Our Reviews

The best Agent I have ever met! Kristen was more than a blessing to me. We had several challenges getting our home to market that she assisted me with as a true pro. Her kindness, knowledge and resourcefulness make her a top confident in any real estate transaction. She was so easy to communicate with and was in touch with me regularly which made is so easy for me to stay in the know of what the activity was. I am so happy to have come across her information and will keep her as my agent for life.

They don’t come better than Kristen! She listened, no - really, really listened to our needs and spent almost 2 years finding us our perfect slice of paradise. We were difficult to please, no question, and she never took it personally and didn’t give up the search for the impossible property for us. She wasn’t pushy, she just made it know that she was still thinking about us and our very niche needs. And quests what? She made it happen!

So grateful that we found Kristen and couldn’t recommend a real estate partner more highly!

I cannot recommend enough our service with Kristen. This is the second home we buy and the expectations were high, well she crushed it!!! Not to mention she crushed it during a hot and hard market. She made the process very smooth and the vendors she recommended were top notch.

If we buy another house, she will be my go to.

Kristen is a amazing real estate agent. Very professional and knowledgeable will
Go to bat for you. We were building a house in marble falls the process very slow at times. At times we’re getting consistent updates. Kristen would always help us out and find out what’s going on. Make sure they got the job done. I highly recommend her.

Kristen Balke is the best realtor! As a first time home buyer, I had an endless list of questions, and Kristen was patient from the beginning of my search to even after I closed. You can tell her ultimate goal is to get you a home that you'll be happy with. She knows Austin well and is very knowledge about real estate in general.

I highly recommend Kristen and will be sending anyone I know her way!

Kristen is such a friendly and professional agent. I have really enjoyed working with her and will continue to do so!

Kristen is an outstanding real estate agent with extensive knowledge of the Austin market. She is hard working and driven. She values her clients and is always working for their best interests. I highly recommend Kristen as your next real estate agent. She will work hard to find you the forever home of your dreams.

Hands down the easiest, kindest, most thorough real estate agent we have worked with during our home buying process in Texas. Kristen listened to what we needed and wanted and let us take our time. She showed us many many houses until we found the perfect one! She got our home under contract over asking price in a matter of days. She’s amazing!

Kristen Balke is an extremely responsive realtor with an extensive knowledge in the field. Kristen made the process of finding a home in Dripping Springs stress-free and even enjoyable! I always felt that Kristen had my best interest in mind. She helped me to navigate through a difficult time to find a home as both an ally and as an advisor. I cannot imagine a better experience and I look forward to referring other people to Kristen for the same excellent experience!

I rarely write reviews and only do so for the exceptional. Jesse Schaeffer easily reaches that distinction. I have worked with hundreds of professionals in my 30 year career, and Jesse is one of my favorite people to work with, regardless of industry. He has a great ability to anticipate your needs and proactively deliver upon them. Without prompting, he identifies opportunities and obstacles and works behind the scenes, bringing solutions, often before you knew you had a problem. As a small example, once the closing documents were available for our deal, Jesse quickly read them over, and optimized the coverages and costs, moving remaining costs to the seller, saving us several hundred dollars, and only pinging us for the “OK.” Additionally, he made connections to architects, builders, city permit reviewers, arborists, and other specialists, in order to make sure we were surrounded by the experts we needed to achieve success in our real estate project. He deployed his drone without asking to send photos of the views from the 3rd floor for prospective lots. My take is that 99% of real estate agents approach the job as a volume game, resulting in a situation that ultimately minimizes time spent with each client. I believe Jesse approaches his job quite the opposite, and focuses on making each client feel like they are his only one. In summary, I highly recommend Jesse. His work ethic compelled me to write what I believe is the only recommendation like this I have ever done, and I’m not young.

We worked with JC Adams to sell our Austin home in late October 2021. We had a very positive experience with him, and we highly recommend JC. Before my partner and I decided to list our home, we met with a few agents to determine which one we could work well with. When we first met JC, we knew. He makes you feel comfortable and listens to your needs. JC does his research, and you can tell. Out of all the agents we met, JC is more practical and fair in his assessment based on data and experience. My partner had a very high expectation, and JC checked all the boxes. He is knowledgeable, proactive, and responsive, making it easy to work with him. Highly recommend JC.

JC does a great job with attention to detail and ensuring he has answers to your questions as you navigate the process of a home purchase. JC understands the process of the transaction in a home purchase and makes sure the details are covered.

I was going through a very stressful time and the thought of having to worry about getting my parent's house sold was overwhelming. JC made the whole experience smooth and organised. He knows his stuff and one feels in capable hands. Great communication, great knowledge of selling and buying. I definitely recommend JC and Realty Austin.

