Real estate broker helps people find homes in four decades

Moreland Properties owner and broker Emily Moreland, originally from Houston, settled in West Austin with her now-deceased husband in 1985 and opened Moreland Properties in 1986. Since that time, she has helped others find houses in the region they can call home.

"It never gets old. It is an exciting business. There's always a surprise and wonderful people to work with," Moreland said about working in real estate.

Before opening her own real estate company, Moreland worked at JB Goodwin and Coldwell Banker and spent some time as a teacher. Moreland Properties has now grown to 50 agents at its Lake Austin office and 24 agents at its Lake Travis office. Moreland no longer lists or sells homes, leaving that to her agents.

"My role is head cheerleader and manager," Moreland said.

Although Moreland recently moved to a condominium in downtown Austin, she lived in the West Rim neighborhood for 11 years, followed by a home on Red Bud Trail that she shared with her mother.

She said the natural setting and close proximity to downtown Austin is what attracted her and others to Westlake.

"We've got wonderful, distinct neighborhoods, lots of sports activities for the kiddos—and this has carried over into the Lake Travis area also," Moreland said.

Moreland said that the basics of Westlake have remained the same during the past 26 years.

"Pride in the overall neighborhood, the school system, the community atmosphere is still there," Moreland said. "There are a lot of restrictions because we want to maintain the integrity of the whole city."

For instance, there was a lot of opposition to Westbank Market—where the Westlake Randalls is located—when it was brought to the city, and she was asked to speak at the Zoning and Planning Commission meeting in favor of the development.

"The developer did such a gorgeous job of camouflaging it. You have to know where you're going to find it if you're on Bee Cave [Road]. It's still wooded," Moreland said.

She said that although people seem to have "discovered" Lakeway in the past five years, it was already beautiful.

"The Lake Travis [area] has a very similar community feeling as Westlake. The community approved a bond for the school system, even in hard times. They've got the brand-new hospital that has opened. We've got lots of new construction out there," Moreland said.

While real estate devours a lot of Moreland's time, she still participates in many other activities, including running the family ranch outside of Waco, serving on The Long Center for the Performing Arts' advisory committee, serving as president of the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas grandparents club and serving on Ballet Austin's board of directors.

"I've enjoyed very much the arts here in Austin," Moreland said. "The arts, to me, kind of shapes a community. It tells who you are."

Moreland said that while many people worry that Austin is growing too fast, she does not feel that way.

"We've got wonderful controls and, yes, many people will have to move to our suburbs, but our suburbs are beautiful," Moreland said. "There's nothing wrong with our suburbs."

Moreland Properties, 3825 Lake Austin Blvd., Ste. 501, Austin, 480-0848, www.moreland.com