His family moved to Austin from Houston in 1976, when he was just 4 years old, and he has literally grown up with the town. Folks always joke with him that I'm about as native an Austinite as it gets, and in a town with 110 people moving to it every day, finding someone with the breadth of knowledge he has on Austin becomes an ever-increasing rarity. When his parents bought their home in the Spicewood/Balcones neighborhood, was only two lanes; now it's a highway!
From Spicewood Elementary all the way through The University of Texas (BBA, Finance/Real Estate, 1994), Austin served as his home for education. Over the 25 years since graduating college and getting into real estate, Austin has remained the backdrop as he continues to learn, grow, and pass on the knowledge that he has accumulated.
He understands and has lived, and worked, through several Austin real estate cycles. The oil and S&L crisis and downturn of 87-92, the tech (stock option) run-up at the end of the 90s into 00, the downturn of 01-05 as a result of the tech bubble, the boom of 05-08, the national recession pushing into the economy in 08-12, and the latest iteration of Austin truly becoming a progressive city in the US. He has researched and followed the local economy, and the real estate market, since his initial step into the real estate business as a market/site selection analyst at Brock Consulting Group in 1992.
Having been licensed since 1995, he had helped hundreds of people with their real estate needs and, due to his unique perspectives and knowledge, guided them towards making smart decisions. Being a licensed Texas Broker since 2002, he holds himself to a higher standard and understand that the most important thing he can provide to his clients is knowledge and information. In 2005 he earned the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS®) designation, a designation awarded to only 4% of realtors.
Any real estate agent can say they will help you sell or buy a home, but not every real estate agent will help you make the best, most informed decision, so that you can, as a seller, sell your home for the best price and in a timely manner, or, as a buyer, make a smart choice and get the best value on your new home.
You are smart. You don't need him to point out where the kitchen is in a home. He gets that, and understand that in a world where information regarding homes is readily available, the value of the Realtor is that of knowledge. Knowledge of the market, of neighborhoods, of the city, of construction, of the most effective marketing tools, of repair issues, of the contract and transaction process, of how-to best fight for you. Incidentally, he was one of the first people in the country to work for the first company, eRealty, to put homes online (in 2000) because he has always believed that providing you, the consumer, with more information and knowledge is always the best policy.
For as far back as he can recall his clients have been telling him, as a compliment, "you don't seem like a real estate agent". What he has grown to understand is that implicit within that compliment is the thought of "you don't seem like someone just trying to sell him on something". That is true. He is someone who will share his insight, experience, and knowledge, who will advocate for his clients, and who will work diligently and professionally on his client's behalf using the best tools available.
