CARLA UMLAUF, Realtor®, ABR, CLHMS, CNE, GRI

We have worked with Carla on multiple transactions and cannot say enough wonderful things about her. She is truly your partner in finding your home. Carla listens and knows Austin. We have purchased two houses with Carla, and both experiences were exceptional. She listens to your needs and finds the neighborhoods and houses that tick as many boxes as possible. She is extremely knowledgeable about market conditions and strategizes with you to produce the best offer in this highly competitive market. She works with you through the escrow period and helps you maintain your sanity and expectations. We also sold a house with Carla. She is meticulous in how she represents your home. She uses every tool in her repertoire to create the best marketing plan and materials so your home stands out, and gets the traffic needed to sell. In addition, she works to ensure the best possible offer is negotiated for her sellers.

Carla was, without question, an extraordinary agent in helping others see how their visions could work on the property. She was open and willing to engage with hundreds of interested parties, to vet them for us and help them understand the unique site. She helped us understand the market, the process and the interested parties. She fielded multiple offers that would eventually not work out, having nothing to do with her but rather those interested in such a property until the right one came along for both the buyers and us. She is genuine, street-smart, knowledgeable, wise and talented. And she is tenacious in the most appropriate way…for her clients. We appreciated all of these things about her, in addition to her sense of humor and calming hand when needed. In short, she helped make our dreams come true and we highly and without hesitation recommend her to you.

My wife and I moved back to Texas this summer, more than two decades after we left, now with three children in tow.  Over several months, Carla helped us develop our priorities, identify neighborhoods and school districts that were candidates, introduced us to individuals who could give us unvarnished views of what family life would look like in those neighborhoods, and then shepherded us through (literally) every possible residence in our identified target zip code.  We eventually bought a house that was about a perfect as you could hope for in the crazy real estate market that is West Lake Hills.

I've been party to a lot of home purchases in my life, and worked with some outstanding (and some less outstanding) realtors.  Carla stood out as one of the best for several reasons:
1.  She has a depth and breadth of knowledge that is pretty remarkable.  From deep structural knowledge about housing construction and systems, to survey and local ordinances, to a designer's eye that can help you see what's possible, she was able to inform home evaluations in ways that were smart and insightful.
2.  She is respected by her peers.  Her reputation amongst local realtors, and relationships with many of them (some going on decades), means that I got priority access to listings that weren't even on the market yet.  Carla's peers love her, and I benefited from it.
3.  She's honest, because her reputation depends on it I suppose, but I think moreso because that's the kind of person she is.  She never pushed unnecessarily, was always patient, and would caution me appropriately on properties that I wasn't being level-headed about.  Perfect example:  She toured one house while I was out of town (and sent me a full video tour of her visit), and pointed all the details that she felt indicated why the house wasn't constructed well.

This review could go on for pages, but I think those highlights are probably enough to paint a suitable picture.  In an era where there are a lot of realtors who are willing to accept decreased commissions to create volume, Carla is epitomization of the phrase "you get what you pay for".

On a scale of 1 to 10, Carla is a 100 plus. She was absolutely wonderful and professional. Very pleasant and helpful. She knows her stuff and the real estate market as well. I would definitely use her again. She also helped my son and daughter in law find a house and they felt the same way. You cannot go wrong with Carla.

Carla sold my home for a significant amount above what they market was at the time.  She had represented me in leasing it, and in the meantime, found a buyer without even listing it on MLS.  She was super professional, polished, and a darned nice gal in addition.  I'd recommend her to ANYONE and will use her again when I am relocated back to Austin.

My family and I first met Carla when we were considering a move from California to Austin.  At that time she drove us around for 5 hours showing us neighborhoods and properties for sale.  After we decided to relocate to Austin, she helped us secure a house for lease.  She took the time to see properties we were interested in and she was very responsive and knowledgeable about the process.  She was professional as she advocated on our behalf.  
We also decided on a longer term plan to buy a house in the spring when inventory increases.

