More than a Deal
Finding Hope and Home with Agents Who are Pros at Dealing with Life’s Challenges
PHOTOS BY JORDAN RANDALL | WRITTEN BY RJ WALTERS | DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TEAM HUBBERT
Christine and John of Team Hubbert, Realtors with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
For John and Christine Hubbert, real estate is not just a career—it is a mission rooted in their own journey of second chances. They guide their clients through what are often difficult, life-altering transitions with personal insight and professional excellence, proving that there can be a calm at the end of the storm and hope in the midst of chaos.
When you walk into John and Christine’s spacious South Lakeland home you immediately see evidence of a family in the thick of an ever-evolving journey.
You see the picturesque eye-catching large photo panels of the couple and their three children in the entry way and you can audibly hear the rumbling of their family pet turtle Cowboy in the next room. You find a sleek modern office space filled with a real estate buying and selling board, an impressive collection of sports memorabilia and industry recognitions. Christine is also honest to acknowledge that a dining table or a desk in her daughter’s room are spaces where she regularly gets deals done.
Their eye for aesthetically pleasing real estate is obvious as you look at a home filled with custom features and projects they have completed over the last three-plus years, yet they are ready for fresh coats of paint, new lighting, etc. to further make their house a home.
The reality is the leaders of Team Hubbert—a group that has established itself as leaders in Central Florida real estate—are usually seen all put together, whether in a magazine, on a compelling social media reel or on a digital display. But day to day and moment to moment, they can relate to the stresses and challenges of life we all face, making them even more motivated to use a deep passion for helping people coupled with adept use of evolving technology to find creative solutions for every client.
Both John and Christine came to their relationship, and eventually their business partnership, after experiencing profound personal hardships that fundamentally reshaped their views on life and housing. Christine, a lifelong Lakelander with nearly two decades of managerial experience at Publix, and financial experience at Midflorida Credit Union, was going through a divorce that included the process of having to give up her first home.
“Losing that was hard,” Christine recalls, revealing that she actually thought life was nearly perfect just two weeks before her first marriage started to fall apart. “I bought my first house for $113,000 and it was a short sale...my mortgage was $740 a month, and it was just amazing.”
Meanwhile, John was grappling with his own divorce and financial struggles after unexpectedly losing his job. He was a shift manager at age 18 and a store manager by 20 for a prominent chain in the restaurant industry, but he was laid off after nearly eight years of long hours where he engineered some remarkable turnarounds at the stores he led.
John candidly shares the depth of the hardship that ensued, even having to donate plasma just to feed his daughter.
“I can write a whole book about my story,” he says. “I did car sales for a few months…then to a valet company for a couple of years…I did whatever I could.”
“We pride ourselves on finding a way to make something work even if it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” John says. “You’ve just got to hang in there because it’s not easy sometimes, and we get that, and we put the work in to find solutions.”
In 2017, John reached out to Christine (who had become a part-time residential realtor while working at Publix) via Instagram because he saw somebody who might be able to help him get his house ready to sell, an important part of regaining his financial independence. What he found was something much more than someone who could tell him where his greatest ROI would come from with quick renovations and how to get the most eyes on his listing.
They started painting walls and replacing floors and a whirlwind romance ensued. Yes, Christine made the sale, but as a couple they were sold on being more than just friends—something Christine admits she didn’t expect when they first met. John then helped her get her home ready to list as well, and in a short amount of time the couple moved into a townhome together with their two children.
In 2018 John and Christine were married at the Magnolia Building in Downtown Lakeland, and that December they welcomed their daughter Chloe into the family.
“We just wanted to do this. We weren’t in a stage of just having fun and dating and all that,” John recalls. “We wanted to settle down and have a family.”
That commitment to building a new life after the chaos became the heartbeat of Team Hubbert.
Christine became a licensed realtor in 2015, doing afterhours work, while still working as a regional property manager for Publix.
Meanwhile, John was working for Christine’s dad’s septic company, where he connected with many of the most well-known builders and started to gain a better understanding of the local housing market himself. Quietly he decided to pursue a license in real estate, and once he passed the state exam he decided to jump right in, not knowing a pandemic was just around the corner.
John jokes that he essentially “fed himself to the sharks,” but the fact he closed more deals than any rookie in the United States for Better Homes and Gardens in 2020 proved he had the grit and determination to make the perfect complement to Christine.
In 2021, the couple co-founded Team Hubbert. Soon after, Christine stepped away from the grocery giant, went all in on real estate and worked on earning her MBA in Marketing and Management from Florida Southern College.
Fast forward to 2024, when Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices was excited to announce that the Hubberts and their dynamic team had joined its Florida Properties Group.
The Team Hubbert brand is often summarized by John’s simple, powerful metaphor: the “Publix of real estate.” It’s a nod to his wife’s experience, the respect they have for what the company founded by George Jenkins has built and reflects a philosophy of delivering a consistently top-notch customer experience from start to finish.
Christine brought the rigor of the corporate world into their real estate operations, transforming the business from its early days of “Excel spreadsheets and writing things by hand.”
“We try to incorporate a lot of what we did or what I did as a manager with Publix and systems and operations,” Christine explains. “I learned a lot throughout the process about the systems that work the magic, and you just have to learn how to use them.”
Beyond internal efficiency, their commitment to service means using emerging technologies that can give their clients and edge.
In a world where most clients research homes on their phones before even meeting an agent, Team Hubbert is very proactive. They utilize 360-degree virtual tours in their marketing and dedicate team members to researching emerging tools.
Christine adds that they have their team looking into new tech, such as the recent ways Google is integrating real estate listings into its repertoire.
Ultimately, the goal of this technological and systematic edge is not to replace human connection but to enhance it, ensuring that the necessary legwork is seamless so they can focus on what clients truly value: trustworthy and timely communication and experience.
Christine has helped numerous clients through divorces, devastating diagnoses and picking up the pieces following the death of a loved one.
“I work to deescalate things quickly, and I communicate to them I’ve been there, I understand you, and I am a neutral party who is on your side,” she says. “It’s about connecting with them on an emotional level and also understanding their short and long-term goals.”
Despite what was considered a down market by many experts in 2025, Team Hubbert—which consists of 14 total staff members—achieved their highest sales volume to date. This growth is a reflection of their resilience and adaptability. Looking ahead, John and Christine see the Central Florida market continuing its tremendous growth. John even calls Lakeland “a mini Tampa.”
No matter what the volume is or the market profile looks like, they are going to approach each opportunity with heart and compassion.
“That always comes first, and we pride ourselves on finding a way to make something work even if it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” John says. “You’ve just got to hang in there because it’s not easy sometimes, and we get that, and we put the work in to find solutions.”