Michelle Benoit

| License # 2190786

“She cares about friendships as much as fees.” That’s how one client describes Michelle Benoit and her relationship-first approach to real estate—a quality you won’t find in your typical agent. Buying or selling a home is one of the most stressful moments in a person’s life, yet Michelle marries the grace to put her clients at ease with the expertise to help them achieve their goals. A home is a person’s sanctuary, and Michelle treats it and her clients with the utmost reverence and care.

Michelle studied Economics at San Diego State University, graduating with a degree and a skillset that she regularly uses to her clients’ advantage. In 2011, she founded Casas Tepoztlàn Real Estate, a boutique agency in a gorgeous and highly sought-after mountain town near Mexico City. There, she helped Mexicans, as well as people from all over the world come find their own luxurious retreat in the mountains. In 2018, Michelle came back home to San Diego and has since joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties, where she represents buyers and sellers of luxury properties in La Jolla, Del Mar, Carmel Valley, Solana Beach, and the surrounding areas. She still owns Casas Tepoztlàn Real Estate and continues to serve clients on both sides of the border.

Having lived in Washington, D.C., Montreal, Germany, France, Spain, and Mexico, Michelle has developed a rich perspective on life that helps her empathize with every kind of person under the sun—an essential skill for an agent. She is bilingual and, along with local clients, serves a variety of international buyers and sellers. In a luxury market where sales often depend on attracting buyers from all over the world, Michelle’s international reach gives her sellers a leg up on the competition. For every client—local or international—her ability to inhabit many ways of seeing the world is what enables her to understand their needs and help them get where they need to be.

A former elementary and middle-school teacher, Michelle has always been passionate about using her expertise to guide people toward success. Those years in the classroom honed her skills in communication and collaboration—two core competencies of a great real estate advisor. And her economics training has made her an expert in her market, able to use data-driven insight to know exactly what homes are worth and where the market is heading. She knows her community of 26 years backward and forward, and she uses that knowledge to help clients find their perfect home in San Diego. Her highly-effective negotiation skills ensure they get exactly what they need and that every deal is a win-win. This perfect combination of competency with empathy is what allows Michelle to deliver a highly personalized, smooth, and stress-free transaction for all.

Giving back is important to Michelle, and she is actively seeking ways to grow as a servant in the community. As the mother of two teenage sons, she is deeply invested in the local school system. She has recently joined the Torrey Pines High School Foundation, an organization dedicated to securing funding for a variety of programs that enhance the high school student experience. She is always there to help out with her sons’ sports teams, and has volunteered with several leagues, foundations, and committees. Outside of schools and sports, she has worked with a handful of environmental groups to clean up the beaches that she loves so much. For fun, Michelle enjoys taking dance and yoga classes, as well as hiking and cooking. She also loves pickleball and plays in a local league.