About Phoebe Martin
A long-time Iowa City resident, Phoebe Martin is a proud third-generation graduate of Iowa City High School. After high school, Phoebe traveled extensively. She eventually found her way to Chicago, where she went to school and worked for many years as the Program Coordinator at the Cabrini Green Tutoring Program and then as Education Director of the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation.
After many other adventures – including walking across the north of Spain and hot air ballooning over Tanzania – she returned to Iowa City where she met and married Andy Martin. They have two children, who are the fourth generation of City High students in the family. Before starting her Real Estate career, Phoebe and Andy started Martin Construction in 2007, focusing on remodels, repairs, and additions. Phoebe and Andy are active members of the Home Builders Association (HBA), raising money for scholarships for area high school students looking to continue their education related to the housing industry.
Now, as a Licensed Realtor and Co-Owner of Blank and McCune, The Real Estate Company, she brings over ten years of experience in the housing industry — bringing her boundless energy and passion for serving buyers and sellers with her.
Phoebe continues to love working with youth, and it is important to her that she gives back to the community which so generously supports both of her businesses. She has previously served on; the Board of Trustees for Willowwind School, was a committee member on the Board of Directors for United Action for Youth including the Festival of Flowers Committee, Development Committee, and the Community Youth Leadership Program, was a commissioner on the Planning and Zoning Commission of Iowa City, past chairperson of the Women’s Council for the HBA, served on United Way of Johnson & Washington County’s Power of the Purse fundraising committee, and served on the steering committee of the Strengthen Grow Evolve campaign, where she fostered the greatest small city for the arts and raised capital funding for the Englert Theatre and FilmScene.
She currently serves on the Board of Review for the Iowa City Assessors and on the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art’s Programming and Engagement Committee.
Voted “Most Trusted Realtor” of the
CRANDIC for four years and running!
- Phoebe has the confidence of the citizens of the CRANDIC -
Little Village Magazine holds a yearly contest where readers cast their votes, and in the area from Iowa City to Cedar Rapids, Phoebe Martin was voted as the realtor you can trust most every year since 2018.
Meet My Team:
Allison Hall & Ben Sever
ALLISON HALL is the Executive Manager of Phoebe Martin Real Estate. She has spent the majority of her life in Iowa City, graduating from Iowa City High School and then spending the next seven years traveling and exploring the world. She worked as a commercial fisherman in Alaska for six years and spent three years fishing and living on a sailboat. Allison moved back to Iowa City shortly after her first child was born as she wanted to raise her children close to family and in a city with the many opportunities that Iowa City has to offer. Allison completed her degree after her return to Iowa City, graduating from The University of Iowa with a BFA in Painting. Allison spends her time supporting the arts, cooking with friends, hiking and kayaking with her husband & children, and enjoying life with their dogs, cats, and birds. She currently serves on the board for Ten Thousand Villages, a global nonprofit fair-trade organization that supports independent artisans.
BEN SEVER is a licensed assistant to Phoebe Martin. Ben and his family moved to Iowa City during the pandemic, fulfilling a shared dream of moving to his wife Michelle’s hometown to raise their growing family. While Michelle hails from Iowa City, Ben joins us from St. Louis where he worked for a decade as a real estate investor and property manager, and for many years also practiced corporate and real estate law. Ben also served as business manager for DJ Records, an online record store that grew from 5 to 24 employees in the span of a decade, moving from the founder’s basement to a warehouse – growing in tandem with the booming interest in vinyl records. He has a particular interest in historic homes and neighborhoods and currently serves on the Johnson County Historic Preservation Commission. Ben and his family love spending time outdoors year-round in the corridor’s many great parks and nature areas. An avid outdoorsman, one of Ben’s favorite memories is from the time he spent as a canoe guide in the boundary waters area of northern Minnesota.