Katie & Derek + Brian Clowdus
BEACH HOME BUYERS: Katie & Derek - Married Couple
Current Home: Smyrna, GA
Beach House Hunting In: Panama City Beach, FL
Beach Home Budget: $350,000
Katie and Derek are the kind of couple who instantly feel fun to watch: longtime partners, best friends, and total opposites in the most entertaining way. They’ve been together for more than 20 years after first meeting through their high school best friends, and their dynamic has that easy, playful shorthand that only comes with real history. Katie is an interior designer with strong opinions, big ideas, and the ability to see past bad paint and dated finishes to what a space could become. Derek is the grounded, practical numbers guy who knows exactly when to rein things back in and ask what all those dreamy upgrades are actually going to cost.
For Katie, Panama City Beach is deeply personal. She’s been going since she was a teenager, when her aunt and uncle started taking her and her cousin, who was also her best friend, on annual trips. Over the years, it became the setting for decades of family memories: beach days, boat rides, seafood dinners, and time spent together. Now, Katie’s aunt and other family members all have homes in the area. It’s a place where everyone gathers to celebrate, make memories and create new traditions with the next generation, including their 12-year-old daughter, Ella.
But right now, Katie and Derek are always guests when they visit, crashing in spare bedrooms at relatives’ homes, coordinating schedules, and tiptoeing around shared spaces with a busy 12-year-old and a dog in tow. It’s no longer feasible that they can the “couch surfing family.” There’s no room to fully settle in, no space for Ella to bring friends, and no real sense of “this is ours.” They’re hoping to find something in the low-to-mid $300,000s that gives them that freedom, close enough to the water to soak up the white sand and emerald Gulf, with enough space to actually live the beach life on their own terms. For them, this isn’t just about buying a home, it’s about finally having a place where they can relax, spread out, and make the experience truly their own.
The Agent - Brian Clowdus- Panama City Beach, FL
Brian isn’t your average realtor—he’s a self-proclaimed lifestyle matchmaker with a flair for the dramatic and the fabulous. Based in Panama City, Florida, he brings bold energy and an experience-driven approach to beach real estate, quickly making a name for himself along the Gulf Coast. With a background in marketing, Brian sees his role as more than just selling homes—he’s helping people reinvent their lives, acting as a “personal shopper” from Panama City Beach to the 30A corridor to uncover hidden gems that instantly feel like home.
Brian first met Katie years ago while living in Georgia, when she was designing a space in the building where he worked. So when Katie and Derek decided it was time to find their beach home, Brian was their very first call.