When Karen Karapasha arrived in Houston from Louisiana with her family in 1991, she had no inkling that she would eventually become one of the city’s top real estate professionals, doing $83 million in transactions in 2014. She had only recently gotten her license at her husband’s urging, and focused more on raising her young children than on her career. She landed first at Coldwell Banker, where she had a manager who allowed her the flexibility to pick her own hours.

While she initially had little interest in building a real estate career, the handful of clients she had in Louisiana ultimately followed her to Houston and worked with her there, helping to form the foundation of a client base. She networked to bring in more clients and two years later joined RE/MAX. Eventually, she became so busy that she needed a team. Karapasha remained with RE/MAX until April 2014, when she purchased her own franchise and formed Real Living Karapasha Realty. While she never set goals for herself, she focused on doing the best job she could for each client and treating them as she would want to be treated.

“What I found out is that if you do a good job for one person, they’re going to tell their colleagues and their friends,” Karapasha said. “Now I’m selling houses to the children of my previous clients, which makes me really old but at the same time it’s a natural progression.”

Karapasha’s path to success unfolded as she embodied many of the qualities that people look for in a real estate agent. In June 2011, Trulia conducted a user group discussion to determine what qualities people look for in an agent. Honesty and integrity were listed first, followed by knowledge of the area, following through with promises or objectives, being organized and listening to what the client has to say.