My wife and I were relocating to Austin and while searching for homes online we came across a relocation guide offered by Realty Austin. Lucky for us, JC was the realtor that responded in regards to our inquiry. He reached out to us by email to see if we'd received the guide and had any questions and asked if we'd be interested in a short conversation so he could learn about our situation. During this first call, he learned about why we were moving and what we were interested in for a new home. He set up a portal for us to check out some homes online where we could note comments, likes, dislikes, etc. Keep in mind this was more than a year away from when we told him we were targeting a move, but he just wanted to get us used to the market, styles of homes, and different areas of Austin. Forward a couple of months and we were ready to make a physical trip to scout some properties and meet with JC and a few other realtors we had met online. After meeting in person, we felt a connection with JC on a personal level and felt that he'd done the little things such as understanding our situation of why we were relocating and what we were looking for in a property, so we decided to use him as our realtor. I think on this scouting trip we spent about two days with him driving to different areas and looking at various homes that were for sale. He did this knowing that we were still a year away from moving, he didn't have to spend all this time with us but he did because he cares about his clients and loves to show homes. It was a good thing we did, because we ended up looking at a new construction builder that met all of our requirements on our last day of the trip. We flew home and then later called JC and let him know that we found the builder that we wanted to use. A couple of months later we flew back out and signed the contract, this was May 2018. We closed in Aug. 2019. JC didn't go away during this build process. He was closely involved throughout the process and served as our proxy checking on the house construction process while we were still living out of state. He always responded quickly to our questions either via email or phone, depending on the urgency of the question. He helped guide us through the entire build process, including walking us through an inspection, lender selection, as well as inspectors punch list for the builder. In my opinion, JC went above and beyond his duties as a real estate agent and I would highly recommend him to anyone I know looking for a home as well as use him again for any future real estate transactions.

JC is awesome. We sold our house and were in the market for a new one. He worked day and night trying to find us a house that we liked, even though we were continually changing our minds. His job was tough because of where we set our budget and the area we wanted to be in. He was nothing but positive. I am super happy that we used him and I know we’ve got a friend for life! Thanks JC - the whole process was made better by his wisdom and sense of humor. We will definitely use him in the future!

Ruth helped us to view many houses and (over months) to make multiple offers in a really, really tough market for buyers. Our low bids were our own fault! Ruth's guesses are always spot on. We finally had a bid accepted last month, and Ruth helped us re-negotiate after significant problems were discovered. Ruth has gone above and beyond for us, giving us far more time during this long search than we could reasonably have expected. She even helped us look for a rental when we'd basically given up. Her advice has always been immensely valuable and brutally honest. She is the most knowledgeable agent I've met on the Central Austin market. She also handled our stress well, and believe me, buying in Austin right now is stressful!

She was amazing! She helped us find a property, was knowledgeable about the entire process, answered all our questions quickly an if she didn't immediately know the answer, she found it. She is our realtor! If we buy or sell again, she will be the one we call. Thank you for working so hard!

We had a great experience with agent Kasey Gilliam, both coming and going! Kasey helped us find our lovely home five years ago, then helped us sell it again when we moved back east. She knows the market and has broad experience with Austin neighborhoods and homes. We trusted her advice — and she was always available when we had questions. She and her team kept our house safe and managed what felt like a million showings. We would happily work with Kasey again if we ever return to Austin, and are happy to sing her praises!

Laura Tomaszewski has been more than a mentor and a coach to me. She is my friend and an inspiration! I aim to be as knowledgable and detailed as she is, whilst being extremely sweet and witty! I can imagine the service she provides her clients is just as exceptional as the training she prepares for agents alike. I am grateful to be around a wealth of knowledge like her!

Laura is one of the best Realtors in Austin. She is also one of the best mentors in the real estate business. I have known Laura for several years. I am so impressed with her work. She is very knowledgeable in many areas of life. She helped me establish my social media presence and helped me brand myself and my real estate business. She is always available to answer questions, explains things, and will walk you through the different processes you need to know when establishing your business. She was always there for me in the good and bad times!

My husband and I moved from out of state, and we worked with Sarah to find our apartment. She was fantastic to work with, and I will recommend her to all my friends! She toured the apartments for us and took very detailed videos of each property. She was quick to respond to our questions and was so helpful in giving us information about the areas where we were looking. She found our dream apartment for us (and saved us from a few bad places!). Sarah was kind, professional, and extremely trustworthy. We could have never found this great of a place without her!

Steffan was instrumental in helping my wife & I purchase our first home. He dedicated countless hours to helping us identify our top factors, remained patient with us as we navigated the real estate landscape, and helped us align on and negotiate pricing; all while maintaining a friendly, professional demeanor. His ability to blend expert opinion with a relaxed presence really made him a great realtor to work with. We particularly appreciated that Steffan was never once pushy, allowing us to work at our own buying pace. We'd recommend Steffan to anyone looking to buy or rent a home!

I would recommend Steffan as my top choice for any real estate needs! Steffan was a phenomenal support and guide throughout my home purchasing experience. He was very knowledgeable about the market I was targeting and shared detailed data that allowed me to understand things every step of the way. His candor and enthusiasm made me feel secure with the work he was doing. He was prompt and present for all meetings. As a first time home buyer it was overwhelming and he helped keep things on track when I didn’t quite know what to do next. Thanks Steffen, I appreciate you for everything!