EP 419: From Interior Design Dreams To Building A Dallas Brokerage

What makes Ashly Westbrook with Westbrook Realty a good neighbor?

Ever wonder why tapping “schedule a tour” rarely leads to a door opening five minutes later? We sit down with Dallas broker Ashly Westbrook of Westbrook Realty to unpack the truth behind instant-gratification myths, the art of marketing a home like a product launch, and the practical steps that move renters into ownership without blind spots. Ashly’s path from interior design student to brokerage owner shapes her eye for value and presentation, and it shows in how she positions listings and coaches buyers through fast-moving Dallas neighborhoods like Uptown, Highland Park, and Preston Hollow.

Ashly gets candid about the “Amazon effect” in real estate and how real families, pets, and schedules shape showings, negotiations, and timelines. She breaks down how high mortgage rates and rising prices change the monthly payment equation, why parents are increasingly partnering with recent grads facing $3,000 rents, and which financing strategies actually create breathing room. From fully underwritten pre-approvals and rate buydowns to refinance windows that can cut hundreds from a payment, her playbook is built on preparation over panic.

We also dig into what great listing marketing looks like today: crisp photography, truthful copy, geo-targeted promotion, and agent outreach that generates real traffic instead of empty clicks. Ashly previews her new book, The Strategic Seller Blueprint, designed to help Dallas homeowners price, present, and launch with confidence. If you’re weighing your first condo, planning a sale in a competitive market, or simply tired of rent increases and want to build equity, this conversation gives you the strategy, local insight, and steady guidance to act wisely and win.

Enjoy the episode? Follow the show, share it with a friend who’s house hunting, and leave a quick review so more neighbors can find us.

To learn more about Westbrook Realty go to: https://westbrookrealtygroup.com

Westbrook Realty

214-558-8773

Transcript

Meet Broker Ashley Westbrook

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a real estate broker? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Ashley Westbrook, with Westbrook Realty Group.com. Hi, Ashley. It is lovely to have you on today. Now we are so excited to learn all about you and your business. Please start off by telling our listeners just a little bit more about your company.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Absolutely, Sophia. It's so great to be here. Thanks, good neighbor, for having me on the show. And as your local realtor in Dallas, Texas, I am your one-stop shop. I've been in the real estate business for almost two decades. I can't even believe it. And it's exciting more for me now because I just became a broker uh a little more than three years ago, and we did a revamp of our logo, our colors, and even moved into a newer area in the Dallas proper uh neighborhoods to start a new campaign and to be known. So this podcast came at just the right timing for us getting ready to launch our new book and along with the farming that we're doing in the uptown Highland Park Preston Hollow area.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Wow, Ashley, a lot of exciting things up and coming. Now let's go ahead and go back in time for a second. Tell us a little bit more about your background, how you got started in this industry.

From Design Student To Realtor

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Well, thanks for asking. So funny story. I went to the University of North Texas, graduated, and I had my eyes on being an interior designer. And at the time, I was at a different college in uh South Texas, closer to college station, and really didn't know what I was doing. In fact, I kind of felt like I was wasting my time. So then I started thinking, what did I enjoy when I was growing up? And it was looking through my grandparents' spiegel catalogs. In the Spiegel catalogs, there were all of these beautiful home furnishings and comforters and things on the wall, lighting, all the things, right? So that just caught my attention. So fast forward, I figured out who had the best school in Texas to go to interior design, and that was University North Texas. Then going to school, driving down the road on 35, there was this beautiful uh model home, literally compound. David Weekly Homes had three or four homes that were just one, two, three, four, all connected. And you get to walk through these homes, and it was just the newest aesthetics and paint colors and interior design, furniture, tile, you know, you name it. So I thought that's what I want to do. I want to get into the real estate world. I want to sell model homes. I mean, how fun would that be, right? So a couple of years later, I was blessed enough to start my journey with a home builder who has a huge footprint in Dallas. Grand Home started out my career. And just naturally, I fell in love with the business and loved helping people make decisions based on the largest investment of their lives. I mean, money kind of excites me a little bit. So when you see, you know, a six-figure number, it's kind of like, oh wow, I get to sell something that large to a family that's going to grow and and change and embrace the home, have fun memories like Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter and all the things. And so that's where my love for real estate started. And just by natural osmosis, I literally got my real estate license. And here I am 20 years later, now I'm a broker.

The Internet Lead Misconception

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Wow. So, Ashley, today, what is the most common misconception you come across being in the real estate industry? I'm sure there's a few.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Oh, there's a few. Let's talk about internet.com. So when the internet plays started coming to our business, you know, back in the day, you used to could put a sign in the yard and have people call you and ask questions about the house and the price and all of these things. And then the internet came along. And so I'm sure you're you're probably familiar with some of the larger SEO companies that are out there that basically are the Google of real estate. So those guys kind of swooped in and literally started taking our business as realtors away from us, which at the end of the day, going with an online internet lead is what happens in the process is you'll get online and you'll find somebody that says, want to see the property right now. In actuality, the truth is nobody's showing up in five minutes. That's the biggest misconception about real estate. People think that just because we live in this Amazon society and this microwave society, that if they ask for something, they're gonna get somebody to show up immediately. And real estate's more of a process because there's a seller involved. And most of the time, the seller who has their house on the market has a family, has dogs, has, you know, football practice or volleyball practice or cheerleading practice, a husband that's coming home, a wife that's going to teach aerobics, all these things. So we have to get a showing instructions to be able to walk through the home so that the buyer can actually see it. So that's the biggest misconception. In real estate, I need everybody just to have a little bit more patience for our system because we'll never be able to be Amazon.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Now, Ashley, getting down to the heart of the business, we know marketing is the heart of every business. So today, who are some of your ideal clients? And in terms of marketing, I know you talked a lot about the internet. How are you staying attractive to them?

