Jennie Ling with Henry S. Miller, Realtors is a legend in Dallas real estate. She is on a first-name basis with many of the city's best-known movers and shakers and is the star of local Cadillac commercials -- all from building her award-winning career out of marketing, selling, and listing high-end properties. Like the famous fairy-tale tailor who dispatched seven flies with one swat, Jennie Ling is a giant-killer. She snared seven multimillion-dollar listings from one builder -- five in one day alone -- a feat few real estate professionals will ever boast.

How? Consistently among the top three companywide producers of the statewide, privately owned brokerage firm of Henry S. Miller, Realtors, Ling has been crowned top producer more times than she can remember. "Recognition and trophies are nice, but they don't really matter," Ling says. "People don't care what you know. They just want to know that you care, and certainly Jennie is one who really cares."

A maverick thinker, Ling operates against the grain of current top producers by doing the work herself, without the support of a "team" of listers, closers, and detail managers. "When you want Jennie Ling, you get Jennie Ling," she says. She is known to have a great rapport with high-ranking businesspeople who appreciate her no-nonsense, frank-talking, colorful style. She was once quoted as saying, "If I can't sell it, you might as well burn it!"

Ron Riseman and Jerry Sandoval of Meadowbrook Homes are Ling-believers. Meadowbrook Homes is in the process of building and finishing out a nest of million-dollar homes in one of the hottest neighborhoods in Dallas, the Preston Hollow area. The prestigious neighborhood is characterized by large, stately homes on expansive lots. Nearby amenities include some of the most fashionable shopping in Dallas, easy access to major thoroughfares, and many of the city's most sought-after private schools. Many older homes are being torn down with much larger homes being built on the lots, as Meadowbrook has done. Although the area is one of the most desirable in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, homes in the million-dollar-plus range do not always find ready buyers. So when it came time to market the properties, Riseman called Jennie Ling.

"Jennie knows how to market homes for a sophisticated clientele," Riseman says. "She has a huge list of contacts and a powerful network of associates. She has an ever-active list of interested buyers. I have every confidence that the properties will not last long." Riseman has built a number of luxury homes in Preston Hollow and the Park Cities, also exclusive areas in Dallas. An acquaintance of Ling's for more than 20 years, Riseman adds, "She has an excellent reputation for honesty, and her clients know that. So when she brings us a client, the client knows he's going to be treated fairly. We are proud to be associated with her."

Impressed with Jennie's quick disposition of two other homes he had built in the same area, Riseman called Jennie and awarded her the five additional listings over the telephone. Two of the properties are new construction, and the other three are build-to-suit. One home open for viewing daily is priced at $1,025,000, the median range of the seven properties. Meadowbrook is among the few builders of pier and beam homes in the region. The company is known for its signature exteriors, which always include stone and brick. Riseman is a member of the NCRB and practices residential architecture all over the country. He has built a significant number of homes throughout the United States, from New York to Texas.