Susan Calabrese has been helping families buy and sell homes in Knoxville, Tennessee, for two decades. Her path to real estate was not a straight line, and maybe that is exactly why her clients trust her.
Originally from Nova Scotia, Susan grew up in Ohio and Indiana before moving to Knoxville to work at the World’s Fair in 1982. After college, Susan married her husband, Dan, and joined him in Homestead, Florida, where they planned to raise their family, but Hurricane Andrew changed everything. They lost their home in the storm and decided to return to East Tennessee to raise their two daughters. That experience of starting over shaped how Susan approaches her work today. She understands what it means to rebuild, to make difficult choices under pressure, and to find stability on the other side.
Twenty Years in the Classroom
Before real estate, Susan spent 20 years teaching. She holds a BA in Liberal Arts and Montessori teaching degrees covering both preschool education and grades one through eight. That background shows up in the way she works with clients today. She explains things clearly. She walks people through decisions without rushing them. She prepares them for what comes next. Teaching taught her patience and the importance of meeting people where they are. Those same instincts carry over when she sits down with a first-time buyer or a family preparing to sell the home where they raised their children.
Susan earned her real estate license in 2005 and has continued her education over the years, earning multiple designations along the way. The transition from teaching to real estate was natural for her. Both careers require listening, guiding, and helping people through unfamiliar territory.
A Plan Instead of a Promise
When asked what sets her apart, Susan puts it simply. “Most people walk into a real estate transaction feeling overwhelmed and hoping for the best. I give them a plan. Before anything hits the market, my team and I build a strategy around their specific goals, then we manage every detail through closing. My clients don’t have to wonder if something fell through the cracks, because nothing does. That’s the difference between hoping for a good outcome and knowing you’re going to get one.”
Her clients often come to her with the same fear at the core of every transaction. They worry about getting it wrong. Sellers are afraid of leaving money on the table. Buyers are afraid of overpaying. Both are afraid of trusting the wrong person with the biggest financial decision of their lives.
“I take that fear off the table,” Susan explained. “I give them a clear plan, I manage every step, and they walk away confident they made the smartest decision they could. That’s the outcome, not just a closed deal, but peace of mind.”
Built on Referrals
Over the past 20 years, Susan has helped hundreds of Knoxville families through the process of buying and selling homes. But the achievement she points to first is not a number. Her business is built almost entirely on referrals. The people she has helped keep sending her the people they love. “That tells me more than any award ever could,” she said.
That kind of trust does not come from marketing. It comes from consistency. It comes from showing up and doing the work the same way every time, whether the transaction is large or small, simple or complicated. Susan has earned that trust one family at a time.
Watching the Knoxville Market
Susan is currently tracking the shifts in the Knoxville market closely. Mortgage rates recently dropped below 6% for the first time since 2022, and buyer activity has picked up as a result. But buyers are more selective now than they have been in years. She publishes monthly market insights that cut through the noise and show Knoxville homeowners what the numbers actually mean for their homes and their next move.
When she is not working, Susan enjoys traveling and has accompanied her husband on the drive from Knoxville to Talkeetna, Alaska, seven times. It is a long journey, but she seems to be someone who does not mind the road.
