Today we’d like to introduce you to Cyndi Cummings.
Hi Cyndi, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
After graduating from Beaverton High School (the Beavers) in Beaverton, Oregon, I put myself through Oregon State (also the Beavers), earning a degree in Business Administration. The two jobs I worked simultaneously throughout college paid for 100% of my college expenses, including room and board. I served as Pledge Chair. I’m pretty sure I did not sleep from 1978 to 1982.
My prior experience working in the draperies department at Sears during summers in high school landed me a job after college managing a retail clothing store in a very scary part of downtown Los Angeles. But Sears saved me, calling me back to Portland in 1983 to sell something called “personal computers” from their newly-started “Sears Business Systems Center” retail outlets. The computers had 8” floppy drives, 64k of memory, 4-inch screens, weighed 40 pounds, and cost $3,000 (in “1983 dollars”). I sold them like hotcakes.
With a young family, I worked a number of roles, including an office job at a position that was new to the industry; something called a “Computer Systems Administrator.” I went on to work for a couple of newly started companies named Apple and Microsoft. (Bill Gates is terrible at karaoke, by the way.) On weekends, my family and I toured open houses. At night we worked at fixing up investment properties.
I also had a part-time business appearing on local Portland TV stations as “The Computer Mom,” advising parents and families and answering their questions about this new dominating presence in their lives … the personal computer.
Always deeply involved with my children’s activities and education, I managed and organized numerous fundraising auctions and other events in support of their schools. And, of course, I was an officer in the Junior League.
In June of 2000, my family and I landed in a very hot place called Lakeway, a small community on the outskirts of Austin, Texas. A year later, I found myself President of the Lake Travis Education Foundation. Our annual auction that year raised more money than had ever been raised in any previous auction.
2002 was also the year I decided to get into real estate in a serious way. The kids were a little older now and the time was right. In my first year, I won “Rookie of the Year” at my 200+ person brokerage, and was presented with the “Eagle Award,” the highest honor that a particular company bestows on its agents. Countless transactions later, my life in real estate is now in its twentieth year. How time flies.
Always busy with charity groups and other civic activities, I have accumulated numerous civic awards over the years such as the “Unsung Hero” by the Lakeway Chamber of Commerce. In addition to currently serving as Board President of AustinUP, I am honored to serve as Board Secretary of Chariot (formally Drive a Senior), as well as having been a founder of the non-profit LT Senior Services.
Recently I was honored by the Society of Certified Senior Advisors with the 2022 CSA Service to Seniors award. Accredited by both the American National Standards Institute and the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, the CSA credential is the gold standard for professionals in all areas who work with the senior population.
Additionally, I was recently appointed as AustinUP’s representative to serve on the Austin Economic Development Corporation. AEDC is a Public Real Estate Developer, working for purpose instead of profits. AEDC can speed the pace of the public response to decreasing affordability and equity by moving at the pace of the market to blend the best of public and private deal making.
A unique added service which I created and offer to home sellers is a “concierge” moving experience called Turnkey Transitions®. This service provides clients and their families with not only an MLS listing and top-tier marketing, but invaluable hands-on help with arduous, daunting tasks such as sorting, selling off, staging, moving out, moving in, and, finally, setting up of clients’ new homes. This has been a very much appreciated service not just for my older clients, but is available to any client who doesn’t want to lift a finger when they move, regardless of their stage of life.
I am a licensed broker and serve both buyers and sellers in all price ranges and in all stages of life.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I can’t say it has always been a smooth road but, without the bumps along the way, how can we grow and learn? Probably one of my biggest obstacles can be my determination to help and my creativity to find new ways to do so. I want to get involved in far too many ventures. From my early involvement in Austin-area fundraising to my current participation in a number of boards and organizations, it has been increasingly difficult to narrow my focus instead of saying yes to all opportunities. But I involve myself in organizational missions and just can’t say no!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
In 2013, I decided to concentrate on serving older adults during times of transition. I founded a consortium of service providers called the Austin Senior Resource Alliance to provide a one-stop shop for older adults and their families seeking services and advice from trusted specialists. These specialists include estate and probate attorneys, in-home doctors and caregivers, auction and estate sale organizers, movers, handymen, and others. In 2014, I was appointed to AustinUP, the mayor’s initiative to improve the quality of life for all of Austin’s older adults. And, in 2018, I co-founded LT Senior Services, a non-profit organization consisting of Lake Travis area businesses and non-profit organizations that are passionate about serving the aging adult community.
To best provide that hand-crafted service, I have invested a tremendous amount of time and energy in ensuring that I am educated and positioned to eloquently help older adults and their caregiver families. I have undergone a rigorous course of training and continuing education to achieve the exclusive designation of Certified Senior Housing Professional (CSHP) from The Seniors Real Estate Institute. In fact, with demonstrated success in working with older clients, I now serve as a Seniors Real Estate Institute master trainer, conducting classes for other real estate agents interested in becoming CSHP’s.
My goal always is to customize a plan for the older adult that takes into account their current living situation and overall life goals. Whether considering a move from a family home to a smaller apartment, mother-in-law cottage, or retirement community, I work to provide the family with a variety of options to reduce out-of-pocket expenses or defer income streams to help the older adult either remain independent or be eligible for financial assistance possibilities.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
What makes me happy? Seeing the relief in a client’s eyes when I’ve helped them through what seems an insurmountable process brings me great joy. This is what I’ve trained for and worked toward, and knowing that I can step in to provide guidance and take care of tasks is not only something that helps my client; they have given me a gift that enhances my life and makes the efforts totally worth it all.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.turnkeytransitions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_cummings_home_team/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCummingsHomeTeamATX
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cyndicummings
