08/25/2026
HLAoR members!
SAVE THE HIGHLAND LAKES ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (HLAoR)! I have been a member of the HLAoR since 2007 and have always held the upmost respect and admiration for our association! I have served on many committees over the years as well as President and VP and am now on the current board serving as a Director for the Texas Realtors representing the Highland Lakes! The Highland Lakes is a unique and distinctive area in Central Texas! It is made up of unique and varied real estate, 5 unique lakes, unique counties, unique geography and beauty, unique politics and political issues, culture, most of all – unique people! It is made up of a lot of People that moved to the area to escape Austin and other cities. I moved to the Lake Travis area in in 1983 from Midland because it was such a beautiful area and my husband and I wanted our children to grow up and live in this beautiful area around lakes and hills! I am sure you all have similar stories. When I joined the association in 2007 – it was like a breath of fresh air. Because of the organization – I met and got to know Realtors living and working in this area. I knew that every activity that I participated in – I would be surrounded by like minded Realtors that cared about the HL community like I did. It has always been a place where agents that are competing against each other can work together side by side (how cool is that!). For many years – I only had HLAoR membership and did just fine – I am strictly a member of ABOR MLS to add data – but I have never been involved with ABOR. HLAoR is an ASSOCIATION – a group of people. ABOR to me is just a Board. The Highland Lakes Association has a beautiful history of people building something special to serve the local Realtors. I have voted NO on every vote regarding merging with ABOR. We have too much to lose. We lose our MLS (and our MLS control) we lose our board office/real estate – It will be deeded to ABOR, all of our financial assets and investments (totaling well over a million dollars!), our local independence and identity, our local autonomy, our political influence in the area, all of our historical data, and so much more! Please think about this! Yes – our industry is changing, yes – our businesses are all down in this difficult market – and yes our association has had to pull from some of the reserves to meet financial obligations – but our board needs to help make our association stronger! Budget cuts need to be done with staff (that is never easy!) but trust me – ABOR has made promises for a short time – but their promises are not sustainable and if we make the merge – it is irreversible and we can never go get it back! There are many agents that have worked very hard to build this association and make it the association it is today! We are strong and we are financially secure! I don’t want to be Austin!
PLEASE USE YOUR VOTE TO SAY NO! This is not the time to merge with ABOR. Thank you for reading this. I am always available to discuss this with anyone that wants to.
Kim Lookabaugh, Broker-Owner.
My Texas Home Broker, LLC.
