If you are reading this, you are probably somewhere between "we should really look into it" and "I have no idea what I am doing." That is a completely normal place to be, and it is a good place to start from. Everybody I work with started there.
I am a Realtor with eXp Realty here in San Antonio, and I live out in Helotes. Before I ever sold a house, I spent fifteen years inside a bank. That turns out to matter quite a lot, and I will explain why in a second.
There is no pitch on the other end of either of those. Ask me anything you want, including the questions you think are too basic to ask out loud.
I live in Helotes, and I have been in and around this side of San Antonio long enough to have opinions about it. Government Canyon on a Saturday, Old Town when we cannot be bothered to cook, Floore's when somebody good is playing.
I did not come to this from an office with my face on the wall. I spent fifteen years in banking, starting as a teller and working up to branch manager, and finished on the SBA side processing government-backed loans. After that I worked as a social media manager and marketing director for influencers, essentially running the whole business, which is where I learned how to actually market something rather than just post about it.
Real estate pulled together every part of that. The money, the marketing, and the bit I did not expect to love most, which is sitting with somebody while they make one of the biggest decisions of their life and making sure they are not doing it in the dark.
I also have a decorating and staging eye that I cannot switch off, so be warned. I will have thoughts about your entryway.
Fifteen years in banking. I started as a teller, worked my way up to branch manager, and finished on the SBA side processing government-backed loans for commercial property and small businesses.
Which means I have sat on the other side of this. I have read the file. I know what underwriting is actually asking for when they ask for one more document, why that request is not personal, and what genuinely holds a closing up versus what just feels alarming at ten o'clock at night.
Most of what people find stressful about buying a house is the money part, and most of the money part is not explained to them properly.
So I will tell you the honest number early, while it still helps, before you have fallen in love with a house on a street you cannot get to. I would rather have the hard conversation on a Tuesday than hand you a surprise on a Friday.
And then, having said the direct thing, I will help you work out what to do about it. Direct first, and then we find the way forward. That is the whole approach and it has never once failed me.
I would rather be genuinely good at three things than pretend to be good at everything. These are the three, and they are the ones where the banking years actually earn their keep.
Send me your base and your report date and I will tell you what is realistically in range, and where you actually want to be. Lackland, Randolph and Fort Sam are three different sides of this city. Picking wrong is forty minutes of your morning, every morning, for three years. I would rather you knew that now.
This is my favorite one, honestly. I will explain the money in plain English as many times as you need it, and I will never once make you feel silly for asking again. You are allowed to not know this yet. Nobody teaches it to you.
What your house is worth, what it will take to get there, and the honest number rather than the flattering one. I have a decorating and staging eye and I will use it on your house, which is more fun for both of us than it sounds.
Years ago, a friend from my banking days left to open a spa. I watched her pick out fixtures and worry about paint colors and slowly realize she was actually doing the thing she had been carrying around in her head for years. It grew into a franchise. That was the best part of that entire job for me and I never forgot it.
Buying your first house is the same shape of brave. So is selling the house you raised kids in. So is moving your whole family to a city you have never lived in because the Air Force said so.
I take that seriously, and I also try to make it fun, because it should not feel like a root canal with paperwork. Most of my clients end up as friends. That is not a marketing line, it is just what tends to happen when you spend four months texting somebody about their life.
Tell me what you are trying to do and why now. Who is moving, what is driving the timing, what would make this a win. The number comes out of that conversation, not the other way around, and starting at the number is how people end up in the wrong house.
What you can comfortably do, not what you technically qualify for. Those are two different numbers and only one of them lets you still go on holiday. If the answer is "not this year," I will say so, and then I will tell you exactly what would change it.
Lining up showings, the paperwork, staying on top of the lender, staying on top of title. You have a job already. This one is mine.
You will never wonder whether you should have heard from me. If there is nothing to report, I will tell you there is nothing to report. Silence is the thing that makes people anxious and it is completely avoidable.
I am not going to pretend to know every corner of a city this size equally well. These are the ones I actually know, and Helotes is home.
Hill Country feel without leaving the metro. Government Canyon on your doorstep, Old Town on a Saturday, Floore's on a Friday night. This is where I live.
Master planned and newer, with the pools and splash pads and trails that make a difference when you have small kids. Everything you need is at the Town Center.
Far north and established, hilly and green, with the whole 1604 corridor of shopping and restaurants right there. A completely different feel from the northwest side.
Inside 410, walkable, mature trees and older housing stock with real character. The top of the price range and worth understanding properly before you shop it.
If you want more room and more quiet and you do not mind the drive. Ask me about the trade-off honestly before you commit to it.
Somewhere else in the metro? Ask anyway. If it is not somewhere I know well I will tell you that plainly rather than wing it.
Almost certainly yes, and earlier is better than later. Talking to me does not commit you to anything and it does not start a clock. Honestly, the best time to call me is about six months before you think you should, because that is when there is still time to fix anything that needs fixing.
I am in my first year selling real estate, and I would rather you heard that from me than worked it out later. What I am not new at is the money side of a home purchase, which is where nearly everything goes wrong. Fifteen years of it, ending in loan processing. I also have a broker and a team behind me and I will use them rather than guess. If you would rather have somebody with twenty years of listings, I completely understand, and I will happily point you to someone good.
We will talk about it plainly, up front, before you sign anything. Who pays what is negotiable and it goes in writing, and I will walk you through that agreement line by line. You will not sign a thing you do not understand, and if something in it does not sit right with you, say so and we will talk about it.
No. A first conversation is a conversation. Texas does require me to give you a form called Information About Brokerage Services, which explains who I represent and what that means for you. It is linked at the bottom of this page. It is a disclosure, not a contract, and it is worth two minutes of your time.
Most of my relocation clients are not. We do it on video, on the phone and over text, and I will walk houses for you with my camera on and tell you what the photos are hiding. Send me your report date or your start date and we will work backwards from it.
There is no such thing here and I mean that. I did not know any of this either until somebody explained it to me. Ask me the same question four times if you need to. No worries at all.
Text is fastest and it is me on the other end, not an assistant and not a call center. Tell me roughly what you are trying to do and I will come back to you.
Text me. Even a one line "we are thinking about moving next spring" is a perfectly good place to start.
Pick a time that suits you. No pitch and no pressure, just your questions and honest answers.
If you are somewhere in the middle of a move and it is all a bit much right now, that is exactly when to get in touch. Let me know what is going on and we will take it one piece at a time.