|
Thanks for visiting, please read "Our Unique Story" above and scroll down below to read kind comments shared about our work. We are down to earth, local & honest. We've helped hundreds of clients and friends buy and sell historic, vintage and "character" homes in the Seattle area. We've attached a photo of our historic home specialist Vince Decker backpacking in Sumatra this year. We love our work. Please share our names with anyone who could use our help. Thanks.
|
 www.HistoricHomesinSeattle.com Seattle, WA |
|
|
Vince found our dream home and sold our former home with a combination of personal qualities and skills rarely found in the same person. Rarely do you find someone is who task-oriented, skilled and efficient, while simultaneously building casual and calm working relationships. On the business of getting tasks done he is very driven; but on the people side, his confident, fun, and easy-going nature relaxes what can often be a stressful period in people's lives. He is generous with his effective and empathetic listening skills and is an artful and fair negotiator. Vince's work is influenced by a set of values in his business and personal life: helping others, justice and trusts that abundance comes from giving. Like many of his former clients, I consider Vince a friend and someone I'll know in this community for years to come. If you don't know Vince and are considering working with him, I trust that you will experience the same positive experience as many others have during the often sensitive process of buying and selling homes.
|
Dr. Earl Martin Professor |
|
|
Vince is a very unique realtor and made our homebuying experience as fun and stress free as possible! From our very first meeting, he listened to our needs and was able to provide an incredible variety of options. Unique about Vince is that he took our search criteria into account, but also proposed different neighborhoods and options to make sure we didn't miss any opportunities. He wasn't afraid to give us an honest assessment of the downside of any home or neighborhood, and at no point did we feel pressured or pushed in any direction. Vince has a wealth of knowledge about Seattle neighborhoods, commuting options, local restaurants, schools, etc. Within 10 days, he had helped us find our dream home. His warm personality also put the sellers at ease immediately, and he chose the exact approach to help us get the house for the price we wanted. Vince is a hard worker and a great communicator; he gives the impression you are his only client because he is extremely responsive and always available to meet. Even during evenings, weekends and holidays, he worked tirelessly to move our purchase process along. Vince went above and beyond in representing our needs all the way through to the end: he was not only literally by our side during the financing, inspection and settlement phases, but he also helped line up contractors, served as a furniture broker between us and the sellers, and came up with creative win-win solutions when any issues arose in the transaction. We greatly benefited from his honesty, warmth and sense of humor, and we would highly recommend him to anyone.
|
Susannah & Aashish Dhamdhere Azure Cloud Systems, Microsoft |
|
|
Before you read this we would like you to know that everything happened the way it is stated. It might not seem real to you but it is and please feel free to contact Vince to give you our contact details if you would like to know more about the way we have met or if you have questions about him as a real estate agent. The title: "YOU ALWAYS MEET TWICE". My husband and I moved from Switzerland to Seattle just before New Year's. I started looking for houses on the Internet a couple of months before we moved to get a better feeling of the neighborhoods and places. As we both love historic homes we came across Vince Decker's website and decided we'll give him a call as soon as we arrive. "What a coincidence" we thought when we read that he had been to Madagascar just like we had. So we arranged a meeting in this little cafe in Ballard and as it was December 31st, Vince asked if we would mind if his wife and daughter came along as well. When he came in we knew right away that this is the type of person we could trust: very down to earth, not pretentious at all. We talked about our background, what made us move to Seattle and what we are looking for in a home. We also talked about traveling and started exchanging our memories about Madagascar. I still get shivers down my spine when I think of that moment when Vince told us over a cup of cafe latte that he had gone to Madagascar to meet a friend of his from Slovenia and that he has already previously traveled in Sri Lanka with this guy. Not that this made me shiver but I had a deja vue feeling (that's what I thought at that moment). I remembered that somebody somewhere had told me that he was going to meet a friend from Slovenia (I remembered that just because my parents are from Croatia) in Madagascar and that they had traveled in Sri Lanka (where I have traveled before as well). AND it was not a deja vue. It was him, Vince, the guy we had met in this 2 minute airport bus shuttle at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris on one of those short-distance bus shuttles that bring you to the plane. We suddenly recognized our faces again and when we got home Vince sent us the evidence: me and my husband on a picture, actually the 3rd picture in Vince's photo album (thanks again for that; now we have one as well!). Number 4 was the one that I had taken of him. We still cannot believe that the first person we met on our trip to Madagascar was the same person that we would meet here in Seattle plus that he would be our real estate agent. Moreover, the first home he showed us was the one we fell in love with. Now I am sitting here in my new home and thinking of destiny in different terms. We spent some more days together with Vince and his family who became friends, looking for other places and after another 10 houses we realized that the first one we had seen was our favorite. Any question we had, Vince could answer it or would immediately give someone a call who would be able to answer. He was there for us anytime. He is highly professional and that is just what you would be looking for in your real estate agent. Moreover, he is someone you want to spend your time with; someone you like having around you which we found extremely important. Last but not least, his negotiating skills are superb - at the end of the day probably the most important skill if you are trying to buy or sell a house.
