The Top Real Estate Agents Tennessee Families Trust With Their Homes

A home is rarely just a purchase. It is where families settle, where big decisions get made, and where life quietly unfolds. In a market as active as Tennessee's, the process of finding or selling one can feel overwhelming. Sellers worry about pricing and timing. Buyers worry about overpaying or missing out. This list brings together agents across the state who have answered that worry the same way: with honesty, patience, and work that puts people first.

Their backgrounds are anything but ordinary. One spent 20 years teaching before bringing that same patience to real estate. Another built a career as a Ph.D. researcher before learning property the hands-on way, buying, renovating, and renting her own homes. Others came from music management, mortgage lending, entertainment, and civil engineering. One knows what starting over feels like, having lost a home to a hurricane and rebuilt a life in East Tennessee.

What they share is a way of working. They give clients a plan instead of a sales pitch. They explain things plainly and never rush a decision. They offer honest advice even when the honest answer is not the easy one, and some will slow down or walk away from a deal that does not serve a client. One calls it humans over houses. Another measures success by long-term trust rather than a single sale.

Their experience shows in decades of combined work, hundreds of homes sold, and businesses built almost entirely on referrals. What clients remember is simpler: someone listened, told the truth, and stayed. 

Tom Murray: Building Value, Not Just Closing Deals

Tom Murray has worked in and around real estate for more than 30 years, and his path does not fit a tidy summary. Based in Franklin, Tennessee, he has moved through luxury sales, remodeling, land development, and even a decade in music management before settling into the advisory work he does now.

He started on Hilton Head Island, learning the business through coastal properties. The years in music management, working with well known artists through national tours and brand partnerships, taught him to negotiate under pressure and to handle the discretion that high net worth clients expect.

His training in civil engineering, paired with hands on remodeling, shapes how he reads a property. "I approach the business as an investor, developer, strategist, and advisor all in one," Tom explained. He looks for value others miss, whether in renovation potential or in repositioning an asset for a stronger return.

Tom holds licenses in Tennessee, Alabama, and South Florida, which lets him source opportunities across regions rather than a single market. His firm, ATLAS Global Real Estate, has closed more than $472 million in sales over the past two years.

He has earned the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Diamond Award several times. Still, he points elsewhere. "My biggest achievement isn't measured by awards, rankings, or revenue. It's the impact I've been able to make in people's lives," Tom said. 

Susan Calabrese: Two Decades of Trust in Knoxville

Susan Calabrese has spent two decades helping families buy and sell homes in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her route into the work was not a straight one, and that may be part of why people trust her with it.

She came to Knoxville in 1982 for the World's Fair, later married her husband, Dan, and settled in Florida to raise their family. When Hurricane Andrew destroyed their home, they returned to East Tennessee and raised two daughters there. Susan knows what starting over feels like, and that sits underneath how she works.

Before real estate, she spent 20 years teaching, and the patience carried over from the classroom. She explains things plainly and never rushes people through a decision. She earned her license in 2005 and has kept adding to her training since.

"I give them a plan," she said. "Before anything hits the market, my team and I build a strategy around their goals, then manage every detail through closing. That's the difference between hoping for a good outcome and knowing you're going to get one."

Her business runs almost entirely on referrals. "That tells me more than any award ever could," Susan explained. She also watches the Knoxville market closely and shares monthly notes on what the numbers mean for local homeowners. The trust comes from doing the work the same way every time, one family after another.

Brandie Berrong: Helping Clients Find What Home Means

Brandie Berrong works across East Tennessee, serving Maryville, Knoxville, Gatlinburg, the Great Smoky Mountains, and the surrounding areas with Realty Executives Associates, the top brokerage in the region. Her starting point is simple. Buying or selling a home should feel like a partnership rather than a transaction.

She was born in Nashville and raised in Maryville, and she moved often as a child for her father's career. That taught her that home means different things to different people, and that one size does not fit all.

Before real estate, Brandie spent time in mortgage lending, which gave her a feel for both the numbers and the weight behind the decision. Rather than push a property or a timeline, she helps them figure out what the big picture looks like, then guides them to closing.

She has been a top producer for six years running and has sold more than 270 homes over the past seven. She calls her approach relationship-first, measuring success by long-term trust rather than a single sale. She said earning her clients' trust is something she never takes for granted.

Away from work, she is a mother to her daughter, Camden, rooted in the same East Tennessee community she serves.

Tammi Weed’s Approach To Nashville Short-Term Rentals

Tammi Weed is an affiliate broker at Compass RE and one of Nashville's most active advisors in the short-term rental investment space. Over the past 12 months, she has closed more than $30 million in sales, $20 million of it in rental properties that are not owner-occupied, a niche most agents avoid.

She came to work from the inside. Before real estate, she spent 15 years as Head of Celebrity Talent for a national entertainment network, and the whole time she was quietly building her own Airbnb portfolio on the side. She learned the business as an operator, not an observer.