Carla was referred to us by a friend that she had worked with in the past.  My husband and I were looking to transfer into the Austin area from West Texas.   We contacted Carla and gave her the perimeters of our search and she got right to work.  She was diligent in helping us to determine which area we were most comfortable in purchasing a home.  She did alot of outside research on golfing communities, country club information and customer satisfaction reports.  This was far and beyond our expectations of a realtor and it made us feel she was  really looking out for us!  Carla was extremly good at keeping us informed throughout the home purchasing process from viewing homes,  negotiating with the sellers, inspections, lending and closing.  She is truly a professional in the highest regards.

Carla recently helped us buy a home, not just a house, in central Austin.
My account of that experience and my complete satisfaction for what we found provides the basis by which I recommend Carla as both an experienced Realtor in Austin and someone who is well informed in building construction and design, a rare combination. Carla is an outstanding Realtor. She first looked to understand our personal needs and hopes for a home before asking us about our budget or the areas we were interested in living. Once we determined what kind of attributes were important to us, Carla went through a thorough review of all the neighborhood honest trade-offs about each of them. This upfront effort made it easy to prioritize our search and not waste our time with houses that weren't a match.
Once we found a house, Carla became our segregate designer helping us see the existing value and the potential in the layout and construction of our house. She made countless trips with us to stores to help select finishes and has an incredible eye for design. She was also indispensable when it came to assessing the houses current condition and
kept the seller's representatives honest about how they represented the condition of the house. If only she could help us buy cars too.
If you're considering buying a home in Austin you will be well served and rewarded by building a relationship with Carla.

We highly recommend Carla. Not only did she sell our home right away, but we felt like we gained a friend during the process. Carla met with us when I was 8 months pregnant and we were eager to sell our home for a home with more space. Putting her monetary gain aside, she advised us to wait till the baby was born to put our house on the market because of the stresses that come along with a newborn. After we had our baby, she came out to our house again and explained the process to us as well as suggestions for staging our home. She staged our home a few weeks later and to be honest it didn't look like the same home. She did an amazing job. Our house went on the market on a Friday morning, followed by an open house on Saturday. By Sunday we had 8 solid offers. Carla talked us through the contract and our house sold within 30 days. Incredible!!! We highly recommend Carla to our closest family and friends because we trust her that much. Yes Carla is an amazing and trustworthy realtor, but more importantly she is a GREAT person. Please give her a call if you need to sell your home. You will not be disappointed. The Evans Family

She was fairly responsive, but not incredibly professional.  I chose her based on Angie's list reviews. 
She made it clear that she didn't *like* our property and home, so she didn't think it would market or sell well.  While she did get a make-ready contractor to paint the downstairs of the house, replace carpet in 3 rooms and replace a few things in a downstairs bathroom, she also told me on 3 separate occasions that the house was "dirty, and smelled like dogs".  This was after I had explained to her that we'd moved quickly, and the house had been neither cleaned or inhabited in several months - so her personal comments were really not kind, professional, or necessary - since I'd already pointed out that I do a LOT of pet rescues (4 dogs and 4 cats presently) and had not had the house professionally cleaned after we moved, since it was a quick move with a high-pressure time allowance.  And, by the way, the house was not gross in any way - it just smelled a lot like dogs in the (unfortunately) carpeted room where they ate everyday!
I was annoyed and a bit upset over her comments, so I quit handling any of the phone calls and asked my husband to take over.  At that point, he also became unhappy.  As our realtor, we expected a fair amount of professionalism and not phone calls describing potential buyers and their personal lives or what their children looked like!  My husband and I both wondered what bits of our personal lives were being shared inappropriately with potential buyers...
The house actually had offers before it was even listed.  And, the person who bought the home made an offer the first day is was officially listed with MLS.  So, apparently, it was a good property and house with potential - but my husband and I knew that all along as we had offers made on the house several times during the last 6 months or so that we lived there based on word-of-mouth mentions by our friends that knew we were likely to relocate.