Targeting Parents And Young Pros

Rates, Prices, And Affordability

SPEAKER_02 6:17

Well, the crazy thing about real estate is I think in 2015 I started wrapping around my wrapping my head around the idea of I'm a realtor, but I'm actually an expert marketer. So it's it's interesting because I feel like I have a PhD in marketing because of my career in real estate. Because if you're not marketing with all the technology and making sure that your listing has as many eyes and ears on it as possible, you know, you're really not doing your seller the service that they deserve. Now, I get to live in uptown Dallas and it's so fun. Back when I was 29, I had an opportunity to buy a condo in primetime real estate. And fast forward, I actually moved back down to the uptown area a couple, maybe I think it's like three years ago. I took a break and moved um north closer to be uh closer to my North Dallas office. And then I decided, you know what, let's rent that one and come back to the downtown area because that's where everything's happening, as far as you know, young professionals, the Katie Trail, lots of activity, nightlife, things like that. So I pivoted. Now, being almost 20 years in the business, pivoting and starting in a new neighborhood, it's a little scary because I've already got an established business that follows me around. And really and truly in real estate, everyone's kind of all over the Metroplex. In the Dallas area, there's so many suburbs. I mean, I could sit here and rattle off 10, 15 cities within 20 minutes of Dallas, Texas. So Dallas, Texas is really a big footprint. But who I'm targeting, you know, I feel like there are so many parents that are out there that have college kids who just graduated and who are turning into$3,000 a month in rent on these apartments that do not offer really anything other than a place to stay. I think parents are sick and tired of their kids not being able to invest in something that gives them equity right off of the bat. You know, one of the things I learned being a kid myself right out of college is having a home, a true home, and not getting that terrible letter every year, 60 days before your lease comes up. Hey, thanks so much for paying on time every month. By the way, we're gonna go up$400 next next year on you. So go ahead and sign that lease and let us go. You can't do that. You know, if you constantly are being threatened with where you live, and then you're trying to focus on building your career and building all these other things when you're in your young 20s, how can you have stability and a place to call home if you're constantly having to move every year to keep up with the rents coming around? So I've noticed that I've got a really big uptick in my business with moms and dads wanting to help their young professional get into homeownership now. Unfortunately, in the last few years, we had a really big population boom. And I hate to use the word, but we all know it, COVID, right? COVID happened and really brought an entire population from other metropolitan cities to Dallas, Texas. I mean, we've got so many wonderful things that are happening here. No income taxes, no, I mean no state income taxes, our property taxes are, you know, that's where we get, we do have property taxes, but they're low compared to everybody else. We've got land, we've got incentives for taxes. People are coming here because of affordability. And that's no secret. It's been around for a long time. But what happened was we also had a price increase. And so what you're finding is a lot of people who want to add home ownership into their portfolio is they're really they're really being outpriced by the market. I mean, interest rates are six, seven percent. I mean, this week we actually got somebody locked in at 5.99, so that's pretty good considering the rates really haven't dropped in the last 24 months under the six and a half percent. But, you know, interest rates are high, property prices are high. So when you put those two together, you've got a pretty expensive monthly payment, and home ownership for younger people is having to be sort of put on the back burner. So moms and dads are coming to me and we're working a game plan, we're working a way to figure out how to get them into home ownership now. And then on the back end, I can't predict the future on refinancing, but I have an amazing team with me who keeps me in the note weekly on when we should be refinancing, if there's an opportunity to save three or four hundred dollars if we dip in the market. You know, I'm calling my people personally and saying, we got to jump, we gotta do this. This benefits you in the long term, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:32

So Ashley, yeah. You have a lot of great information for our listeners today. Have you ever thought about having your own podcast before?

SPEAKER_02 11:42

Oh my gosh, that's so kind. You know what? I think it would be a great idea to talk shop with you afterwards. Thank you for that compliment. I um it's on my list of things to uh to bring to my sphere, especially with market updates that I get every week.

Action Plan And Refinancing Playbook

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Most definitely. And you've brought us so much great insight today. However, we are almost out of time. So if you could please let our listeners know where they can go to learn more about Westbrook Realtygroup.com.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Well, you just said it right there. Um, I want to announce that I just completed my second book. This book is called The Strategic Seller Blueprint. And it's basically a guide to help you with your own research that you've already done and now partner with me for tips and tricks and insider secrets on how to position your Dallas, Texas home for the market. You can find that at talkwithash.com. And if you want to learn more about Westbrook Realty Group, simply go to Westbrook Realty Group.com. Sophia, thanks so much for having me on the show, Good Neighbor Podcast. You guys rock.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Well, Ashley, I really appreciate you being on the show today, and we wish you and your business the best moving forward. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpfrisco.com. That's gmpfrisco.com or call four six nine two two one nine three four five.