Krista Voosen has been selling real estate on Donner Summit for a long time, and she is in no hurry to tell you how good she is at it. She got into the business in 1999, built a website for the industry in 2002, and by 2005 had her broker’s license and a company named after that website, SnowProperty.com, which was already bringing her business. In 2009, she became a partner in Serene Lakes Realty. In 2017 she bought her partner out. The firm itself is older than her career by decades. It was founded over 55 years ago and has kept a physical office on Donner Summit the whole time, passing through a short line of owners along the way. Krista describes herself as just one of them.
The numbers say more than she tends to. Out of 529 agents in her market since this time last year, her office ranks fifth in number of transactions, which works out to 72 clients helped through a purchase or a sale in the last 12 months. Each year she lands in the top ten of her regional multiple listing service for number of places sold, and for the past few years she has held a top five spot. In 2026 Apple News named her one of the ten most trusted agents in California. She mentions it with a smiley face, then goes back to talking about her clients.
A family habit and a father’s advice
Real estate was around Krista from a young age. Her family was involved in it, and she thinks she picked things up by osmosis before she ever thought of it as a career. At one point she pictured herself as an investor, and at another as a real estate attorney. Neither stuck. What stuck was the part where she helps people through a big chapter, whether that means letting go of a home they loved or landing in the place they had been hoping for.
Her father gave her the line she still works by. Find something you like to do and the money will follow. “I wasn’t sure if that was going to happen for me, but luckily it did,” she said.
Not counting the money too early
Krista has a rule about commissions that she admits is a little superstitious. She will not calculate what she is making on a deal until a few days before closing, when the title company is asking for her broker demand so they know how much to pay her. “I feel like if I know what my end is in it early on, then I already have one foot on the dark path,” she explained.
The rest of her approach comes down to the Golden Rule. She hates being sold on anything herself, so she does not do it to other people. She will admit that this has sometimes made her too soft, but she would rather be that than the kind of salesperson she does not respect. “Places sell themselves,” she said. “You either love it, or you don’t. There’s nothing I can say that would change your mind if the place just isn’t right for you.” She is also comfortable telling a client that a property is not the right fit and that she will find them something they will love more.
Listing homes for owners who live hours away
Listing is the part of the job Krista enjoys most and probably does best. Most of what she sells are vacation homes, and many of them come with furnishings that were there before the current owners. A lot of her sellers decide to sell from a primary home hours away, and sometimes she never meets them in person. Her team tells them to take what they want and leave the rest.
From there, the office handles everything. Repairs, decluttering, cleaning, staging, and getting the place ready for photos and showings. Many of her listings end up with multiple offers. She is quick to credit her assistant, Angelica Ramos, a licensed agent who she says takes incredible care of their clients and was born to do this work.
Patience first, then speed
Her advice to buyers is simple. Do not try to fit a round peg into a square hole. Have patience, because the right property will come along. She is honest that this is harder than it sounds. Since Covid, so many people have wanted to come to the mountains that inventory has been a real problem, and weeks can pass without a single home available at certain price points. When something does come up, the competition is fierce. Her second piece of advice follows from the first. When the right place appears, act quickly and boldly.
A new office and old friendships
Serene Lakes Realty has just finished remodeling its new office at the turnoff for Serene Lakes. Krista’s husband Eric did the work of bringing the historic building back to life, and she describes the result as warm and beautiful. Finishing the space and making it feel like a home away from home is what she is looking forward to next.
She is open about what she is not good at. Social media, for one. She admires other agents who do it well, but she leans on what she has instead, which is telling the truth in a situation and connecting with clients as people, and often as friends. After more than 25 years on the summit, that seems to be enough.
