Holding over two decades of experience, Linda L. Austin holds considerable expertise in the field of real estate and has excelled as a real estate agent with Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. since 1995. In this position, she specializes in working with seniors who are downsizing their living situations and first time home buyers. Since 2002, she has also been the owner of the Stevensville, Maryland, Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard location, where she trains staff ages 14 and up in store management, supervision and in making the products they sell. In addition, she became the owner of K & L Crabs, a trucking and transportation company, in 2004.
Ms. Austin entered her profession out of a desire to help make other peoples’ dreams come true. She utilizes her mortgage and auditing background, as well as her experiences in owning rental properties, to answer her clients’ questions in a detailed and thorough manner. Furthermore, she is certified as an associate broker through Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. While she has considered becoming certified as a full broker, she made the conscious decision to remain at the level of associate broker, because this position allows her to work more closely with her individual clients in a way that she wouldn’t be able to do as a full broker, which is a much more administrative position.
Alongside her primary career responsibilities, Ms. Austin has been incredibly active in her community through the years. A volunteer with the Queen Anne’s County Safety Net/Anti-Bullying Committee, she also donates her time and efforts to the Queen Anne’s County Christmas Angels, providing Christmas to children in need. She has also involved Rita’s Italian Ice in a variety of community events, setting up stands to scoop ice to benefit charitable causes. In order to remain up to date with developments in her field, particularly in regard to the increase and addition of new technology to the field, Ms. Austin maintains professional affiliation with the Bay Area Association of Realtors, where she spent time as the director.
For excellence in her career, Ms. Austin has been the recipient of a number of honors and accolades. Most recently, she was recognized by the Bay Area Association of Realtors as Realtor of the Year in 2020 and also received the Community Service Award in 2020. She was named the Top Producer in Office by Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. in 2019. Having received numerous other awards as well, she finds the most rewarding part of her career to be mentoring the young people who work at Rita’s Italian Ice and she takes great joy in being able to watch them advance in customer service, marketing and supervising. While she does find her real estate work with seniors and first time buyers to be incredibly gratifying, she is also grateful that she still has the time to volunteer and do charitable work for the benefit of her community, as that is something she considers to be very important.
Above everything, Ms. Austin attributes much of her success to her parents, Laight and Sally Phelps, for raising her well and instilling in her the drive to work hard and to always persevere. Married to her husband for many happy years, they are together the proud parents of two children. Looking toward the future, Ms. Austin hopes to continue on in her current career trajectory while being able to spend time with her two wonderful children.