The Homestead Team was founded by Melisa Klem, an avid equestrian and farm owner, who felt that the equestrian aspects of horse properties were not being adequately understood by the vast majority of realtors. She had experienced this herself first-hand when searching for her own horse farm. Some agents mixed up the terms “stables” and “stalls” while others didn’t understand that a heavily wooded 10 acre lot was not nearly as valuable as 10 acres of open pasture for keeping horses. Furthermore, many agents could not correctly describe riding arenas, barn construction, or property layout. This is where Melisa combined her background in marketing and years of nonprofit management experience with her passion for horses and real estate to bring a better experience to the horse community and residential real estate in general.
When I was finally able to afford my own horse after college, I purchased a young Dutch gelding
named Limoge. Limoge and I were insparable for the next 6 years and competed in dressage shows
including showing at both the CBLM and USDF Regional Championships.
In 2007, I was approached by a friend
at Ryland Knoll farm about a fiery but
talented young two year old filly that
had not yet been listed for sale: Athena.
Together, Athena and I competed
through First Level in recognized
dressage competition. She placed at
CBLM Championships at Training Level
and qualified to attend at First Level the
same year as a five year old.
I discovered my love for
dressage on an off-the-track
thoroughbred who failed as a
therapy horse
In 2014, after an exhaustive search, my husband and I purchased our own farm in Howard County so that I could fulfill my lifelong dream to ride and keep my horses at home. I now operate a small boarding barn while still finding time to ride my slightly opinionated mare, Serenity.
I am as close to being a DC metro native as possible without having been born in MD. I went to high school in Montgomery County before attending the University of Maryland College Park and received my MBA from the Smith School of Business. My first introduction into the world of real estate was through my husband, Jason, who was working as a loan officer while I was working for a non-profit land conservation group. Through Jason, I discovered I had a genuine passion for real estate, not just the architecture and the land, but for the process of matching people up with the home of their dreams.
Ijoined Hagan Realty because I felt a kinship with the company’s focus on providing an exceptional level of service that was still flexible enough to be customized to each and every client’s individual needs. Hagan Realty has experience with thousands of real estate transactions and specialists in real estate law, construction, finance, negotiation, and marketing. While each Homestead Team agent will always be their clients’ point of contact during the entire process, our clients never-the-less gain the benefit of the full skillset offered by the entire Homestead Team and brokerage of Hagan Realty behind the scenes.