LAST YEAR, Stephany Haxel lost her job as a corporate recruiter. And though it didn’t feel like it then, that life change has been a blessing. She and her husband, Jake, flip properties across Oklahoma City, from Edmond on the north side of the metro to Purcell on the south. After being laid off, Stephany decided to embark on a new career as a Realtor, and it’s given the couple a powerful edge in their real estate investing operations. “It was a little scary at first,” said Stephany Haxel, who was voted the 2015 Rookie of the Year by the Norman, Okla., Board of Realtors. “I’d gone from a career I loved for 15 years to ‘Gosh, what am I go- ing to do now?’ You just dust yourself off.” Haxel, a native of Tulsa, originally came to Norman so she could pursue a journal- ism degree at the University of Oklahoma. Outside of a stint teaching English in Japan, she’s built a terrific life here with Jake, who works as a financial adviser. TEAMINGUP FOR SUCCESS They make a good team. As a Realtor, she has an edge at hunting down potential purchases as soon as they come on the market, and she’s quickly able to research each property’s strengths and weaknesses. And thanks to her previous work experi- ence, she’s skilled at negotiating. “When I was in recruiting, I inter- viewed people all day long,” Haxel said. “So I was constantly asking
questions and trying to find what their motivation was.” Jake, meanwhile, eval- uates the money side of every deal and calculates whether it’s going to be a good investment. They aim to complete seven to 10 flips this year, in addition to managing the seven
rental properties they hold. They’ve cut back from the 23 they once owned so they can focus more on flips. Flipping can be challenging sometimes— Oklahoma City’s housing market is very strong—but it’s still possible to find proper-
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