Not new to real estate. New to making it official.
In 2006, I walked up the steps of the Harris County Family Law Center on Congress Street in Houston and bought my first two properties at auction — before I had a real estate license, before I had a mentor, and before most people my age were thinking about anything beyond their next paycheck. That morning on the courthouse steps, something clicked. I wasn't just buying properties. I was starting a career.
What drew me there in the first place traces back to summers on Lake Oswego in Oregon, visiting family and watching my Uncle work. For over 30 years — and counting — he has sold homes on that lake and throughout the local market. From the time I was old enough to understand what he did, I was captivated — not just by the knowledge he carried about every neighborhood and every home on the water, but by the moment he handed a family the keys to a place they'd call their own. That image never left me. Houston was where I finally acted on it.
"I've had my own money on the line — and that changes how you show up for someone else's."
My real estate career began as an investor, right here in Texas. From those first two properties in Independence Heights and Highland Heights, the path took me across the country. I became a Mortgage Loan Officer in San Francisco, learning the financial engine behind every transaction. Then back to the investor side — acquiring, rehabbing, and managing properties across some of the most dynamic markets in the country. Duplexes on the south side of Chicago. A mixed-use building in Inglewood, California. A small industrial complex in Napa. For larger institutional plays, I brought capital to the table as a limited partner in an apartment complex in Cocoa, Florida and multiple apartment buildings in Philadelphia. On the general partner side, I partnered with a Houston-based investment group — three principals who knew how to put deals together — where my familiarity with the Oregon market made me a natural fit as we acquired and managed a portfolio of warehouses across the state. And in Seattle, I took on my most hands-on development role yet: from acquiring a south Seattle site in 2020 through entitlements, planning, and construction, I've guided a five-townhome development from the ground up — and it's nearly complete.
I've lived the investor's side of real estate in a way most agents never get to — not as a spectator, but as someone who has put skin in the game across multiple markets, asset classes, and deal structures. Along the way, I've sharpened skills that translate directly to advocating for my clients: negotiating purchases and sales, structuring commercial leases, and navigating residential agreements. I understand what's at stake in a transaction, because I've had my own money on the line.
But of everything those years built, the most important thing they built was clarity. Texas is home now.
I've settled here with my young children, and for the first time in a long time, I'm building something in one place — a life, a community, and a career that finally circles back to where it all began. I joined JLA Realty, one of the most respected brokerages in the Houston area, because I wanted the backing of a team with deep local roots, proven systems, and the kind of support that lets me focus entirely on my clients.
When I looked at the map, I wasn't searching — I was remembering. The north Houston corridor drew me in the way Lake Oswego always had: waterfront living, established neighborhoods, and communities where people genuinely know their neighbors and take pride in where they live. The Woodlands — spanning areas like Lake Woodlands and Carlton Woods — extending north through Woodforest and out to Lake Conroe, with its communities of Palm Beach, Grand Harbor, Walden, and Bentwater, carries that same close-knit character I remember from summers on the lake. It's the closest thing I've found to where my passion for this work was born.
Maybe my kids will catch the same spark watching me.
If you're looking for someone who understands real estate from the inside out — the financing, the investment calculus, the neighborhoods, and the moment it all becomes personal — I'd love to help you find your home.