Inspired to her career by her parents, who were both involved in real estate, Suzi Karr was also encouraged to enter the field by her two sons. At the time, she was a single mother and wanted a career that would allow her to provide for her family. Embarking on her career with real estate broker Lee Bekemeyer, who she remains friends with to this day, she worked in that role for four years before seeking her own broker license. She went on to graduate from the Lumbleau Real Estate School in Torrance, California, where she took some of the best real estate courses she ever had — noting that they taught about real estate as a whole rather than simply how to pass the exams.
In 1976, Ms. Karr established Suzi Karr Realty in Windermere, Florida, which she maintained for 35 years, until she sold the firm in 2011 to become involved in the international real estate market. During this time, she furthered her studies with coursework at the Honolulu Business College and a bachelor’s degree in business, with a minor in journalism, from the University of Hawaii. Throughout her career she has been licensed in California, Florida and Hawaii, and has been ePro certified by the National Association of Realtors and as a certified home staging expert.
Joining Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Ms. Karr met her current business partner, Bruno Machado, an attorney from Brazil, while completing some required online courses and they hit it off right away and have since found considerable success in their professional partnership. Sharing a focus on ethics, service and communication over profit, they both emphasize the importance of educating others about their field. To that end, Ms. Karr regularly teaches a contracts course to help brokers and agents keep abreast of the latest trends and laws in the field, has volunteered to talk about real estate at various schools, and is considering offering classes to families who are homeschooling their children.
Working from her home office, Ms. Karr sees to a variety of duties on a day to day basis. Alongside creating packages for her clients who are looking to view listings, she is responsible for writing monthly newsletters and fashioning creative advertisements for her brokerage and clients. She feels blessed with good health and an active mind, and she strives to cultivate a legacy as an honest and ethical realtor who will always put her clients first. For her excellence in real estate, she was named “Queen of Windermere” by her community, is Gold Key Certified and has been named a Top Realtor since 2017. Having accomplished much over the course of her career, Ms. Karr considers her most memorable moment to be the time she spent working with Jim Henson to help him purchase a house in the 1980s, not long before his passing.
Finding great motivation in helping others, Ms. Karr notably donates half of her fees to one of the many charities she supports, including the Wounded Warrior Project, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, four veterans’ organizations and several animal rescues. She has made donations of furniture as well and even donated a baby-grand piano to the hospital where she served on the board for five years. Spending a decade on the board of a local bank as well, she has also been involved with the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, is a stockholder in a large title company and was previously the president of the Committee of 101.
The proud mother of two children, and grandmother to three grandchildren, Ms. Karr is incredibly proud of her family. Both of her sons worked in real estate with her and her eldest son is an accomplished professional in commercial real estate development, and notably developed the Horizon West area of Windermere. Her eldest grandson is a graduate of the University of Florida and has started his own company, and another grandson is a dance teacher and Broadway performer, who recently appeared in the musical “Cats.” More recently, Ms. Karr has become a great-grandmother of two, one of whom just started kindergarten, and both of whom call her “Sushi.”
