What an attractive crowd!” cheered Fredrik Eklund, the Swedish-born celebrity real estate broker who stars on the hit Bravo reality show Million Dollar Listing. He stood on the patio of a newly built home in Tarrytown, the tony neighborhood that hugs the shores of Lake Austin, addressing the local brokers who were packed into the yard. It was the launch party for the Austin branch of Douglas Elliman, a brokerage famous in New York and California for selling luxury homes and high-rise condos.

Eklund, who wore a double-breasted navy linen jacket, snug-fitting white slacks, and sockless dress shoes, seemed a little surprised that the crowd had matched him ankle for stylish ankle, but he didn’t linger on it. Speeches had to be made, toasts given, and then he’d board a plane for Miami first thing in the morning, after fewer than 24 hours in the Texas capital. For the moment, his job was simply to be seen, to lend some sizzle to the occasion. Not only was Elliman moving in on Texas real estate, it had brought its biggest gun, Eklund, one of the country’s top real estate brokers, who also happens to be a bona fide TV star.

Not that Austin—or this house—needed any help in the sizzle category. The three-story brick-and-shingle mansion had sold in two days for considerably more than its $16.25 million asking price, to an out-of-town buyer whose identity was confidential (but who was rumored to be to an entrepreneur from Los Angeles). Click to read more at www.texasmonthly.com.