Blair Nell

Late one night several years ago, Blair Nell was looking over the shoulder of her husband, Clayton, at a real estate listing that wasn't quite working. He wanted her advice, so she offered some thoughts about language and how the home might have been staged better. And that's the moment she realized that she could do this, too, that she could sell homes and welcome and connect people to the community she already loved. After growing up at the edge of North Carolina's Sandhills, Blair attended UNC-Chapel Hill and became a social worker, a job that allowed her to fulfill two passions at once-establishing relationships and assisting people. Those principles, she understands now, are at the heart of real estate with integrity. "I understood I could genuinely help people," she remembers. "I knew how to sit down and really listen to what people need-and help them find it."

Though her partners praise her ability to stage homes and manage a million details at once, relationships remain the most important part of her approach to real estate. Clients from her incredibly successful five-year run at a small Carrboro firm are now some of her very best friends, and as much as she likes to see the paperwork signed, she likes seeing new homeowners become parts of their community that much more. A mother of two and a fan of the Triangle's rich culinary scene, she recommends restaurants and breweries, discusses the pros and cons of area schools, and generally hopes to give people a chance to lead their best local lives.