Elizabeth & Rene + Clarissa

BEACH HOME BUYERS: Elizabeth & Rene – Married Couple

Current Home: San Antonio, Texas

Beach House Hunting In: Corpus Christi/North Padre Island, Texas

Beach Home Budget: $300,000

Elizabeth and Rene have the kind of love story that feels like a throwback to the days before swiping left and right. Introduced by a mutual friend, they spent six whole weeks talking on the phone before meeting in person. Yes, actual old-school phone calls, not FaceTime, not Zoom! Now they’re married, raising two pre-teen kids (who are just as beach-obsessed as their parents), and still cracking each other up with their opposite personalities: she’s the feisty go-getter, he’s the grounded realist.

Rene is happiest when he’s zipping across the water on his jet ski or lounging on the beach with a beer while Elizabeth finds her peace with her toes in the sand with waves crashing nearby. They’ve spent countless roadtrips back and forth to the Texas Coast doing marathon days at the beach which is fun but exhausting for the family as Rene is the one to drive the long-haul back home after their day at the beach. They’ve also spent a lot of money on beach rentals, which works, but that’s money that they’ll never get back. Cue: They need to OWN a beach home!

They’re looking for non-negotiable water views (otherwise, what’s the point?), at least three bedrooms and three bathrooms so everyone has space to rinse off the sand, and ideally, a terrace or hot tub where they can watch the sun melt into the ocean. For them, this isn’t just about buying a house, it’s about making a 25-year dream come true. Elizabeth admits she’s had her eye on beach homes for decades, but cost always made it impossible. They’ve stayed in every rental and Airbnb up and down the coast, pretending for a weekend that it was theirs. Now, after years of hard work they finally have the cash in hand and the chance to buy their own slice of paradise.

Real Estate Agent: Clarissa, Austin & Corpus Christi, TX

Meet Clarissa Lopez, the big-personality, beach-property whisperer! Nicknamed the Energizer Bunny, she sells from Port Arnasas and Rockport all the way down to South Padre, including Corpus and Mustang island where she bought her own place back in ’08, Airbnb’d it, and promptly turned half her friends into coastal investors. A former fitness/health TV and radio host in LA and Denver, Clarissa reinvented herself at 40 as a real estate agent. She was licensed in two weeks, first contract in 30 days, and now channels that same hustle into real estate. She’s a social-butterfly extrovert who connects fast, listens hard, and fights for her clients with empathy and edge.

Touring with Clarissa is part house hunt, part mini-vacation: she rolls up in a golf cart and a ball cap, lines up five contenders, trims to two over piña-coladas, then runs the numbers (yes, she’ll pull P&Ls for investors). When she’s not showing property, she’s fishing with her 85-going-on-18 year old dad or baking jaw-dropping cakes! Clarissa loves proving being able to make people’s property dreams come true--especially for those who think that a home is too expensive for them. She does her best to find a way to make it work!