One person you trust with the biggest property decision your family makes.
I find the home or the land and, as your mortgage loan officer, line up the right loan to buy it. As a licensed insurance agent, I can also put life insurance in place that protects your family and builds wealth for the long run, so one person you trust is looking after the whole picture while you keep running your company.
You'll work with me directly, with a full team behind every closing.
- West Point Class of 2005
- 16 Years U.S. Army
- Bronze Star Iraq, 2007–08
- $21M Sales volume, 2021
- Lending Nationwide*
- Licensed Life insurance agent
My whole career has been one of service.
I grew up in San Jose, graduated from West Point in 2005, and served as a combat engineer officer, including an 18-month deployment to Iraq in 2007 and 2008 where I earned a Bronze Star leading my Soldiers. Engineers get sent ahead to find out whether a road will hold and where the water goes when it rains, and I still walk every property that way.
After the Army I managed more than $100 million in military construction for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and then spent twelve years as a senior project manager in the TSA's real estate division, running as many as 30 design and construction projects at once across its national portfolio. A home purchase is a project with a lot of moving pieces, and keeping those pieces on schedule is what I've done for most of my working life.
When I got my license in 2018 in the San Francisco Bay Area, most of my first clients were fellow veterans, families using the VA loan benefit they'd earned in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. Plenty of agents there will tell you a VA offer can't win against all-cash buyers, and I spent my first years proving them wrong, winning multiple-offer situations for the buyers everyone else had counted out. I closed $9 million in my rookie year and $21 million in 2021, representing clients with Berkshire Hathaway, Compass and Sotheby's International Realty.
In 2022 we moved the whole family to East Tennessee so we could raise our own food. We didn't know a single person there, and I didn't have one client. I rebranded as The Homesteading Agent and started over from square one, building a business one relationship and one closing at a time in a place where nobody knew my name.
Four years later, more than 12,000 people follow along on Instagram, and Call To Farms, the podcast I host with my wife, has passed 40,000 downloads. Most of the families who find me are leaving cities to build a more self-reliant life on land of their own, and I've built my business around getting them there. The way I think about it, the country doesn't need someone to save one 10,000-acre farm nearly as much as it needs 10,000 one-acre farms, each one feeding a family.
A veteran buying a first home and a founder buying a $5 million estate get the same thing from me: one person who is accountable for the whole purchase, start to finish. I'm a licensed REALTOR, a mortgage loan officer licensed across the country, and a licensed life insurance agent.
Start a ConversationTwenty years of high-stakes projects, then real estate
Platoon Leader, U.S. Army
Led 32 Soldiers clearing roadside bombs from routes in Diyala Province, Iraq, during an 18-month deployment. Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge.
Defense Threat Reduction Agency & U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Managed more than $100M in military construction across five Air Force bases, plus classified facilities at White Sands Missile Range under a Top Secret/SCI clearance.
Senior Project Manager, TSA Real Estate
Ran up to 30 design and construction projects at a time across the agency's nationwide portfolio, working with GSA and airport authorities.
Real Estate Agent, SF Bay Area
$9M in sales as a rookie, $21M by 2021. Represented clients with Berkshire Hathaway, Compass and Sotheby's International Realty.
REALTOR® (eXp Realty) & Loan Originator (Barrett Financial Group)
Real estate in California, Tennessee and Virginia, mortgage lending in 49 states and Washington, D.C., and life insurance as a licensed agent.
You'll always deal with me. My team makes sure nothing gets dropped.
Every client has my cell number, and I'm the one who walks the property, negotiates the offer and sits down with you at closing. Behind me, Sophia, who has been a licensed agent and loan originator since 2006, works the file alongside me, and my lending team keeps your loan on schedule from application to funding. If you're buying outside California, Tennessee or Virginia, a local agent I've vetted personally handles the showings while I stay on your deal from start to finish.
Tim Eng
Search, negotiation, financing strategy and life insurance. Your first call and your last.
Sophia Eng
Licensed agent and loan originator since 2006, working each file with me.
