John Blackman
Co-Founder & Real Estate Agent
What if your real estate agent had actually built the house?
John Blackman has. Over fifty of them, right here in Austin. Before he became one of the city's most trusted real estate advisors, he spent fifteen years as a software developer — including work in enterprise tech — and then spent years financing and building single-family homes across the Austin market. He came to real estate not as a career change, but as a natural extension of everything he'd already mastered.
That background changes everything about how he serves his clients.
When John walks through a property with you, he isn't just looking at it. He's reading it — the bones, the systems, the construction decisions that were made well and the ones that weren't, and exactly what all of it means for the price, the maintenance, and the long-term value of what you're about to buy or sell. He spots things inspectors miss. He gives you repair cost estimates without waiting on contractor visits. He knows which builders in Austin deliver quality and which ones cut corners — because he's been on job sites with both.
He speaks engineer. He also speaks contractor. He can walk a tech executive through a market analysis and a general contractor through a punch list — sometimes on the same afternoon. For Austin's enormous tech community, that fluency isn't just useful. It's transformative.
"I can't think of any agent more informed, professional, honest, and friendlier than John Blackman. If you are looking for someone who treats you as his very special client and gives his honest, fact-based opinion — without a doubt, John is your guy." — Amir F.
"John made me extra money I didn't even see coming in a sale. He is the best realtor I have ever had." — Dan V.
"John and his team have listed and sold 4 homes for me. Their knowledge of the market and promotional efforts are second to none — super professional, they put in far more than is required." — Jon K.
John holds a substantial number of residential designations alongside Alyse — including CLHMS™, CNE, ABR, TLRS, and SRS — and has completed 450+ transactions since 2016. He co-founded Heart of Austin Homes with Alyse because he believed buyers and sellers in this city deserved agents who bring genuine expertise to every side of the table — not just market knowledge, but the kind of structural and financial understanding that only comes from having built, financed, and sold property yourself.
He lives in Austin with Alyse and their three kids. He has strong opinions about every neighborhood in the city — documented opinions — and he loves this work in the way that only makes sense if you've found the thing you were built to do.
If you're buying, selling, or investing in Austin — John would love to look at the numbers with you.
