After a two-decade career in real estate, Dublin graduate Dora Andrade opened her own family business, a real estate company she runs alongside her three grown children. She’s proud of her work, and looks forward to growing her business in the future while enjoying time with her family.
Andrade graduated from Dublin High School in 1999. She’d hoped to go to college, but around the time she graduated, her father experienced some health issues that made it impossible for Andrade to earn a degree.
So Andrade began working, first at an aluminum company in Stephenville, and then at a cafe in Fort Worth. She soon found another job in Fort Worth at a company called Tech Data, a distributor of technological products.
While in Fort Worth, Andrade met her now husband, Manuel Andrade, who worked in the real estate industry as a home flipper. Andrade was fascinated by his business and soon started getting involved herself, first working at a title company and then earning her real estate license.
Andrade started out selling homes part time so she could spend more time with her children. Her husband continued working as a home flipper, and Andrade would help him out as well.
After a few good years, the 2008 financial crisis began, and the Andrades were hit hard by the real estate crash. They had to sell their house and were out of work. “We had to start all over,” says Andrade. “I went to work for Wells Fargo for two years. And then after the economy picked up, I started doing real estate again.”
In 2024, when her son graduated high school, Andrade took her real estate business full time. “At that time, my oldest daughter went in with me on real estate,” Andrade said. “She got her license and she’s working on her business degree. And then my second child and my third child got their licenses about a year ago. So I decided to open an office. I was the first Hispanic female in Wise County to open up a real estate office.”
Andrade’s family business, The Andrade Group in Decatur, is now thriving. “It has taken off like crazy,” she said.
She also continues to work with her husband’s home flipping business. “He does all the construction, and he takes care of the crews,” she said.
Andrade’s favorite part of working in real estate is helping people find a home. “It’s just [seeing] the smile, especially people that haven’t thought that they could buy a home before.”
The family has big plans for the business. “My future plan is, maybe in the next year, to get my broker license and become a part owner of my own brokerage,” Andrade said. “Another thing that my girls want to do is they want to become their own brokers too. So maybe branch out, maybe open a couple more offices and have more agents underneath us.”
Andrade’s business is very involved with the Decatur community. “We help out the schools and do a lot of activities for teachers,” she said. “Every time there’s an activity at the courthouse, we participate. And for the first time in Decatur, Texas, we were able to do an event for Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day.”
That community involvement is really the heart of the Andrade Group. “It’s important for us to, you know, get people into home ownership and be able to make a lot of friends and family, because they’re not just your friends anymore — they become family,” she said.
Andrade credits her success to her family’s faith. “Everything that we do is based on our faith, and we always put God in our office and our marriages and our careers and our homes,” she said. “We are Christian. We serve the Lord, and we love God, and my family is very united.”
When Andrade isn’t working, she spends a lot of time with her family. “I know it’s crazy — we work probably 10 hours a day together in the office, but we try to get together every Sunday, too,” she said.
Andrade and her husband Manuel have three children, Jazzmin, 24, Danielle, 20, and Samuel, 19. Jazzmin and Danielle are both married, and Andrade is close with her son-in-laws. “We are a very close family, and I love that,” Andrade said. “I’m very proud of my kids.”
Her mother, Elida Chacon, lives nearby, and her father, Socorro Chacon, passed away in 2023.
Throughout her life, Andrade has drawn inspiration from her family. “My dad and my mom were very hard working,” she said. “They were immigrants from Mexico. They came as immigrants to give us a better life. And to me, I needed to go step further than them. Another person that has been an inspiration has been my husband. He has been unconditionally supportive with every decision that I have taken in my life. And my kids — they’re my greatest gift.”
She’s overcome many challenges throughout her career. “I would say the biggest challenge has been that real estate is male dominated, and as a young Hispanic female people don’t believe in you,” she said. “You’ve got to demonstrate that you can do it. “
Andrade’s advice to Dublin graduates is to set their goals high and work hard for them. “The sky’s the limit,” she said. “Just believe in yourself and get out there and do it — even if you don’t have the opportunity to have an education and go to college, you can still be somebody. Just believe in yourself. And if you ever need anything that I can help with, even if I don’t know you, I will be more than happy to talk to you about whatever you need.”
Where are they now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.