How long have you been involved with real estate? What do you love about it?
I’ve been in real estate since 2001. I didn’t start with a license. I started as an investor, putting together my first flip after a $4,000 seminar I paid for with borrowed money. I showed up with my first deal already in progress and walked away with a $12,000 assignment fee a few weeks later.
I got licensed in Florida in 2005, built a national training company, and then 2008 happened. I owned 11 homes and every single one went underwater while I was planning my wedding. I negotiated short sales and paid back every private investor. Every single penny. I got licensed in Texas in 2015, when my oldest was two weeks old.
It’s never JUST a transaction. My goal is that real estate becomes a vehicle for wealth and retirement, not just a home. Losing everything in 2008 and rebuilding gave me a feel for market cycles, and I see possibility where others see flaws given decades of experience buying, fixing and flipping homes.
Not long ago, I had a VA buyer about to cash out $100K from their retirement for a down payment. They would have owed taxes and lost the future investment. Instead, they went 0 down, kept that $100K growing toward roughly $675K at retirement (assuming average market growth) AND we landed them an off-market deal with $100K in equity at closing. Either piece alone changes a life. Together, they change what retirement looks like. Fast forward, he was deployed in another state and was able to use his VA benefit to buy a second home and lease out his original purchase.
When and why did you move to Austin? How have you seen it change?
We moved from South Florida back in 2009, and I’d never lived more than 30 minutes from the ocean. I told my now husband... I need to be near water. So, Lake Travis it was.
I was CONVINCED we wanted Circle C or Round Rock at first, because our friends were in those areas. Turns out Circle C is a neighborhood and Round Rock is an entire city, and neither was right for us. We ended up tucked in the hills between Lake Travis and Lake Austin, with hiking, biking, and swimming in our backyard.
As for how it’s changed... I’ve watched parts of Austin grow from hidden pockets everyone kept to themselves into some of the most sought-after markets and neighborhoods in the country. More people, more competition for good homes, more awareness of what makes each area unique: water levels, topography, the commute on 620, 360, or Mopac. “Keep Austin Weird” is still alive, but the city is growing up and competing with the big tech markets out west, and not everyone’s thrilled about it. With it, comes pros and cons, of course.
What insights can you share about Austin’s housing market? What have you seen over the past five years, and what do you expect for the next five?
Honestly? The last five years have been a rollercoaster. Homes were flying off the market with multiple offers over asking, then the market turned, literally in a two-week period. I had an open house for one of my listings, and we had close to 50 people through. The couple that put it under contract needed to sell their home, about 5-8 minutes away. If we had 5 people through the door in 30 days before we got it under contract, that’s probably a lot! It shifted that fast! Then we saw a little bit of a bump in activity again for a short while.
Then, rates climbed and things cooled fast. And rates have never come back down. There’s a LOT more inventory than buyers are used to, and a lot of them are sitting on the sidelines, scared of rates and the market. People who locked in low rates aren’t moving on a whim anymore, only for a real-life event, and many of them are keeping the homes with equity and low interest rates as investment properties.
Today splits into two brackets: the as-is price, a “take it now” number for a home that isn’t fully updated, and the model-home price, for a house that looks like a builder’s showroom. Anything in the middle struggles, because buyers can afford to be picky. Sellers are still chasing 2022, buyers think we’re in 2008, and resetting both sides’ expectations is taking time.
I expect the next five years to keep settling us toward a stable market: steadier inventory, steadier days on market, more realistic expectations on both sides. I also think rates land in the mid 5s to low 6s in the not-SO-distant future, not back to the 2s and 3s... I’d be surprised if we see those again, if ever. Property taxes will stay a conversation every transplant needs early, not at closing. The sellers who win price honestly and present their home ready to live in. The buyers who win know their real goals and trade for the value that matters to them.
What sets you apart as a realtor? What do you hope your clients will say about you after they close a deal with you?
I’ll tell you the truth, even when it’s not what you want to hear. I told a retired couple not to go higher on a house they loved. It was already priced above what it would reasonably appraise for, and they’d have had to sink another $60K into it. We walked away. Then we found them a better property with equity from day one. A little landscaping and a few interior updates later, they’re sitting on $50K in real equity instead of $60K to $80K underwater.
Some agents tell you what you want to hear until the closing table. I’d rather have the hard conversation now.
I also see what a home COULD be, not just what it is. With the right paint, repairs, staging, and pricing, I can take a house from dark and dated to model-home ready, and with AI I can show a buyer that vision on the spot. Because of my background in marketing and direct response, I build systems most agents just don’t have.
I also have the tough conversations with sellers. Everyone WANTS more for their home, and my job is to get as much as possible. But sometimes that means pricing a little lower than you’d expect, not higher. A strong price from day one brings offers in fast and often pushes them up through competition. Chasing the market down after sitting too long does the opposite... it signals to buyers that there’s desperation in the deal, and they negotiate accordingly.
After closing, I don’t want to hear “she sold my house.” I want to hear she told me the truth, advised me instead of just managing the paperwork, and saw something I couldn’t see myself. Managing a transaction and advising someone are two VERY different things.
What would you say to Texas homeowners who locked in a low rate during the pandemic and want to move now, but are discouraged by today’s higher rates?
That rate feels like golden handcuffs, and nobody wants to trade a 3% rate for a 6 or 7. But we don’t know when rates come back down, and we might be waiting a long time. When rates first started climbing, everyone figured we’d be back to “normal” in 18 months. Here we are, years later, still elevated.
Instead of waiting on something nobody can predict, here’s what you can do now. Look at rate buy downs, where a seller contributes to bring your new rate down. Talk to your lender about programs that let you refinance at no cost within a window if rates drop. And every time rates tick down even a little, buyer demand goes up fast, so you can often lock in a better price now and refinance later. You just may recapture that “interest rate” in equity.
If you’re staying put just because of the rate, you’re not weighing the whole decision. What’s the cost of staying in a house that doesn’t fit your life anymore? A longer commute, a bedroom you’ve outgrown, a chapter you’re overdue to start.
One more thing... with rates that low, if you can qualify for a new purchase, you MAY be able to keep your existing home as an investment property and get the tax benefits now AND the appreciation later.
At the end of the day, every one of these stories comes back to the same thing for me.
A house isn’t just square footage and a price tag; it’s the next chapter of someone’s life, and often the biggest financial decision they’ll ever make. That’s why I’ve built my whole business around telling clients the truth, showing them what’s possible, and making sure the numbers actually work in their favor, not just today, but years down the road. Markets will keep shifting. Rates will keep moving. What doesn’t change is that I’m going to tell you what I’d tell my own family, and help you build real equity along the way. Every house has a chapter. I just want to help you write a good one.