Processing & underwriting
Keeps appraisals and approvals moving so your closing date holds.
Partner agents
Local agents I've vetted for showings and market knowledge in states where I'm not licensed.
Closing partners
Title officers and attorneys I work with regularly, plus inspectors I trust with my own clients.
You make the decisions. I handle everything around them.
Most clients spend a few hours with me across the whole purchase. The rest of the work happens in the background, and you hear from me when there's something worth your attention.
A private consultation
We talk about your family, how you want to live, your timeline and where your money sits. It's one conversation, by phone or in person, and there's no obligation.
I do the searching
Listed homes, plus off-market properties I find by reaching out to owners directly. You see a short list of places that fit, each one already checked for water, access, zoning and the rest.
The right loan, lined up early
As your mortgage loan officer, I match you with the right program, whether that's a jumbo, asset-based or bank statement loan, and get you pre-approved before we write an offer, so you're ready the day we find the property.
Closing and after
I coordinate inspections, negotiation and closing with your attorney and CPA. Afterward we can talk through life insurance for your family, and I'm still the person you call about the well, the fencing or the next property.
The property, the loan behind it, and the coverage that protects it
Luxury Homes & Estates
Primary residences and second homes from $1M up, including new construction. I've represented tech founders and executives on homes in some of the most competitive markets in the country, and every client gets the same attention.
Start a searchLand, Ranches & Retreats
Acreage, horse property, working ranches and private family land. Before you write an offer, I check water rights, wells and springs, legal access, soil, zoning and what the land can realistically support.
What I checkMortgage Financing
As a mortgage loan officer, I offer jumbo, asset-based, bank statement, construction-to-permanent and land loans, built for buyers whose wealth sits in equity, a business or a portfolio rather than a W-2.
Run your numbersLife Insurance & Wealth Building
As a licensed insurance agent, I offer term and permanent life insurance, from coverage that protects your family and your mortgage to cash value policies that build wealth over time and keep the property in the family.
Learn moreWherever your family wants to be
I'm licensed to sell real estate in California, Tennessee and Virginia. In other states, I bring in a local agent I've vetted personally and stay on your deal from the first showing to closing, so you still deal with me.
As a mortgage loan officer, I originate loans in 49 states and Washington, D.C.
Homes and land I'm representing
Many of the properties my clients buy never reach a public website. Ask me about what's available privately in the area you're considering.
Looking for something that isn't listed?
Tell me what you want in detail, the acreage, the water, the size of the house, the drive time to an airport, and I'll start looking, including by reaching out to owners directly.
Describe Your PropertyJumbo mortgage calculator
An estimate to start from. The default rate is close to the national average 30-year jumbo rate in mid-October 2026. Asset-based and interest-only options can change the payment a lot, and I'll walk you through each one when you're ready for exact numbers.
Protecting your family, and the wealth you've built
Buying a home or land is one part of taking care of the people you love. As a licensed insurance agent, I also work with clients on life insurance, both to make sure their family is covered and, for many of them, as a long-term part of how they build and pass on wealth.
Protect your family and your home
Term coverage sized to your mortgage and your family's needs, so a loss never forces the people you love to sell the house.
Cash value that grows
Permanent policies, such as whole life, build cash value that grows tax-deferred, and many owners borrow against it later for opportunities or a future property purchase.
Keep the land in the family
A death benefit can give your heirs cash for estate costs, so they aren't forced to sell the estate or the land you bought for them.
For business owners
Coverage that funds a buy-sell agreement with your partners or protects the company if a key person is lost.
Every policy depends on underwriting and approval by the issuing company. Policy loans and withdrawals reduce cash value and death benefit and can have tax consequences, so I coordinate with your CPA and estate attorney before anything is put in place.
Talk About CoveragePeople who are used to making big decisions
My clients include tech founders and executives, business owners, investors, ranchers and retired military officers up to the rank of Colonel. What they have in common is that they want the purchase done right, and they want one person they can trust to do it.
