LAKE STEVENS—Award-winning local real estate agent Celine Williams, with five years of experience, shines with boundless enthusiasm and a heartfelt passion for guiding people to their dream homes.
Williams has always been passionate about homes – a fascination which stems from a young age when she would tour houses with her parents, just for fun, dreaming of the possibilities.
In 2018, Williams took that obsession to a new level by receiving her real estate license, believing it would be a fast track to a successful career in the housing industry. Before her career had the opportunity to take off, however, the pandemic shook the world just two years later.
Leading up to that, she and her husband, Nathan, were busy building a new life for themselves and their two children after relocating to Snohomish County, from Auburn, to be closer to Nathan’s new job in Sedro-Woolley.
Williams was working as an Operations Manager for Boeing at the time, which had completely transitioned to a remote position. She began to quickly realize that her role didn’t quite work without the face-to-face interactions she felt was necessary to properly facilitate her duties.
“I’m a people person. I like to help people in-person, be that resource, and that’s what I’ve done as Operations Manager. Any time someone needed something–whether that’s help with human resources, event planning, coordinating–I was that person. But I couldn’t be that person because I was all online and I didn’t even meet anybody at the new building I was working at, having just transitioned from Tukwila to Everett,” said Williams.
In 2021, Williams figured that she would fall back on the real estate license that she had acquired just two years earlier and partnered with Realty One Group Orca in Marysville to make it happen.
There she met her mentor Todd Fahlman who instilled in her, despite having no clients or experience at the time, and being new to the area, what it took to be a successful real estate agent. Williams’ first step was to begin knocking on doors introducing herself to the community. Fast forward four years later and she now has assisted over 130 families, both buyers and sellers, with real estate.
“I didn’t realize all the steps it took to become a successful real estate agent. It’s not just Selling the OC, or Selling Sunset, where you just go out there and make millions of dollars just by talking on the phone and saying, ‘okay your offers been accepted,’” said Williams. “There’s a lot that goes into building your business.”
Williams added that “lead generation” (the process of attracting and nurturing potential customers) was by far the biggest hurdle starting out. She overcame this by diversifying her leads, utilizing online platforms like Red Fin and Zillow, and taking advantage of social media to introduce herself, and her services, to the world. That and being intentional with her networking, attending Engage Snohomish, Engage Everett, and joining Business Ladies of Society to build a rapport with various professionals from painters to electricians, to plumbers.
Out of everything, it was Williams’ social media presence that set her apart from other agents in the area, she continued. It was a way for her clients to feel a personal connection with her, even before meeting in-person, but it also allowed her to connect with other real estate agents in the area to give back by way of coaching, referrals, and mentorships of her own.
“What I lack in experience I make up for in enthusiasm,” said Williams. “Whatever I didn’t know I was always willing to find out. I’m a true problem solver and that was probably what has helped me become successful in this industry, and I think I got that from my Operations background. It’s not always what you know it’s who you know to get the job done.”
Williams is now building a team. She currently has a Transaction Manager but is in the hunt for like-minded agents who can assist in buying and selling, so that she can spend more time with her family while mentoring other local real estate agents to succeed.
“This market is probably the hardest market that I’ve had to deal with because interest rates are so high, buyers are so scared because of the politics, there’s so much uncertainty with the tariffs, for sellers’ equity isn’t going up the way it used to prior to 2021, but it is doable,” said Williams. “The reality is people are moving all the time because of job relocations, maybe they need bigger homes because they had a baby or grandma and grandpa or moving in, or they have equity now. It is possible and there are solutions. You don’t have to be scared, you just have to be informed.”
Williams believes now is just as good of time than any to buy and sell a house, she informed the Lynnwood Times seeing as the average home owner’s net worth is 40 times more than the average renter, largely due to the accumulation of home equity.
“Why not pay your own mortgage than someone else’s mortgage,” said Williams. “If the numbers work for you, make it happen. It’s a very personal decision, it’s a very big milestone, but I’m here with my team and my lender partner to help you run the numbers for you and help you figure out the next step.”
In addition to building a team, Williams will be hosting a workshop, through Business Ladies of Society, this November on how community members can make their vision a reality. She hopes to launch a series of workshops, either biweekly or monthly, in the coming future discussing market trends, and coaching other real estate agents in the future.
Williams has won a number of awards through her career including #1 Real Estate Broker at Realty One Group Orca for Sales Volume, Homes Sold and Buyer Transactions, was recognized in Seattle Real Producers for being in the top 500 agents in King and Snohomish County, Rate My Agent Agent of the Year award for Washington State, King County, Snohomish County, Lake Stevens and Marysville, Zillow Top Agent 2021-2025, was featured on the cover of Snohomish City Lifestyle Magazine for the Home Issue, was a Five Star Agent Award winner 4 years in a row, and Title Sponsor for BLOS (Business Ladies of Society) Women’s Conference in November 2025.
You can follow Celine on Instagram and TikTok at @homeswithceline or reach her by email at homeswithceline@gmail.com
Author: Kienan Briscoe
