Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Outhavong.
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Elizabeth. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I remember at the age of four, I was playing office with my Dad. He set up a little desk for me – I had this big clunky rotary phone on my desk, a pencil, and some paper. My Dad sat on the other side of the table and he had a classified booklet from which he circled a few homes in the book. He asked me to call and check into these homes for him and I happily obliged making “phone calls” on my rotary phone.
My Dad recorded us on his tape recorder, and you can hear the conversations I had on my phone and with my Dad about the homes. Sadly, my Dad passed away in 2008. This memory that I have is a very cherished memory of mine.
Fast forward to my adult life – I started off in real estate in 2012 with my husband, Sunny. We purchased our first investment property and our redevelopment business picked up from there. We’ve rehabbed eight residential properties throughout Fort Worth. Through recommendations and referrals, our pipeline filled up with clients, so we shifted our focus to serving the people. One of my greatest joy is helping people. Buying a home is one of the most expensive purchases a person will make in their lifetime, and with that kind of responsibility, it is a load of stress and emotions of its own. To have someone trust me in helping them accomplish this goal is an absolute honor in my book.
I like to think of my real estate career broken down into three jobs: real estate advisor, personal therapist, and motivational coach. I am skilled and licensed to conduct real estate transactions on behalf of my clients. I listen and comfort my clients, providing them with advice and giving them peace of mind throughout their business transaction and afterward in the long term. I find that my clients, even my family, and friends, they love coming to me as a source of motivation and inspiration for my thoughts and pep talks (#PepTalkWithLiz). I enjoy helping people feel their best, uplift their spirits and help them focus on achieving their life goals.
Sunny and I started off working together as a husband and wife real estate team. It’s rewarding in many ways to work with your spouse and I’m grateful for that experience. However, when I obtained my license, we already knew that both have different business goals. I want to dive into the luxury market, which resulted in me switching brokerages last fall and I was welcomed home into Ebby Halliday Realtors in Southlake. I feel that my career life came in full circle for me.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Overall, my career life was not an easy journey to get to where I am now. Going to college, finding my true passion, and juggling family-life and work-life were the biggest challenges for me.
After I graduated high school, I was a little lost because I didn’t have any guidance to help me get into college after graduation. I’ve been working since I was 15 years old and so instead of rushing into college, I got a full-time job at a warehouse. From there, it spiraled to my first office temp job, and five more temp positions after. In between my temp jobs, I attempted to attend college and got myself enrolled in community college. I was unsure of what degree or career path I wanted to pursue so it took me a few tries before I decided to get a degree in business. While I was juggling school and my job, I landed my first permanent position in the corporate world, working for an insurance company. I worked there for three years before the company started downsizing and I got laid-off.
A few months after I got laid-off from the insurance company, my husband and I found out that I was pregnant with our first-born and instead of going back into the workforce, we agreed for me to focus on my pregnancy and education and I finally got my degree.
After having our son, Sunny and I dove into flipping homes. In our first two homes, we literally did all the work. It was gruesome and exhausting – all while learning to take care and raise a newborn. We were always hands-on with every project, then we figured out how to work more efficiently on our projects to ease the workload. That gave me some room to breathe and focus on taking care of our son. Along the way of our home redevelopment ventures, Sunny obtained his real estate license and I became his transaction coordinator working alongside him. We are fortunate for our rapidly growing business. Our workload was getting to the point where we figured that it was time for me to get my license so that I can perform specific tasks that required one.
My real estate career has its own challenges but ultimately, with where I’m at now, it’s rewarding on many levels.
Please tell us about Ebby Halliday Realtors.
I am a real estate agent with Ebby Halliday Realtors in Southlake. I help clients buy, sell, lease, invest in real estate throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I’ve sold homes throughout the entire metroplex and have hit the multimillion-dollar sales mark every year since my licensing.
It’s very fulfilling to help my first-time buyers achieve one of their biggest dreams and goals of becoming a homeowner. There are so many processes and emotions involved, it’s crucial for me to guide and comfort my clients every step of the way. I’m not one to turn away from a person who wants to achieve this dream no matter the obstacles and will provide the extra steps necessary to help them buy a home. If a client is unable to get qualified right away, I will dedicate time and effort into helping them with their financial planning and credit repair. The emotional cycles that I go through with my first timers hit me every time because we are in this together. When we reach the finish line and I see my clients’ faces light up when handing them the key to their new home, that moment reminds me why I love what I do!
I strive to make the real estate process seamless and stress-free for my clients. This is one thing you can always count on – Quality service by someone you can trust. I believe that teamwork makes the dream work! With my wonderful team of experts in finance, law, and insurance behind me, my clients will always experience excellence.
#SparkleandHustle – The hustle doesn’t stop there! I am also a Notary Public and provide mobile notary services in Fort Worth.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The moment in my career that I look back most fondly on is the first house that Sunny and I worked on together. We put a lot of sweat and tears into that property. Nonetheless, I am grateful for the pain and challenges that came along with each rehab project. These projects taught a lot of lessons and it created the foundation for my husband and me to be where we are today. A LOT of sacrifices had to be made throughout our venture, but we always motivated each other and reminded each other of the bigger picture. Visually seeing our hard work come to life is very rewarding. Looking back on those years – I still get amazed and am proud to say we did that!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
This is a hard one to pinpoint just one quality. Integrity, ambition, and discipline are three qualities that immediately comes to mind because I highly value these qualities very much. In my opinion, the first quality that is essential to success is ambition. Through hard work and determination, you are one step closer to achieving your success.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1575 E Southlake Blvd, Southlake, TX 76092
- Website: http://elizabethouthavong.ebby.com/
- Phone: 817-896-9519
- Email: elizabeth.outh@ebby.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizouth.realtor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lizouthrealtor/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizouthrealtor/
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