My family was looking for a second home and we used Carla to act as the buyer's agent.  She was one of the most communicative, responsive, professional agents I have ever used.  The transaction ended up being complicated and we encountered numerous surprises and roadblocks that I have never had before on the purchase of a home.  Carla was an excellent navigator of these challenges and worked with a huge sense of urgency.  Carla clearly has a large network of people she can advise with and she utilized this network to help understand and resolve issues.  Carla was great at identifying issues, provided multiple options/solutions and followed through to resolve all issues.  Carla went out of her way several times to ensure that we complied with all of the requirements of this transaction so that it was completed timely.  I quickly learned that I could rely on Carla - if she said she was going to do something, she did it every time as quickly as possible!

Having purchased and sold several homes, I have worked with numerous agents.  Carla is by far one of the best agents I have ever worked with.  I would recommend her to anyone who wants an extremely qualified and responsive agent who gets things done very timely.

Carla is fantastic!  When selling a home, she knows exactly how to get top dollar and sell your home quickly.  From research to staging to photos to the listing, Carla gets it all done just as it should be.  When finding a home to buy she is very good at keeping to your must have list.  She also is honest and open about her opinions to try to help guide you to the right neighborhood and home.   If she doesn't think something will be a good fit she would rather let you know than try to force a sale.

I live in a town 4 hours away from where I am looking for a home, so this makes things more difficult.  Carla (and her assistant Lauren) have been great to work with.  They are patient, responsive to my requests, very knowledgeable about the market and real estate, and gone out of their way to work with me long distance.  Because of my requirements, it may take awhile to find a house; so I'm very happy and relieved to have found someone whom I can really trust, who knows the business, is so personable, and is willing to work with me over the long haul.   

We listed our childhood home with Carla and her team to a
diffcult time for our family.    Carla's marketing plan and
innovative approach made the difference in attracting a cash offer before the
MLS listing.    Her proactive style and open communication were
key to making this a successful transaction, however the intangibles were more
important - she commanded respect and trust with her excellent advice. that
allowed us to achieve consensus among the 6 heirs who were settling the
estate.    Very highly recommended.

Working with Carla was great. Since this was our first time purchasing a home, she was incredibly helpful in teaching us all the steps we needed to take to finally purchase the home. She recommended a number of great local people to help us along the way.
We saw quite a few houses and Carla never seemed annoyed with us wanting to see so many. As we viewed houses, she had a lot of great insight on neighborhoods, price ranges, and potential red flags that houses could have. I never once felt like she was pushing us to make a decision?instead she was helpful in assisting us to find what we wanted. Once our offer was accepted, she was instrumental in our negotiating, which saved us some money. She guided us through closing, including to help set up appointments for us for repairs while we were under contract.
I would recommend Carla in a heartbeat.

Carla is an amazing real estate broker.  My husband and I were first time homeowners' and had just moved to the Austin area from the east coast.  We were "newbies" in every sense of the word.  Carla was so patient and extremely knowledgeable.  She helped us figure out what things were most important to us and how to get us there.  She took us to different properties to really get a feel for what things we liked and didn't like.  She also taught us a lot along the way.  Being from the east coast, important house features can be very different from what we were used to.  She took the time to educate us on what things are important for this market.
We ended up building a house, and I cannot overstate how crucial she was in that process.  This can be a frustrating and overwhelming process, and Carla made us feel secure and protect the entire time.  We started working with Carla in February and just closed on our house last week (9/23).  She was in contact with us throughout the process and with us at each milestone throughout the build process.
Carla was an absolute joy to work with.  She is very professional but made what can be a very stressful experience a lot of fun.  Because we knew she was watching out for our best interests, we were able to relax a bit and enjoy this process.  
I cannot recommend Carla enough.  If you are thinking of buying a house, do yourself a huge favor and give her a call.  If we ever decide to sell this house, she will be our first call.

