John Samuel Blackman

I came to real estate from two completely different directions — and that combination is the most useful thing I bring to every transaction.

Fifteen years as a software developer, including work at Microsoft on Xbox Live, gave me a systematic, analytical mind and a fluency in the language of Austin's massive tech community. 

Then, starting in 2010, I began financing and building homes — over 50 of them, right here in Austin. I learned what a house is made of from the inside out: the bones, the systems, the decisions embedded in every wall, and what those decisions mean for value, durability, and cost.

I'm John Blackman — co-founder of Heart of Austin Homes, the independent boutique brokerage I run with my wife Alyse. I've been licensed since 2016, and in that time we've completed 400+ transactions. I specialize in new construction, investment properties, and the South, West, and East Austin regions I know so well.

I speak engineer. I also speak contractor. I can walk a tech executive through a market analysis and a general contractor through a punch list — sometimes on the same afternoon. When an inspection report comes back, I read it with builder's eyes. When you're evaluating a new construction contract, I know what the fine print actually means.

But here's the thing about all that data and all that experience: it only matters if someone actually uses it to take care of you. And that part I take very seriously.

Most of my clients don't just close a transaction — they gain someone who stays in their corner long after the keys change hands. That's by design.