Bill Baldwin finds way to make most of his vacation time
Bill Baldwin, broker/ owner and Realtor of Boulevard Realty, is a very busy man with his firm, over 60 agents and increasing leadership roles in the city. However, he knew it was time for a vacation.
Vacation for Baldwin was a time to step back, rethink, refuel and look at his work and real estate firm from possible different angles, which is what he did while traveling to Argentina, Alabama and Marfa at the end of a busy summer.
“Buenos Aires for me was all about the architecture and history — and maybe a little about the wine,” he said.
Baldwin, an avid history buff and wine collector, thought about Houston as an urban center coming of age.
With projects like the recently completed citizen-led restoration of Houston’s iconic Mecom Fountain and the current remodeling of his historic home, Baldwin is fascinated by how a city can constantly reinvent itself for the present while preserving and respecting the best of its past.
As a planning commissioner and expert in historic districts, the time he spent in Buenos Aires was invaluable.
In Florence, Alabama, he attended his second Shindig, a retreat for locally minded design, lifestyle, and business leaders.
Baldwin considers this the Southern nexus of the “think local, act global” philosophy.
“I go to Shindig to be with people who share my belief that staying small and independent keeps us in touch with consumers, who are the real economic engine in our communities.
“I believe listening to how clients view the marketplace is important,” Baldwin said.
For Baldwin, Marfa is the ultimate example of irreplaceable communities.
“When I moved to the Heights 20 years ago, I knew it was home, to live my best life, and that has proven to be true,” Baldwin said.
In real estate, he asks clients to listen for that same intuition.
“I think it is important for clients to love the community, which will shape their life, more so than the physical space of their home,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin also spent time gearing up for new volunteer positions on Houston’s increasingly distinctive brand of urbanism, and reflecting on how to better serve his clients and agents.
Also, with technology in hand and his trusted sales and administrative team, he recorded his firm’s best sales figures since its founding.
Baldwin has big plans for Boulevard Realty in 2017, and will always see his summer adventure of 2016 as the time where he further understood the meaning of thinking globally and acting locally.