If you'd like to know me before we talk
FM 5-21: Fortify Your Farm
Written like an Army field manual: perimeter, access control, and the habits I learned at West Point and in Iraq, applied to protecting a family and a property.
Get the Book
The Nourishing Asian Homestead
The story of our family's move from the Bay Area to Tennessee land, co-written with my wife, Sophia Nguyen Eng.
Get the Book
Call To Farms
Conversations with ranchers, farmers, doctors and families who made the move, plus regular breakdowns of the housing market and interest rates.
ListenRecent notes
Rates went up this year, and high-end buyers kept buying
Jumbo rates are well above where they were last fall, and luxury prices are still rising faster than the rest of the market. Here's what that means if you're buying at $1M and up.
Buying a $3 million home when most of your wealth is in your company
Founders and business owners often have plenty of money and a tax return that doesn't show it. These are the loan options built for that situation.
What I check on a piece of land before a client writes an offer
The listing photos show the view. These are the things that decide whether the property will work for your family ten years from now.
Frequently asked
How much of my time will this take?
Less than you'd expect. We start with one consultation. After that, I narrow the options before you see anything, I handle the lender, inspectors and title company, and I coordinate with your attorney and CPA. Most clients only step in to tour a short list and make the final calls.
Do you offer relocation services?
Yes, I offer a white-glove relocation service. I understand the stress involved with moving, and believe me, I made several military relocations with my own family. If you're selling a home on the way out, I coordinate the contractors and vendors who fix it up and get it ready to sell, from repairs and painting to cleaning and staging, so you can focus on moving your loved ones. On the buying side, I line up the inspections, the loan and the closing for your new home and keep you updated on every step, wherever you are.
Are you a broker?
Not for real estate. As a real estate agent, I work under eXp Realty as my parent brokerage, which lets me hold licenses in several states and takes most of the back-office work off my plate, so my time goes to my clients instead of running a brokerage. For lending, I'm licensed with Barrett Financial Group, a well-respected independent mortgage brokerage with access to more than 170 banks and private lenders, so I can shop your scenario for the best loan product instead of being limited to one bank's programs. For life insurance, I'm a licensed producer with Ash Brokerage, one of the largest independent insurance brokerages in the country, with access to many of the best-known insurance companies in the industry.
Can you finance a home over the conforming limit?
Yes. As a mortgage loan officer, I offer jumbo, asset-based, bank statement and construction-to-permanent loans for amounts above the conforming limit. If most of your wealth is in a portfolio, a business or vested equity, an asset-based loan can qualify you on what you own instead of what shows up on your tax return.
How does life insurance fit into buying a property?
For some clients it's simple protection: term coverage so the mortgage is paid off if something happens to them. Others use permanent life insurance as part of a long-term wealth plan, building cash value they can borrow against later and leaving their heirs enough to keep the property in the family. I'll walk you through the options and coordinate with your CPA and estate attorney.
Can you work with me in a state where you aren't licensed?
Yes. I'm licensed in California, Tennessee and Virginia. Everywhere else, I bring in a local agent I've vetted who knows luxury and rural property, and I stay involved in the search, the land evaluation and your financing. I originate loans in 49 states and Washington, D.C., everywhere except New York.
Can I buy privately, through a trust or an LLC?
Many of my clients do, for privacy or estate planning. I'll coordinate with your attorney and CPA so the purchase and the loan match the structure they recommend. I'm not an attorney or tax advisor, so the structure itself should come from them.
Will you keep my purchase confidential?
Yes. Your name, your finances and your search stay between us and the professionals who need them to close. I never use a client's name in marketing without written permission.
I'm selling in California and buying somewhere else. Can you handle both?
Yes. I'm licensed in California and have sold in the Bay Area since 2018. I can list your California home, finance the next one, and time both closings so you aren't carrying two properties longer than you planned.
Tell me what you're looking for
Every inquiry comes to me directly, and I'll reply personally. If you'd rather talk now, book a call on my calendar.
A decision this big for your family deserves one person who owns it from start to finish.
One phone call is usually enough for me to tell you what's realistic and where I'd start looking.