She did a great job -sold the house quickly!

Carla is very professional, very knowledgeable, and an excellent communicator.  She has high integrity, and it has been a pleasure working with her.

She did a great job and was our favorite Realtor to date.  She is very knowledgeable of the Austin market.  She helped to set us at the best price and market the home to move quickly.  She also knows several contractors and services to help get the house into the shape it needs to be to sell.  We were quite pleased with her service.

She was very knowledgeable about the market and did a good job understanding what I was looking for. She was pleasant, personable and a joy to work with. She made herself available through the whole process in case I had any questions or concerns. I will definitely be using Carla for my next real estate deal in Austin and I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a personal or investment property in the Austin area.  

We were referred to Carla by a mutual friend who had used her services. Originally we wanted to sell our home last fall, but when we spoke with Carla last summer she told us the hard truth: we just weren't ready. Our house needed some minor updating and some major de-cluttering, the market was down, and we were on the slowboat with a toddler on our hands. She did a walk through of our home and gave us a to-do list of the maximum bang-for-the-buck updates and told us to give her a call after the New Year. 
So we got busy. We refreshed our lawn, we filled our storage unit with stuff I don't ever remember acquiring, and we updated our kitchen countertops. Carla gave us a list of contractors we could use for various repairs, too, which was also helpful. After the new year we called her again and she did another walk through. That's when she got really busy. She told us the market was on the rise, and gave us a time frame to maximize our sell. She helped us make-ready our home, including helping us find a painter, get an energy audit, and she personally redecorated our home for visitors. 
We were really dreading the process, including the idea of strangers walking through our home with a baby. Well, I don't know what kind of magic she does, but it got us an offer on our house in two days! Multiple offers, in fact. And it happened without any hiccups. 
And then, when we went look for a new home, she worked even more magic. We gave Carla our wish list and she gave us our options. She explained every part of the process to me in a way I can understand (I'm no expert in real estate vernacular). She set us up with a personalized filter on her company site that would email us homes that fit our needs. And once we had small collection we went to go view them. At this point I wasn't really expecting to find a home. We were just reviewing neighborhoods as we were realizing that nothing in the original area were looking fit our criteria.
Lo and behold, we found THE HOUSE. It was the third one on our list (and I wasn't originally interested when seeing it online). It gave me goose bumps just walking inside! While I was walking through telling my husband that it was THE HOUSE, Carla called the listing agent. She was able to tell us there was already one bid on the house, but that nothing had been accepted yet. Then she walked us through a strategy that was sure to win us the contract. In the end, we beat out two other buyers, and we got all our paperwork finished in record time.
Carla is super personable while also being very professional. She ensures you're getting all the attention you need to find the perfect home and takes the pain out of the process. She was even calling us on weekends and evenings to reassure me that everything was on schedule. or when we were dealing with time-sensitive documents. And she does all her homework to get you the best price for your sell and your purchase. I couldn't ask for more in a realtor.

She is absolutely fabulous.  She charged a commission on the sale of my home because she handled that for me; but she is giving me a discount on the commission for the purchase of my new home.  She has been very fair.

Carla made a very difficult process as pleasant as possible. Her support both professionally and personally were top-notch. I highly recommend her and next year when I'm looking to move again, I'll be calling Carla.

I am going to use her. I chose her based on the reviews that I read about her online. She has been very helpful. She comes out and walks through your home. She tells you what you need to do and will also tell you to get it ready. I never had that kind of a system before. It was too much beyond what you can expect from a real estate agent. She was totally prepared and on time. I am looking forward to working with her. Overall, she is excellent. The quality has been excellent. She is very responsive. She follows up with me and is very supportive. Her punctuality is perfect and I didn?t have any problems. She is very professional too.

She is very personable, responsive, intelligent, sweet and kind. She gave us a low appraisal for our home so that was not any mark against her professionalism, but just going by the neighborhood market itself.