Austin Real Estate Advisor · Compass
Every home has a story.You just have to know how to read it.
From cabins to castles, the listing is only the headline.
For buyers, I read past the headline to the house itself: how it lives, what may matter later and what it’s really worth. For sellers, I find the story that belongs to your home and make sure the details that matter don’t get buried.
- 23+years in real estate
- 3,000+appraisal reports
- Serene Hillsis home
Read the House
What is the house telling you?
The listing gives you the basics. I want the details, because they decide whether a house is right and what it’s worth.
Location + land
What surrounds the house? How private is it? What do you see, hear and drive past every day? What might change nearby?
Light + layout
Pretty rooms are nice. A house that actually works for the way you live is better.
Condition + construction
Materials, maintenance, improvements and the things you may still care about long after the photographs disappear.
Price + value
What does the evidence support? What else can a buyer choose? Why does one home deserve more, or less, than another?
The headline gets your attention. The details make the decision.
Diana’s Current Listings
Current homes.
Two Sides of the Same House
One house. Two very different questions.
A buyer is asking, “Should I choose this one?” A seller is asking, “Why should they choose mine?” And sometimes the house is fine. The decision is the hard part.
Read the house before you chase the deal.
Before we write the offer, I want to know what you’re actually buying: what works, what doesn’t, what might matter later and what else you could choose.
Find what makes the home worth choosing.
Not every buyer has to love your house. My job is to find what sets it apart, who is most likely to care and make sure those details aren’t lost in the noise.
See It First™ · With Diana at Compass
The full market isn’t on one website. Diana sees the part that never goes public.
More Austin homes now start privately or on Compass first, and some never reach the big search sites at all. Here is what that means on each side of the deal.
If you’re buying
See the homes other buyers never see.
Diana sends you the homes that fit, including ones outside your search lines, and you can search Compass yourself, 24/7. One Compass One login carries you from first search through closing and after.
- Private Exclusives shared across Compass’s network of brokerages, not on public websites.
- Coming Soon homes public on Compass first, before the MLS.
- Make Me Sell prices from owners who are not listed at all.
- Homes outside your search lines, often the ones that win, and homes Diana hears about through her Austin agent network.
If you’re selling
Choose who sees your home first.
Your home, your choice of path, priced by an agent who is also a Certified General Appraiser.
- Make Me Sell: name your number, nothing goes public.
- Private Exclusive: about 340,000 agents across Compass’s network first.
- Coming Soon: public first on Compass.com, before the MLS.
- The MLS when the full market is the right next step.
Compass programs are subject to seller direction, brokerage policy, local MLS rules, law and current program terms. Network figure is Compass-reported.
Value + Market Strategy
A price can tell you something. It can’t tell you everything.
I’ve completed more than 3,000 appraisal reports and remain active in appraisal work today, much of it in the luxury market. One thing that teaches you quickly: a house is not a price-per-square-foot equation.
What does the evidence support?
A formal appraisal answers a defined valuation question for an identified client, use, scope of work and effective date.
Where should the home compete?
Selling also means looking at today’s inventory, condition, buyer alternatives, timing and the way the market is responding now.
What will someone actually pay?
The final number includes the property, but also negotiation, terms, competition, timing, risk and the people on opposite sides of the table.
An appraisal value, a listing price and the number a buyer finally pays are not the same question. And I never appraise a home I represent: my advice as your agent is informed by appraisal, but it isn’t a formal appraisal.
Mostly Tarrytown, Westlake, Rollingwood, Barton Creek, Lake Austin, Lake Travis, Spicewood and Lake LBJ, plus selected lakefront, ranch and estate assignments of $25 million and more. At that level the comparable is rarely next door.
Appraisal services are provided through The Appraisal Shop, the appraisal firm I am affiliated with.
So the west side of Austin isn’t a map I study from across town. I watch the roads, the new building and the neighborhoods change up close.
Where I Work
West Austin & the Lake Travis corridor.
I work throughout Austin and watch the west side of Austin most closely, from Tarrytown and Westlake through Lakeway, Serene Hills and Bee Cave toward Spicewood. Know the neighborhood, then look at the house.
The Experience Behind the Advice
You learn a lot by looking at a lot of houses.
I don’t think credentials are especially interesting by themselves. They matter when they change what you notice, the questions you ask and how quickly you recognize that something deserves another look.
Sales, negotiation, brokerage and thousands of property decisions.
Active valuation work, much of it luxury property across West Austin and the lakes.
Land, plans, construction, function and the decisions behind the walls.
Lakeway, Serene Hills, Bee Cave, Lake Travis and Highway 71 West.
The longer version, from Budapest to Austin, is on my About page.
Meet DianaBuy · Sell · Value · Austin
Tell me what you’re trying to figure out.
A house you love. A house you need to sell. A price that doesn’t make sense. A neighborhood you’re trying to understand. Start there. We can work through the rest.
Diana Roberts · Austin Real Estate Advisor · Compass
Texas Agent · California Broker · Certified General Appraiser
512.888.8326 · diana.roberts@compass.com
Diana Roberts provides real estate brokerage services through Compass in Texas. Her appraisal services are provided through The Appraisal Shop. Appraisal assignment figures describe Diana’s experience in aggregate and do not identify any property, client or assignment. Listing information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed and is subject to change. The content on this page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not an appraisal or an opinion of value for any specific property. Brokerage advice is not a formal appraisal assignment.