A Realtor Who Masters the Art of Negotiation

Genie Lawless is a real estate agent based in Santa Cruz. Her passion for the region and her job can make anyone’s move in and out of the county seem like a breeze.

Smitten by the natural beauty of Santa Cruz and its diverse and accepting community, Genie encourages everyone to move to the area she was born and raised in. “It's interesting to see how Santa Cruz has evolved over the years,” says Genie, “it has shifted from being a tourist hotspot and a retirement community to being a place where people move to build a life and a  career.” She believes that the county’s location between the ocean and the mountains is what attracts people, especially those working at Silicon Valley’s tech companies, to choose and settle down in the area. “It’s amazing to see how accessible fun is in Santa Cruz,” she says, “one minute you’d be at work, and the next you are surfing or biking close by.”

Genie comes from a family of realtors. Her father was the one who encouraged her to get into the business, and the one who taught her most of what she knows about the business, especially the art of negotiating. With his years of experience, he knew how to bring a willing buyer and a willing seller together and how to seal a deal, and so does his daughter. “The best part about this job is seeing a happy client,” says Genie, “each client is unique and each property is uniqueness, and finding the right type of unique for my clients is what keeps me going.”

This extra-special realtor does more than just help her clients find their dream home, she helps them settle down too. What matters to her is that, once a customer moves to the county for good, they don’t have any trouble integrating into the community.  She’ll hook her clients up with clubs and communities of their interest, and makes sure they don’t have a difficult time bonding with everyone around.

A Respected Realtor in the Santa Cruz Market

In Genie, clients find a Santa Cruz native, whose passion for the county is a lifelong experience. Before she moved to real estate, she had quite a few jobs, most of which got her connected even more with the region. From working near the ocean as a salesperson to working in the mountains as a camp guide, she learned how to appreciate the beauty around her from an early age. Add to that her experience in marketing and communication, and you’ve found yourself a realtor who knows Santa Cruz like the back of her hand, and one who knows how to negotiate her way in and out of deals.

First-time homebuyers were Genie’s main focus when she first started working in the real estate business. She has widened her horizons since then, but always has a wise word or two for first-time buyers. “Find yourself a well-connected and goal-oriented real estate agent, and put your trust in them,” she advises new buyers. “Trust that with their expertise, they will be able to find you what you’re looking for, even if it’s not on the market yet,” she adds. Most importantly, her number one advice to first-time buyers is to save up as much as possible for their down payment.

With over 20 years of experience in the field, Genie has become a respectable member of the Santa Cruz real estate community. The connections she’s built over the years, especially with fellow agents, help her rush up processes that might take much longer otherwise. “When the other agent knows and respects you, chances are the negotiations will be smoother and faster,” says Genie confidently. With an extra touch of marketing and negotiation skills, she’s the realtor that can make everyone’s California home dream come true.

A Community-Driven Realtor With a Love for Culture

Genie’s involvement in the Santa Cruz real estate market goes beyond buying and selling houses. When she first started as a real estate agent, she saw how much trouble many people were going through to buy a house in the region, whether they be educators, firefighters, or from other professions. She wanted to be able to help them buy a house and build a life in Santa Cruz, and that’s how she ended up joining the board of the Santa Cruz Association of Realtors Housing Foundation, a non-profit that helps raise money to give as grants to those who need them.

She later moved from the housing association to one that helped her give even more to her community. Today, she works on a project that aims at putting a now-abandoned church building into good use. The huge building has a lot of conference rooms and a prime location right in the middle of town, and thus a huge potential to serve the community. “It can be used as a tutoring club, a book club, or a job training center,” explains Gennie, “and so, I hope to drive past it someday and see it busy with community-driven projects.”

When she’s not busy working and giving back to the community, Genie loves to cook, travel the world with her husband, go on short hikes in nature, and hang out with family and friends. The Fall Creek Trail, the trails at Henry Cowell State Park, and those at Wilder Ranch are her Santa Cruz favorites. The gorgeous vistas make those trails worth the hike for her. 

Genie is also an avid reader, with Californian author John Steinbeck being her all-time favorite writer. Her interest in books doesn’t stop at American authors; whenever she travels to a new country, she searches for the best authors hailing from that country and buys their books. “Reading books written by those authors is what helps me understand the country’s culture better,” says Genie. “As long as you find a good translation that perfectly reflects the essence of the book, you’ve found yourself a catch,” she adds.

In Genie you’ll find a realtor who’s witty, giving, and cultured, but most importantly, a realtor whose acquaintance will make your move to Santa Cruz a beautiful experience.