In this episode of Dealmaker$, Shane sits down with Kristi Neidhardt — a calm, empathetic, deeply purpose-driven leader who has built one of Maryland’s most respected real estate businesses by focusing on people, community, and doing the right thing every time.

Kristi’s journey is anything but typical. She grew up on the water in Severna Park, listening to U2’s Joshua Tree, dancing ballet, playing stand-up bass, and watching her parents’ agent — Jean Andrews — demonstrate what professionalism and patience truly looked like.

She attended Virginia Tech with dreams of becoming a wilderness therapy instructor, earned a degree in Environmental Resource Management, and then committed two years to AmeriCorps — launching volunteer programs across Maryland.

Her life changed after moving to New York to work for New York Cares. On her second day, September 11th happened. She helped coordinate volunteers for Ground Zero, witnessed the best and worst of humanity, and felt something shift — a calling toward service, but also the need for a new path.

She returned home to Maryland, taught kickboxing while regrouping, and eventually earned her real estate license thinking she would “flip houses.” Instead, destiny walked through the door on her very first day of desk duty.

A woman with twin daughters — one terminally ill — asked Kristi to help her buy a tiny Severn River cabin so her family could have peace in the time they had left. That single experience changed the entire trajectory of Kristi’s life.

For the last 21 years, Kristi has built a client-obsessed business anchored in:

Patience over pressure
Service over ego
Relationships over transactions
Professionalism without cutthroat behavior
Community work as a responsibility, not a marketing tactic

Her Earth Day events have made front-page news, she runs a quarterly gratitude networking group for local service providers that brings in $8–10M a year in referrals, and she has quietly become a leader known for handling transactions with grace, partnership, and psychological insight.

Shane and Kristi go deep on:

Why clients fall out of love with homes
Why agents misunderstand “motivation”
How trauma and life changes affect real estate timelines
Why today’s market feels “emotional and weird”
How wealth volatility and remote-work trends shape waterfront demand
The future of buyer agency after the NAR settlement
Why professionalism matters more than ever

Kristi also shares stories that define her career — from moving mountains for overwhelmed sellers using bridge loans, to helping disabled clients relocate, to selling a $3.5M waterfront listing in The Downs after two and a half years of patient relationship-building.

Her advice is grounded, wise, and deeply human:

Love unconditionally, not conditionally
Reset expectations when the storm hits
Focus on the net number, not ego
People remember how you connect them
God’s plan includes both the yes and the no

This is one of the most heartfelt, insightful Dealmaker$ episodes yet — a conversation about life, leadership, purpose, and the emotional reality of helping people move through major life chapters.

This is Dealmaker$ — where real deals meet real strategy.

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