|
S. & A. Muhlbauer International Brand Consultant |
|
|
After 25 plus years of living in New England, where older homes were all different and retained their charm, we had moved to the Seattle area. Our house here was nice, but lacked the history and originality of an older home. After meeting with Vince, we realized his expertise and understanding was just what we needed to find what we were looking for. He found the perfect home for us, and Vince helped us sell our house in short order! He is direct, professional, thorough, and above all kind and caring. He has made what could have been a very difficult transition a joy. We love our new home, and look foward to many years of enjoyment here....and a bonus!!! Vince is one of our new neighbors! |
Karen Ruel & Jeffrey Toffic Social Workers |
|
|
I first met Vince Decker when I considered selling my home a few years ago. I saw his signs everywhere, figured there must be a good reason for that and called him last summer when I was ready. I interviewed several real estate agents, he clearly stood out to me for many reasons. He was straightforward, honest and very professional. He wasn't professional to the point of overbearing. He was just your "guy next door" who does his job very well. When other realtors were telling me what they felt I wanted to hear to get my listing, he told me the truth. I chose him for all these reasons and more. He knows the market, the neighborhood and lives here. He has a true appreciation for older homes and all the history that goes along with each one. My home had been in my family for almost 100 years and it broke my heart to let it go; he truly understood that. When it came time to list the home he listed it for more than we had originally discussed and I ended up selling it for more than I had planned. He did it in less than 10 days, which made it so much easier for my family to move on and start a new life in a different home. I had been told by other realtors who must be jealous of his success that I would't see Vince much, that his assistants would talk to me more. That was far from the truth. There was only Vince and at least a half a dozen phone calls a day (usually more) between the two of us. He was always patient with my emotional moments and even ran over immediately (he lives just around the corner) with a key twice when I locked myself out. I would not hesitate for one minute to call on Vince to sell again or look for a new home. Call him, it will be the best call you ever make!
|
Karen Taylor Telecommunications |
|
|
Being a first-time homebuyer, I knew going in that I was in a vulnerable position. Without any real knowledge of the process of buying a home, I wasn't quite certain just where to start. I took a chance when I opted to contact Vince Decker by email after hearing about his work. Not even five minutes separated the time in which it took for me to send the first email, before I received a response, which set the tone for the remainder of my working relationship with him. The process was made indescribably simple, and unexpectedly exciting, due in no small part to Vince's genuine desire to fulfill the needs of his client. Vince was exceptionally personable, a sharp and refreshing contrast to the more often seen suit-and-tie real estate agent. My disposition left Vince with a notable challenge, as well as an aggressive timeline, which he not only conquered, but he did so in grand fashion! As a result, I am now an excited and proud homeowner, and feel privileged to have an agent that I can also call a friend. Make no mistake about it, Vince, I mean every word of it! Thanks again for the hard work and for getting me into my first home. Keep in touch, and feel free to swing by anytime!
|
Matthew Forsythe Earth Friendly Builder |
|
|
My home had been listed on the market with another agent for many months with very little action. Vince took over the listing and everything changed. The new home photos were sharp, the marketing professional, color flyers always stocked in the box. We noticed immediately that activity increased, we were thrilled when we had a buyer in a matter of weeks. Vince made sure that the home was shown to its best advantage, and stayed in close touch with us and with agents who had shown the home to prospective buyers. I am now happily living in my new home (which Vince found for me). Vince made the process of selling my home and buying another a pleasure from start to finish. |
Allen Jackson Finance |
|
|
We met Vince in a time of desperation to sell our home. My husband had gotten back to the Seattle area from Iraq in October from an 8 month intelligence deployment and then turned around to deploy to Washington DC shortly after. By the time we met Vince it had already been 7 months of separation. We were in a position where we couldn't afford to sell our home so we were forced to live separately again. Thanks to some law changes and Vince's help we were able to sell our home quickly and efficiently. Vince made all the difference to this quick turn around and sale. He helped with advise pre-sale which I followed religiously. He had people who were able to help with work I wasn't able to do who were quick to return calls and were good at their jobs. One even offered discounts for future work if needed for the closing. Vince had the greatest high definition photos taken of the house, showing it beautifully. The house was listed fairly to sell and an offer and a quick closing followed. Vince personally oversaw the entire thing through even when he had a family death and had to travel out of the state for a week. This is a man of dedication and conviction. He is the man you are looking for. He helped us to the end when our cleaner for the final day fell through he arranged for that to be taken care of and we had already left the state. We really enjoyed working with Vince. We never felt as though we didn't know what wasn't going on or were alone on this house sale as it was our first. Vince walked us through the things we had to clarify even if it was the second or third time. Having spouses in different states makes it a little more challenging. Selling a home is personal and can be amazingly stressful, do yourself a favor and choose someone who can lighten the load like Vince Decker."
|
David & Katie Sturgell Naval Captain |
|
|
My pregnant wife and I were living in a Seattle apartment and looking for a home to fit our soon to be growing family. When driving around the neighborhoods, a certain name & face kept popping up a lot, Vince Decker. I sent him an e-mail later that Friday night (9 PM-ish) and he called us back that same night! My wife had to work over the weekend, so I was free to spend some time with Vince to look for homes on Saturday. Saturday turned into Sunday which turned into Monday afternoon after I got off work. About 30 hours later of actual 1:1 searching time with Vince we ended up back to a house where we first met Vince; a little red craftsman with a lot of character that we felt comfortable with placing a bid and getting an inspection on for purchase. It all worked out and now we have our first house in which to let our family grow. Everybody going through the process knows the pains, sacrifices, & sometimes heart aches that go along with house hunting, but Vince was a great guide with an honest opinion that made the process seem relatively pain free. I see him in the neighborhood guiding others around and know that they're probably getting a great experience like my wife & I had. When we move up for our next house, I know he's the one we will be dealing with. He's earned our trust, business, confidence to return, & send others his way. GO VINCE!
|
JR & Lindsey Cienega Nurses |
|
|
When you are buying or selling a home it can be a confusing and stressful time to say the least. Holy Moley! Everywhere you look, you see signs for different agencies and within those different agencies you have different agents. The town is littered with them. How do you weed through? Who really knows the area, the business and in the end isn't just out to take advantage of you? The dream is to have someone knowledgeable about the specific area you are selling or buying in, the housing market, as well as the ins and outs of the many different legal hoops you must jump through. Vince is that man. Insert sigh of relief here. He is there for guidance and to hold your hand (metaphorically of course). Not only does Vince know the area but he is immersed in the community. If you are buying or selling a historic home there is NO OTHER agent to go to. One more word, which proved to be EXTREMELY helpful in selling my home, is connections. Not in the Soprano sense of the word, but he knows everybody. You are working with one man but he has a team behind him of wonderful professionals to help you with whatever you need. Knowledge, experience, patience and connections. Ahhh, here I sit in my new house, the kids are at school, my feet are up, I'm drinking a cup of coffee! Thanks Vince."
|
Tara Tramayne Aeronautics |
|
|
Hi Vince, Just a quick note to say great job! I could not be happier with how quickly my home sold and how skillfully you negotiated the new home I bought. I have worked with realtors on many past purchases and have always been generally happy with those transactions...but you really turned it up a notch! You are the first realtor that REALLY negotiated! Others have just merely submitted low offers that I approved and then ended up meeting in the middle (boring and typical!). You saved me thousands! I would like to say thanks by repaying you those thousands of dollars. Where should I wire the money? Just kidding, that money is going into the upgrades in my new place! Cheers to you oh saver of my hard earned money! Until our next transaction, vaya con dios
|
Todd Combs Fine Residential Painting |
|
|
I would like to provide a testimonial about our experience buying a house through real estate agent Vince Decker. My husband and I viewed some Craftsman historic homes and absolutely fell in love with one. We found it on Vince's website and the buying experience from then on was completely stress free. We have purchased homes before and until this time have always found it to be a very stressful experience. Vince's charm and personality made buying our house feel like we had all been friends for a long time. He is up front and honest, and does indeed love homes with character. He lives up to everything his website says and then some. We will highly recommend him to all of our family and friends. To those who are reading this, we promise you, you won't be disappointed. After we started our loan process we found out that people we knew at work had gone through him as well and were more than 100 percent satisfied. Please, if you are looking to buy a house, you are really missing out if you don't contact Vince as your agent. Thank you Vince. Enough good things cannot be said. Best of luck to you and your family.
|
Will & Kim Walker Healthcare Administrators |
|
|
When it was time to sell our historic home, we first listed it with one of the larger realty chains. Three months later only 3 buyers had looked at our place, our listing had expired and needless to say we were discouraged. Then we remembered someone telling us that Vince Decker had a very good reputation. He was supposedly honest, knowledgeable and very professional. All this turned out to be true. Within three weeks, from the time we listed with him, we accepted an offer and the process was completely over in two months. He always kept us informed, answered our questions, and never made us feel uneasy. For this and his friendly ways we thank him very much
|
John & Lindia Kirk Happily Retired |
|
|
We had often seen Vince Decker signs on homes for sale in our neighborhood. As we began thinking of selling a rental home we had nearby, a home that had been in John's family for over 80 years, we called on Vince to give us his expert opinion. He met us within an hour of our call, walked through the home, and gave us an honest assessment. He gave us a list of things he felt were necessary to bring the home to selling condition, and also gave us names and numbers of contractors, stagers, etc. to help us get going. We worked on the home for the next several months, using many of the contacts Vince had given us, with great results. He would check in from time to time to see how we were doing, always answering our questions and giving us helpful advice. When we were finally ready to list, Vince was ready to go, and did a wonderful job of marketing the house. We were tired and burned out from our "part time" job of the past few months, so turning it all over to Vince was a relief, and working with him could not have been easier. Though he had warned us, and we knew, that the market was quite different from the market in past years, the house sold in two weeks. We thank him for his expertise, kindness, and patience, and highly recommend him.
|
John & Patty Sontra Pharmacists |
|
|
As you can see Vince has no shortage of testimonials that speak to his knowledge of homes of character as well as his passion for the real estate profession. During our business relationship with Vince he reaffirmed these traits again and again. Vince's knowledge of our neighborhood enabled him to find a great buyer for our home and effortlessly pull off a painless and successful closing. That is the business side of Vince. On the personal side I am proud to say that my wife and I were able to watch Vince build his business from the ground up. We never had any doubt that Vince had our best interests at heart. Vince is a genuine guy and I would recommend him highly to anyone!
|
Lee & Terri Fowble Fire Chief |
|
|
Dear Vince, Thank you very much for selling our Mother's home so quickly and professionally! Thanks to Vince and electronic technology we sold our Mother's home while I was on a tour of Greece! The 10 hour time difference and touring made phone communication nearly impossible, but we accomplished it by email and fax and I had a great vacation!. Vince gave clear guidance in email instructions, had the inspection completed and estimates in hand when we met the day I returned. The sale closed six weeks to the day we listed without any glitches. Vince is an extremely knowledgeable agent, positive about the real estate climate and always had our best interest at heart. His photos both online and on the fliers used excellent digital photography. He works with a great attention to detail. We liked that Vince suggested we show our Mother's home with her furniture in lieu of staging it. We saw that as an honor and respect to our mother who loved her home - we hope the new owner will enjoy it as much as she did. |
Jilene Bosman Estate Executor |
|
|
To put it simply, Vince amazed us. There are agents out there who seem like used car salesmen, and we were not interested in dealing with one. Hearing great things about his work, we decided to give Vince a chance to try to "sell" us on working with him. He was the first real estate professional we'd ever met who was an actual genuine human being. He looked us right in the eye, listened carefully and processed what we were telling him about our needs and our plans. He really understood what we were wanting, and rather than looking for how we could "make him a sale," he showed us what our options were and how he could assist us. I can honestly say this guy put our needs and our best interest as his top priority, which says a lot these days. It's as if making a living at what he does is a secondary concern to him, simply because he enjoys this work. We never felt urged or compelled to do anything that didn't feel right or that deviated from our plans, and we felt that we were in the driver's seat with a safe and knowledgeable companion along for the ride. Not only that, but he's a really great guy! He has wonderful stories to tell from his world travels, and he's a joy to spend the afternoon with, either house-hunting or collaborating on selling. He goes out of his way, every step of the way, and it's fun all along. When it comes to the meat and potatoes of working with Vince, this guy gets the job done. He's not just friendly and genuine, he's a real pro. When we first met with him, we convinced ourselves quickly to work with him. And he blew our minds. He really knows his stuff, and he makes magical things happen without that slick-thing (he's got a firm grasp on the concept of karma). He gave us fantastic advice about how to get the house ready for market, and when we did, our house sold in under 12 hours, and for more than we were asking! We were moving out of state at the time or we certainly would have had him as our agent for buying the next house. When we moved back to the Puget Sound this winter, no doubt about it, Vince was our guy. He found us the perfect house and made magic happen. He gave us tips about being competitive buyers, and sure enough we got the house. He even helped us negotiate our way through the inspection details. We simply could not be happier with the service and friendship Vince offered us so freely. It's as if he's an artist and real estate is his medium. No, wait. He's an artist, and honesty and integrity are his medium. Real estate just happens to be his vocation. And he's fantastic at it! Thank you Vince!
|
TC & Geoff Cooke Jazz Musician |
|
|
There is no denying that being a single woman making a home purchase can be very intimidating. I want to thank you, Vince, for not only making it pleasurable but for doing it enthusiastically! From the moment I made my first phone call to Vince, I felt that he had my best interest at heart. He patiently listened to my laundry list of desires and worked tirelessly to find exactly the home I needed and wanted. Not once did I feel pressured like I had in the past while working with other agents. Despite obstacles that came up and my zillion questions, he always was incredibly helpful, guiding me through the process of buying my home effortlessly and with a great sense of humor. For every question I asked, he not only had an answer but he made sure I understood it. Vince is a genuine, warm, down-to-earth person that I felt most comfortable being around. I was truly impressed with his knowledge and passion for his work! Vince, thank you again for helping my son and I get into our first home. I am forever grateful and I will certainly send my loved ones your way!
|
Serena & Little Keith Humphries Veterans Administration |
|
|
A year ago I never would have dreamed I'd be able to purchase my own home. Vince helped find a great lender to qualify me for a mortgage loan, talked to me with respect even though my price range wasn't large and believed in me every step of the way. Today, I am living in a wonderful historic house, my first home. What I appreciate most about Vince is that he did not simply want to sell me a home, he wanted to make sure I found the right home for me. He even talked me out of two places I considered (I was a bit too anxious). He knew we'd find something that was more "me", and we did. In the process, Vince turned into more of a friend than real estate agent.
|
Roy Holman Yoga & Retreat Center Founder |
|