Not everyone selling real estate is a REALTOR®. It’s a trademarked title that only belongs to members of the National Association of REALTORS, and membership requires following a Code of Ethics that goes beyond what a plain real estate license does, covering how you represent a listing, how you disclose conflicts, and how you’re held accountable if you don’t. A licensed agent can sell you a house without ever agreeing to any of that. A REALTOR® has.
Robbie English, Broker and REALTOR at Uncommon Highland Lakes Realty, has built his practice around that standard for decades, working buyers and sellers throughout Granite Shoals and the rest of the Highland Lakes.
What the Code of Ethics Actually Requires
NAR’s Code of Ethics covers things a general license doesn’t touch directly: duties to clients (loyalty, full disclosure of material facts, keeping their information confidential), duties to the public (no misrepresentation, no discrimination), and duties to other REALTORS® (honest dealing between agents, a peer arbitration process instead of just letting disputes go to court). Violating it can mean discipline through the local association, not just a licensing board complaint.
Robbie also carries NAR’s Commitment to Excellence endorsement, which is a separate credential built around ongoing professional development rather than a one-time class. On top of the base REALTOR® designation, he holds:
- ABR: Accredited Buyer’s Representative (he’s also an instructor for this certification)
- AHWD: At Home With Diversity
- CRB: Certified Residential Brokerage Manager
- E-Pro: digital marketing and transaction certification (instructor)
- GRI: Graduate, REALTOR Institute
- MRP: Military Relocation Professional (instructor)
- NHC: New Home Construction certification (instructor)
- PSA: Pricing Strategy Advisor (instructor)
- RENE: Real Estate Negotiation Expert
- RPR: REALTORS Property Resource certified
- SFR: Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource
- SRS: Seller Representative Specialist (instructor)
- TBS / TLS: Texas Buyer Specialist and Texas Listing Specialist (instructor for both)
- TAHS: Texas Affordable Housing Specialist
Each of those requires separate coursework, not just a membership fee, and where noted, Robbie doesn’t just hold the certification. He teaches the class that awards it to other agents.
Teaching It Nationally Since 2016
Robbie has spent the last decade traveling as a national real estate instructor, teaching contracts, negotiation, agency relationships, ethics, and pricing strategy to agents and brokers around the country. Standing in front of a room of agents means explaining the reasoning behind the ethics rules, not just reciting them, and that takes a different level of understanding than passing a licensing exam once and moving on.
Applied to Granite Shoals, Specifically
Granite Shoals was incorporated in 1966 and takes its name from the granite shoals that were visible in the Colorado River before the Wirtz Dam impounded it into Lake LBJ. It’s the largest community directly on that lake, and it bills itself as the “City of Parks,” with nineteen public parks within city limits, eight of them with boat ramps, giving it more public lake access than anywhere else on Lake LBJ. Neighborhoods range from Castle Hills and Greencastle’s standard platted lots to Live Oak’s more attainable pricing to the private, island-set lots on Beaver Island. Kids in the city limits attend Highland Lakes Elementary School, part of Marble Falls ISD.
That range of property types and price points is exactly where ethics-bound representation matters: full disclosure on an older lake lot’s survey history, honest handling of multiple-offer situations on a popular Live Oak listing, straight answers about what a Beaver Island property’s easements actually allow. That’s the standard the REALTOR® designation is supposed to guarantee, and it’s the one Robbie holds himself to.
Talk to a Granite Shoals REALTOR® Directly
Robbie English and his team at Uncommon Highland Lakes Realty are ready to help with a purchase or sale in Granite Shoals. Call 830-953-5571, or see current Granite Shoals listings here.
