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Susan Walters (Keller Williams Realty, Ann Arbor, MI) Real Estate Agent

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Susan Walters
location_on Ann Arbor, MI — Keller Williams Realty, Ann Arbor, MI
Keller Williams Realty Inc.
Get to Know Susan Walters

I once read that almost no one enters real estate as a first choice in profession.  I arrived at this destination after a series of post-college positions including but not limited to: retail manager, manufacturing production manager, textile design studio administrator, upholstery design consultant and master gardener.

The link in all of these choices was the decision to major in design in college, earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia.  My only regret is that I did not pursue what I truly wanted, a degree in architecture.  Fear held me back then but after researching new career opportunities many years later, I realized that I could accomplish some of the same things by becoming a real estate professional.

As a realtor, I help people find the right home for them - style, layout, size, price.  If the perfect home seems out of reach, I highlight the positives of the properties being considered and advise on resale potential, even referring to building specialists as necessary to open up here, add on there.  I have been doing that to my own homes as my family and I moved around the United States and abroad, ever mindful of budget and what return on improvements a particular neighborhood might support.  On the seller side too, advice is easy; simply put, if it doesn't work, fix it.

My three children, husband and I have lived in the Ann Arbor area since 1998.  We bought in a seller's market after looking at over twenty homes in two days.  Our country home has been added on to, reconfigured, and landscaped extensively.  We finished the lower level once and then again, almost done now....  If history repeats itself, we will sell the finished product in the midst of a buyer's market, not by plan but happenstance.  Will we dive back in again?  Absolutely!

Certifications

As my real estate career has unfolded, I have worked in diverse areas, buyers, sellers, and investors, at price ranges from leases as low as $800 and sales as low as $20,000 to listings over $700,000.  Adaptation is the name of the game in Michigan these days.  Most of us cannot afford to be elitists, catering to the high end of real estate only, collecting big commissions on a fast turnaround.  Working hard for a living is what most of us do; I know I do.

My first property purchase was a mobile home when my husband was in the US Air Force and he was luckily/unluckily stationed in the Hamptons on Long Island.  We weren't eligible for base housing and leases were hardly affordable.  We did lease for a while - a converted one car garage off base, but opted for the tin can on base in the end.  We moved up to a Philadelphia row house when he finished his tour of duty - purchase price $43,900 if I remember correctly, at 16.5% interest, and that was only that low because it was a VA loan.  We have moved up several times since then but I won't forget where I was, ever.  I can relate to anyone.

In both buyer and seller transactions, I employ my office Transaction Coordinator to manage the details of bringing a deal successfully through closing.  Experience matters at all levels of a transaction - finding the right property, ensuring a competent lender is on board, and closing the deal.  I have a specialist in virtually every area of expertise a buyer or seller might need, whom I can personally recommend.

I look forward to assisting buyers, sellers, and investors in closing real estate deals.  "Helping you find your way home."  The emphasis ... is on "helping".

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"Helping you find your way home." Ann Arbor area real estate consultant. Never stop learning, never stop listening; it's easy to travel the road that leads home.