By: Matt Emma

Sara Staber has been a full-time Realtor in Durango, Colorado, for 25 years. Located in the southwest corner of the state, Durango is in the San Juan Mountains with a variety of property types and small rural communities, ranging from resort and luxury homes to ranch and agricultural properties, to hometown neighborhoods and subdivisions. Properties encompassed in the 3-county region vary significantly. Neither does the process of buying or selling here. