Community Highlights: Meet Danya Rivlin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danya Rivlin.

Hi Danya, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I was born in Boulder, in the late 1970’s, when Boulder Community Hospital was still located at the corner of Balsam and Broadway. I like to imagine that as a newborn baby, I opened my eyes for the first time to that glorious view of sunshine glinting off the Flatirons and thought “I’m HOME!”

My vision of this front-range landscape as my heart’s truest place has not changed for a whole lifetime. I left Colorado only long enough to pursue a liberal arts degree and graduate magna cum laude from Wellesley College (outside of Boston), then the wild beauty and dynamic community of Boulder drew me right back soon after graduation.

The concept of “finding a true home” as a soulful pursuit, not just a physical location, is what inspires and informs my career as a Realtor.

I didn’t set out to create a career in real estate, I would say that this amazing career found me as an extension of my natural passions. Upon returning to Boulder after college in the year 2000, rentals were expensive and hard to come by. Gathering up the nannying money I saved over several years, I managed to scrape together just enough for a 3.5% downpayment to buy a small condo in Gunbarrel with an FHA loan. I was so young and knew very little about homeownership, but I had an undeniable sense that buying a little place of my own would be the start of something great. The carpet was stained, the linoleum curled and the appliances were old and missing their knobs, but this condo of mine had two small bedrooms, so I rented out the second room and on-the-fly I learned how to be a landlord.

Something clicked for me during those early years. I found that I loved improving my space, and enjoyed making it feel beautiful and safe. I learned how to use paint rollers, how to find a good electrician, how to get a scratch-and-dent dishwasher at a discount, and how to test popcorn ceilings for asbestos. I also learned how to find a good tenant, how to be a responsible landlord, and how when the whole process is based on great communication and loving intentions, amazing relationships can grow.

In my friend group at that time, a bunch of young 20-somethings, I acquired a reputation as the person who knew something about real estate and homeownership. By word-of-mouth among friends, I began managing, staging, and styling short-term rental properties for others in the community – remember this was well before AirBnB or VRBO existed! There was no such thing as an app to fill this need, so someone would call me when they were leaving their house for a month to travel in India and wanted a renter, or maybe a friend had a cousin coming to do research at CU for the summer who needed a place to stay – I became a matchmaker of people and spaces.

From those humble beginnings, I saw firsthand the power of real estate, and over a few years, I was able to buy more properties, invest in improving them, and sell them to others who wanted to create a life in Boulder. My own hands-on experiences led me to become licensed as a Realtor so that I could have more ability to help others in my circle do the same. Real estate has given me so many opportunities to make a direct impact in our community and weave connections between my clients and their dreams and visions. It’s so exciting and inspiring to get to be a part of helping people achieve the biggest dreams of their lives.

As homeownership in Colorado becomes more tricky in today’s market and there are new challenges for Buyers to navigate, the thrill continues. I love working with first-time homebuyers, first-generation homebuyers, and clients who may not have believed they could purchase a home. Just like I was able to find a loan that allowed me to put such a small amount of money down and begin building a stable future, there are many opportunities for people to find creative ways to achieve their goals. I love collaborating with clients who want to dream and envision what all the creative options are for their unique situations.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The hardest thing about real estate is that the market is influenced by many factors that are out of our control. As much as I want every client of mine to have a smooth and stress-free transaction, the reality is that a real estate transaction usually does have bumps in the road.

From fluctuations in interest rates to competing in bidding wars to surprises turning up in an inspection report – I see my job as being a resolute champion for my clients’ dreams and a trustworthy companion to navigate any challenges that arise. I am often on the phone at 7 am or 11 pm or in front of my laptop solving problems during a family vacation, but I never resent this. It is my joy to advocate in this way. I see going all-out, every time, as one of the commitments of my job and the tangible value I bring to the table for my people.

One of the nicest things a client ever said to me was “Danya, you are the kindest, most loving person we’ve ever met, but you also have an unshakable core of steel when it comes to negotiating for our best interests. Because you are both loving AND tough we can trust you with the biggest purchase of our lives.”

We’ve been impressed with your work, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In Boulder County, there are so many Realtors that nearly everyone knows several. Many agents have called this industry competitive or cutthroat, and they talk about how they have to “fight” or “hustle” for deals, but I have always had a very different perspective. I have built my business year after year solely through word-of-mouth referrals. I give everything I have to every client I work with, and have found that through community and deep relationships, my business grows sustainably.

I also consider this a collaborative business with my trusted colleagues. I work with a core group of incredibly ethical, experienced, and generous Realtors, and we often put our heads together to think about best practices or new evolutions in our field, Together we work to raise the bar of excellence for us all. I am so grateful to have a wonderful team that backs me up so that every showing appointment can be made on short notice and every piece of paperwork is perfectly compliant.

It gives me a certain amount of street cred to have been ranked as one of the top-producing agents in Boulder County, honored as a top individual agent within my brokerage firm, and the recipient of awards of excellence in my field. However, the actual power and meaning of these outer successes only come from the compilation of every individual client’s unique story of happy and safe outcomes in their life through real estate.

One person, one family at a time. Buying or selling often comes at a major threshold moment of life, whether change is sparked by a celebration such as a new partnership or expanding a family, or sometimes a difficult change such as divorce or death. I am most proud of being a trusted, caring partner that my clients can rely on through these evolutions of a lifetime.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
For several years of my childhood, I lived in a rural cabin outside of Fort Collins in Poudre Canyon.

My memories from that time and place are incredibly vivid: We raised chickens and I can still remember the exact warmth of holding the newly laid eggs in my little hands. We also had a menagerie of other animals who were my playmates, in particular, I dressed up a very tolerant Siamese cat and bumped her through the dirt paths in a toy baby carriage.

My years as a Colorado mountain girl taught me about high-altitude gardening, how to build a fire in the wood-burning stove with cold fingers at dawn, and how to identify dozens of native wildflowers by name. These memories are especially poignant now, as that house burned down in the High Park wildfire, caused by lightning, in 2012.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.danyarivlin.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danya.rivlin/
• Phone Number: 303-229-8800
• Read Reviews from Clients: www.reviewdanya.com

Image Credits
Carly Smith Swan, Liv Michele Berger, Katie Day Weisberger, and Luke Koferl