About Vikki Goodwin,
REALTOR®, SRS, GRI, EcoBroker®
I have been a REALTOR® for years now, and love it! I really like meeting new people and helping people negotiate the home buying and selling process! Before choosing a REALTOR®, I hope you'll take some time to check credentials. You can do so on the TREC website. It will show you the education we've taken and whether or not our license is current.
I started working in Real Estate in 2001. Since then I have sold homes all over Austin, as well as Lakeway, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Dripping Springs, Buda and Pflugerville (click on the tab to the left to see my recent sales). My first experiences were with two top producing realtors - one with Re/Max and one with a very small botique-type company. Now with Homes ATX, LLC, I have the luxury of taking what I learned from both the large and small companies and putting it into action for my clients. I am both a good listener and a skilled negotiator.
In 2008, I earned the EcoBroker® designation. I have become more and more interested in the "green" building movement going on around the country, and especially in Austin. I have learned a lot about the various aspects of green building, from energy efficiency to choosing materials wisely. The information has come in handy even when selling resale homes, because I can give buyers advice about how to take an older less-efficient home and transform it into a tight, "green", energy-efficient home without spending a fortune.
In 2007, I earned two designations. These designations indicate I have taken extra education so I can better serve my clients. I have the GRI designation - Graduate, Realtor Institute, and the SRS designation - Seller Representative Specialist.
Since I don't have the Texas twang to my speech, many people ask where I'm from. I was born in Arlington Heights (suburb of Chicago), but at the age of three, was moved to Dallas, Texas, thus, no major accent. However, I have picked up some of the twang while living in Austin. I came to Austin in 1985, to attend the University of Texas (go Longhorns!). I earned a Bachelor’s degree in business with a major in marketing and a minor in government. Since I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up, I continued on at UT and earned a Master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 1991. From there I started a career in system’s analysis and computer system training, working for Andersen Consulting and then the Office of the Attorney General. That led, down the road a bit, to my real estate career.
Many of my clients come from out-of-town. I've met people from all over, including New Hampshire, Florida, Georgia, California, Washington, Oklahoma, Ohio and even Saudi Arabia! I really enjoy telling clients about Austin - and I feel like a full-fledged tour guide many times - but I also love hearing stories about other places, too!
Conveniently, I am married to a mortgage broker, Bob Goodwin. He has been in the lending business for over 23 years (his contact information is on the Mortgage Info page). Together we have 5 children, two dogs, three cats and many goldfish in our water harvesting pond.
My Philosophy
There are many qualities and skills that go into being an excellent real estate professional – integrity, in-depth community and market knowledge, marketing savvy, effective negotiation skills and a high-quality professional network, all of which are hallmarks of how I work. When you work with me, you work with me, unlike some teams where you will work with the assistant who may or may not be a licensed Realtor.
In my experience as an Austin Realtor, I've also found that providing the very best service is essentially about putting my clients first. This means keeping myself accessible, being a good listener as well as a good communicator, and responding quickly to your needs.
This "client first" philosophy has always been my approach and it requires me to continually improve my skills and ways of doing business. In addition, I've found that the latest technologies are a large component of my business.