Top Real Estate Agent in Hawaii Brenda Avery

Buying a house in Hawaii is like buying a house nowhere else. For mainland buyers, showings can be a struggle, getting local help for the move can be frustrating. Fortunately for the island’s home seekers, Brenda Avery is a REALTOR® like no other.

She makes settling into a new vacation or forever home a seamless, even enjoyable, experience. “A lot of the things that come up, they need boots on the ground,” Brenda says of her mainland customers. “They need someone who is an expert in the area and who understands the nuances.” Something to consider: Some of Brenda’s clients are buying vacation or investment homes sight unseen.

Hawaii is still in the throes of supply chain snags that make furnishing a home a particular challenge. As a testament to her commitment to her clients, Brenda has shopped, bought and stored furniture for clients in escrow, preparing their homes for the day she hands them keys and welcomes them to the island.

Brenda gained 10 years experience in marketing and public relations for luxury labels such as Cartier and Dolce & Gabbana, and she has found her comfort zone working with high-net-worth clients. She moved to Hawaii in 2015 to drop out of the rat race in New York and set up shop as a stress management specialist, yoga instructor and health coach.

When the onset of the COVID pandemic shut off much of her in-person work, Brenda turned to real estate, another career that gives her the opportunity to make a positive impact on clients’ lives. “I believed in the idea that I could live well, do well, and be well,” she says.

“A career in real estate has helped me realize that I can earn a great living while living a great life.” In addition to holding a master’s degree from Columbia University, Brenda is a Certified Real Estate Investment Planning Specialist, a National Commercial Real Estate Advisor, and a member of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.

Brenda relies heavily on digital marketing to sell listings as many of her clients are off island at the time they are shopping. Her brokerage, The Agency Team Hawaii brokered by eXp Realty, gives her a marketing boost with its database of over 15,000 interested buyers and large social media presence.

She produces videos and other collateral that is featured on websites she creates for each listing. She also leverages her team’s network of 50 agents on four islands to better serve buyers and sellers. Past customers return to Brenda or refer their friends because of the extent she goes to ensure a purchase and move-in go smoothly.

“I feel like my clients know that if they refer me to someone, or if they use me again, the job is going to get done, and that they’re in good hands at the end of the day,” says Brenda, who focuses on luxury properties in West Hawaii from the Kohala coast to Kailua-Kona.

Living and working on the island offers Brenda the chance to use her knowledge of the area and give back to the community she loves. As the Young Professionals Network chair of the West Hawaii Association of REALTORS®, she recently organized a golf tournament that raised thousands of dollars for 808 Homeless Task Force.

The organization reunifies unhoused people with their families and helps others find permanent housing. Outside of real estate, Brenda continues her stress management and stretching instruction. This time, she has repurposed her classes into online instruction.

She also teaches her relaxation techniques to the island’s kupuna, or senior population, allowing patrons to pay only what they can afford. “If they can’t afford anything, that’s okay. I just want them to be happy and healthy.” Taking advantage of Hawaii’s picturesque setting, Brenda enjoys canoe paddling, running marathons and spending time with her life partner and ohana.

Looking ahead, Brenda would like to strengthen her foothold in the island’s luxury and lifestyle markets. Whether for the country ranch, seaside home or snorkeler’s paradise, she wants to be the go-to agent in West Hawaii. “It’s really about helping the clients for me,” she says, “helping them find what it is they’re looking for, specifically here on our island, not what I think is good for them, but what they are really looking for.”