By: William Jones

Brittany Patterson will tell you she didn’t choose real estate; it chose her about four decades ago, right around the time she learned to walk.

Growing up in Alexandria with a mother who founded one of the area’s respected real estate teams, Brittany absorbed the business through osmosis. Dinner table conversations weren’t about soccer practice; they were about interest rates and neighborhood comps. Most kids collect baseball cards; she put out Open House signs.

After Virginia Tech (Business Marketing degree, Real Estate minor, and enough Hokie spirit to last a lifetime), Brittany did what many 20-somethings do: she tried something completely different. Two years in political fundraising taught her everything she needed to know about persuasion, relationship-building, and how to stay calm when someone’s yelling at you about lawn signs.

Then, in 2008, yes, that spectacularly awful time to enter real estate, she joined The Patterson Group, the family business her mother Phyllis founded in 1985. Sometimes the best decisions look terrible on paper.

Today, as Senior Vice President and Global Real Estate Advisor, Brittany leads an unusual team in the industry: an all-female team operating within an eight-mile radius along the Potomac River. That’s it. No sprawling into Maryland. No chasing deals in Loudoun. Just Alexandria and its immediate neighbors studied with the intensity of a sommelier memorizing French vineyards.

“We’re hyper-local to the point of obsession,” Brittany admits. “But that’s exactly why it works.”

The Numbers Are Ridiculous (In a Good Way)

Let’s get the humble-brag out of the way: in 2024, The Patterson Group was named the #1 Medium Team in Virginia by sales volume. They ranked 144th nationally according to RealTrends. They’ve held the top spot in Alexandria by sales volume since 2021. In 2025 alone, they closed $212 million across 147 transactions.

But here’s what Brittany wants you to know: she doesn’t wake up thinking about rankings.

“The stats are nice for the website,” she says. “What actually matters is whether someone trusts us enough to let us into their home, their finances, their stress, and their dreams about foundation issues.”

The Patterson Group specializes in what Brittany calls “white-glove service at every price point,” which is code for treating a first-time buyer’s townhouse search with the same intensity as a waterfront estate. Their clients are typically busy professionals, growing families, and anyone trying to navigate Northern Virginia’s notoriously brutal market while also, you know, maintaining a career and personal life.

The Secret? They Do the Actual Work

When some agents treat Zillow alerts as a business model, The Patterson Group operates differently. They dig. They research. They leverage a local network so extensive it borders on surveillance (the friendly kind). They find off-market properties and pre-market opportunities that never hit the MLS.

“Our clients don’t have time to tour 40 houses,” Brittany explains. “We narrow it down to the few that actually make sense. Then we game plan, call in our resources, pull together a production, and get them the house, at the right price, with the right terms.”

It’s tenacious, strategic, and, Brittany’s favorite word, personal.

“I’ve held clients’ babies during showings. I’ve talked people off ledges when deals fell apart. I’ve literally crawled into crawl spaces in heels,” she laughs. “This isn’t a transaction business. It’s a trust business that happens to involve a lot of paperwork.”

A Connector Who Can’t Sit Still

Ask Brittany about herself, and within 30 seconds she’s talking about someone else, a restaurant owner she loves, a charity event she’s planning, a local school fundraiser that needs attention.

“I’m a natural connector,” she says, which might be the understatement of the year.

She serves on the board of the Inova Alexandria Hospital Foundation. She’s a past president of the Junior Friends of The Campagna Center. She’s a board member and co-chair of the Waynewood Witches Ride for LLS, which raised $44,000 (yes, it involves costumes). She’s a contributing member of the Alexandria Stylebook and a founding member of Mount Vernon Estate’s Underground Committee. The Alexandria Chamber of Commerce named her to their “40 Under 40” in 2017, probably before she’d even turned 34.

When she’s not working or volunteering, she’s playing Mahjong with friends, exploring neighborhood shops, or attending the kind of charity events where half the room is her client and the other half will be by next year.

She lives in Fort Hunt with her husband, Geoff, their daughter Georgie, and Paisley the puggle, who is absolutely as cute as that breed name suggests.

The Media Loves Her (Because She Tells the Truth)

Brittany has appeared in The Washington Post, Mansion Global, and Washingtonian. She’s been featured on Good Morning America and Food Network’s “Cake Hunters” (long story, fun episode). Their robust Instagram community recently crossed 16,000 engaged followers, reflecting their strong local presence.

But her most memorable media moment came in a 2022 Washington Post article, when she summed up the market brutally: “Buyers are tired and feel beaten up because they’ve lost so many bids that they don’t want to compete.”

No corporate speak. No “challenging market conditions” euphemisms. Just the truth, served straight.

That is The Patterson Group’s brand: principled honesty, delivered with the dynamic energy and unparalleled level of service expected from one of the most experienced and trusted real estate teams in the area.

Legacy Building

The Patterson Group now includes eight women, all specialists, all invested in the same hyper-local philosophy. Her mother, Phyllis was named Best Real Estate Agent by the Wall Street Journal. The team has won the TTR Sotheby’s Community Leadership Award twice. Washingtonian Magazine consistently ranks them among the region’s top agents.

But Brittany measures success differently.

“Anyone can close deals if they’re willing to push hard enough,” she says. “What we’re building is something else: a reputation for taking care of people. For protecting their interests like they’re family. For delivering results that consistently exceed expectations.”

She pauses, then adds with a grin: “Also, we’re really good at negotiating.”

For someone who grew up in real estate, Brittany Patterson could have easily coasted on her mother’s reputation. Instead, she stepped forward as a visionary leader within The Patterson Group, successfully implementing a modern philosophy and a strategic business model. Under her influence, the team proves you don’t have to choose between being intensely local and wildly successful.

You just have to care more than everyone else. And maybe own some good crawl-space-appropriate heels.

Learn More about Brittany Patterson Here: https://pattersonrealestate.com/about

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