That shapes how she advises clients now. "While many agents focus on getting a deal to the closing table, I focus on what happens after the purchase, because that's where my clients actually win or lose," Tammi explained. Many of her buyers are out-of-state investors who treat a rental as a financial instrument, and she gives them an honest read on what the market is doing rather than what they have read about it.

Her clearest example is Horizon Nashville, a resort-style Airbnb-friendly community where she serves as lead Broker and Compass RE representative. Phase One sold out, and Phase Two is already 60% sold, with almost every deal selling off-market. "Horizon Nashville represents one of the most compelling investment opportunities in the city, combining Nashville’s booming tourism market with a resort-style ownership experience. For many investors, short-term rentals have become an increasingly attractive component of a broader wealth-building strategy,” said Tammi Weed.

Svetlana Stepanovic: Quality and Relationships Over Deal Counts

Svetlana Stepanovic never planned to sell real estate. For years, her world was science, building a career as a Ph.D. researcher at Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt Universities. Then she bought her first home in Nashville, and something shifted. She went on to buy her first three homes in three years on a modest university salary.

Over the next twenty years, she rented out properties, hosted guests, renovated, and redesigned, learning quickly how to make cozy and attractive homes that people liked. By the time she earned her license, she had already spent two decades learning the business the way that sticks, by doing it herself in various roles. When a client is weighing a decision, she is not quoting a textbook but drawing on a real track record.

Because her rental and Airbnb income covers her, she is not chasing a set number of deals each month. "Having multiple income sources gives me the luxury of focusing on life stories and relationships with each client," Svetlana explained. “Friends become clients and clients become friends. That makes me very happy.” That independence lets her be honest, even when honesty means slowing down or walking away from a deal that does not serve a client.

She is passionate about helping everyday people use real estate as a path to financial security and wealth. Today, she is with Wilson Group Real Estate, a firm whose boutique model fits the way she already works, and she has called Nashville home for 28 years.

Thiago Nigri: A People First Broker in Middle Tennessee

Thiago Nigri is the broker and owner of NextHome Venture Realty, serving Middle Tennessee with a focus on new construction, traditional homes, and building long term wealth. He grew up in Brazil and speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and English, which helps him connect with a wide range of clients and meet them where they are.

His approach comes down to a phrase he uses often: humans over houses. "I believe there is a real person behind every transaction, and that's what I care about most," Thiago explained. "Real estate can easily turn into just numbers, but for my clients, this is a big moment in their lives."

Most people reach him feeling overwhelmed. Sellers worry about pricing and timing. Buyers worry about overpaying or missing out. He answers that with clear market data, plain explanations, and honest advice, even when the honest answer is not the easy one. "My goal is not just to close transactions, but to create an experience where people feel understood and taken care of," he said.

So far, he has closed more than $39 million across 143 transactions, with steady growth each year. Over the past year, he has also added agents who share the humans over houses approach. Still, he counts building the brokerage itself as the achievement that matters most, alongside the partnerships that keep the company tied to local families.

Megan Myers Smith: A Decade of Trust in Williamson County

Megan Myers Smith grew up in Williamson County and watched the Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin areas change over the years. Now she serves those same communities as an agent with Onward Real Estate, a locally owned brokerage. Since 2016, she has helped families across Middle Tennessee buy and sell homes.

For her, the work has never been about volume. "Real estate isn't just about brokering property transactions," Megan explained. "It's about guiding people through a significant financial and personal transition in their lives." She treats every client the same, whether they are buying a first place or selling a luxury home.

Her background is in education. She holds a degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and a Master's in Education from Trevecca University, and she has built her business almost entirely on referrals. She also carries several professional designations and belongs to the local, state, and national REALTOR associations.

Much of what she manages is emotional rather than contractual. She compares her role to a duck on water, calm on the surface while she keeps everything moving underneath. "My goal is to remove as much pressure from them as possible," she said.

In 2025, she ranked fifth in her office, was in the top 1.5% of agents in the nation, and earned Platinum Awards from both the Greater Nashville and Williamson County associations. The referrals keep coming because the relationships are real.

Summary

Trust matters in real estate because the stakes are personal. Behind every transaction is a real person making one of the biggest financial and emotional decisions of their life. The agents gathered here understand that, and it shows in how they work.

None of them took a straight path into the business. One taught school for two decades and carried the patience with her. Another spent years in scientific research before learning property by owning it, one home at a time. Others negotiated in the music industry, worked in mortgage lending, or managed celebrity talent while quietly building a rental portfolio on the side. Those lives before real estate shaped how they treat people now.

The pattern across all of them is steady and unglamorous. They build a plan around a client's goals instead of pushing a property or a timeline. They explain the numbers plainly and let people decide without pressure. They tell the truth even when it costs them, and some are willing to walk away from a deal that does not serve the client. Several run businesses that survive almost entirely on referrals, which only happens when people leave the process feeling cared for.

Their experience adds up to decades of work and hundreds of families served. But the thing clients carry with them is quieter than any number: the sense that someone was honest, paid attention, and genuinely had their back.