice.” He chuckled. “We didn’t noodle around too much.”
“I felt like we were in really good hands,” Kelly said. “And Johnine’s a real person. There’s no… there’s no—”
“Façade,” John interrupted.
“No façade. Just a real, genuine person. I could trust her.”
John, Kelly, and Dean were moving out of East Ballard. They wanted a quieter neighborhood. They wanted a home with a little more space, more of a yard, and a layout that would make a good place for Dean to grow up. A place where he could invite friends over, and a place they could call home for the long haul.
We worked with their family for four months. We saw about twenty houses together, and touring homes with them was always a pleasure.
“We got more efficient as the process went on,” Kelly said, “as Johnine really learned about what we wanted.”
“We were sending her things,” John said, “and she’s like, ‘Yeah, I saw that, but that won’t work for you.’ A couple times we would go see those houses anyway, and Johnine turned out to be right.”
“She never tried to talk us into anything,” Kelly added. “It was all very client-directed. I really appreciated that. She never even seemed frustrated that we were taking forever to find a house.”
As the months wore on, John and Kelly started to wear down. Not much, especially compared to some first-time buyers, but enough that time seemed to drag for them. We would spend every weekend, every night looking for the right house. Constantly searching.
“We weren’t freaking out,” Kelly said, “but I think we just got a little beat down as the weeks went on. But Johnine was like an angel during all of it. And this is another reason why I trust her, because she didn’t sugarcoat any of it.”
“She gave us some perspective,” John said.
“Perspective that we wouldn’t have had, had we not worked with someone with so much experience in this market. A younger person just wouldn’t have had that, regardless of how savvy they are, or how conscientious they are.”
“I wouldn’t say Johnine was a bulldog…”
“She’s assertive,” Kelly offered.
“She’s assertive—”
“—in a way that you want someone to be assertive.”
“Not in an off-putting way.”
“In a very professional way.”
Finally, four months after the search began, we found the house. The right house for their family. And now? John and Kelly and Dean are moving in. They’re landscaping the lawn, building a new porch, and getting used to their new home.
“We love this house,” Kelly said. “It’s perfect for us.”
