"I don't just sell investment properties. I've built them, designed them, operated them, and made them perform — in two countries."

SOME AGENTS SHOW YOU LISTINGS… I SHOW YOU WHAT’S POSSIBLE

Desert Design House isn't a traditional real estate practice. It's what happens when a decade of corporate sales, years of hands-on development, and an obsession with design converge into something that doesn't fit a standard category.

I'm Rachel Hugenschmidt — licensed Arizona Realtor® since 2015, founder of Desert Design House, and co-founder of Jungle Luxe in Tulum, Mexico. My clients aren't just buying homes. They're building portfolios, creating lifestyle investments, and positioning properties to perform in competitive markets. My job is to make sure they do.

THE BACKGROUND

My foundation is corporate sales — fifteen years of it, across industries that demanded precision, persuasion, and the ability to read what a client actually needs versus what they say they need. That background doesn't leave you. It shapes how I approach every transaction, every negotiation, and every conversation about what a property is really worth.

I got my Arizona real estate license in 2015 with a focus on investors from the start. Not lifestyle buyers who wanted the prettiest kitchen — investors who needed the numbers to work. That orientation never changed.

In 2017, Desert Design House expanded into interior design. What started as a natural extension of the real estate work — staging, redesigning flipped properties, optimizing spaces for resale — grew into a full design practice. We flipped numerous homes across Arizona, learning firsthand how design decisions translate directly into sale price, days on market, and buyer perception.

Then came Nashville. Between 2020 and 2022 we took on something most design firms don't attempt: ground-up custom Airbnb builds. From raw land to a finished, furnished, guest-ready product. That experience — managing design, construction, furnishing, and STR positioning across an entire development cycle — gave us an operator's understanding of what separates a property that performs from one that merely exists.

Back in Arizona, I took on a business development role helping scale a large property management company — including opening their Sedona market. That's when the full picture came into focus: I wasn't just an agent who understood design. I was an operator who understood the entire lifecycle of an investment property, from acquisition through revenue optimization.

TULUM — THE NEXT CHAPTER

In 2022, we founded Jungle Luxe MX in Tulum, Mexico.

What began as a calculated move into one of Latin America's fastest-growing vacation rental markets has become a full-scale operation. Jungle Luxe now manages over 100 short-term rental units in Tulum, executes custom design-build projects for investors — again, from land to finished furnished product — and operates a complete interior design division serving the Tulum market.

The Tulum operation didn't happen by accident. It happened because everything that came before it — the corporate sales background, the Arizona investment focus, the Nashville ground-up builds, the STR scaling experience — made it the obvious next move.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

If you're buying an investment property in Scottsdale, you're working with an agent who has operated in this market since 2015, understands STR performance from an operator's perspective, and can bundle interior design and setup into your transaction so your property is earning from day one — not six months later.

If you're relocating to Phoenix or Scottsdale, you're working with someone who knows every neighborhood corridor, every school district, and every employer campus in the metro — and who will treat your move like the strategic decision it is.

If you're a luxury second home buyer from California, Illinois, Texas, or New York, you're working with an agent who understands both the lifestyle you're buying into and the investment logic underneath it.

And if you're building a portfolio that spans the US and Mexico — you're working with the only Arizona agent actively operating in both markets. No referrals. No handoffs. One person who has done the work in both places.

SPECIALTIES

Scottsdale STR investment properties · Airbnb investment analysis · Short-term rental design and setup · Luxury second homes Scottsdale · Corporate relocation Phoenix · Relocating to Scottsdale · Arizona real estate investor · Tulum investment properties · Tulum property management · Custom design-build Tulum · Desert Design House · Jungle Luxe MX · Phoenix metro real estate · North Scottsdale homes · Paradise Valley real estate

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