About Wally Harwood

In mid-2018 a service member started house hunting with Wally Harwood, planning to buy with a VA loan. Then the buyer deployed. Wally toured homes in person and sent back walk-through videos with his own commentary, every time. The first home fell through on the seller's side, and then came a second deployment. Wally stuck with it, and almost a year later the buyer closed on the right house. The buyer wrote that "even with the time difference and communication issues that come with deployment, Wally was on top of it!"

Wally is a Broker Associate with Jorgenson Real Estate in Round Rock, Texas, and a lifelong Austinite. He and Kasey Jorgenson have worked together for about eight years. Since 2019 he has helped clients buy and sell more than 150 homes, most often in Austin, with steady business in Round Rock, Georgetown, Hutto, Cedar Park and Pflugerville. Clients rate him 5.0 across 26 reviews.

A native's read on Austin

Wally's family goes back a long way here. His grandparents had their first date at Butler Pitch & Putt in the early 1950s. Born in South Austin, he graduated from Westlake High and recently moved back south, a mile from where his family lived when he was born. His favorite places to live are the older streets of South Austin between Congress and South First, with their 1930s and 1940s bungalows, and Hyde Park and Rosedale, where you can walk to dinner under big shade trees.

For newcomers, his advice is practical: a home farther out can look cheaper on paper, but higher tax rates and toll roads can close the gap, so compare monthly payments, not just prices. And before you buy on the edge of town, drive into downtown and back to see how far you really are. One buyer wrote that he "knows the Austin Area and surrounding area like the back of his hand." Moving here? Start with our guide to moving to Central Texas.

VA buyers and buyers who can't be here

Wally holds the Military Relocation Professional (MRP) designation, and veterans credit his knowledge of the VA loan. One veteran who won a home in a competitive market wrote that his experience "was essential in understanding its strengths, limitations, and in creating a successful winning strategy." One family living in South Africa bought a home here without ever seeing it in person, and a relocating couple wrote that "he video toured every single house we were interested in." Our guide for military and veterans covers the basics.

An engineer who knows houses

Before real estate, Wally earned a degree in manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology, with a minor in business, from Texas A&M. He worked in engineering and then tech sales, and he learned to maintain and flip houses. It shows. "Wally knew so much about what to look at when we viewed homes," one buyer wrote. He could tell them what a fix would take, and he connected them with a handyman and an electrician for quotes during the option period. He has guided first-time buyers through new builds too, including a KB Home build that took a year and a half.

Selling, renting and the choice in between

Sellers credit his follow-through. Out-of-town owners wrote that "Wally visited the house daily to be sure all was well," and he worked through a difficult HOA to keep their sale on track. Wally also has hands-on property management experience, and in a slower market that matters: for some owners who bought near the peak, renting a home out for a couple of years makes more sense than writing a big check at closing to sell. He talked through that choice with Kasey on the Real Estate, Straight Up podcast.

Off the clock

Wally played soccer in college and still plays on a few local teams, and he has held Austin FC season tickets since the club's first season. He's handy around the house and even builds his own porch swings. He gives back through It's My Park Day at Bartholomew Park and with the Capital Area Food Bank. Someday he wants to visit Japan, build his own wood cabin and write a novel about growing up "in that sweet spot where we still had to talk on the house phone, up until we didn't."

Quick facts

• More than 150 homes bought and sold since 2019
• 5.0 stars across 26 client reviews
• Lifelong Austinite and Texas A&M engineering graduate
• Focus: relocation to Austin, VA buyers, first-time buyers, sellers and rental owners
• Designations: MRP, RENE
• Most active in Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Hutto and Cedar Park
• Brokerage: Jorgenson Real Estate, 306 N Lampasas St, Round Rock, TX 78664
• TREC Broker license #707817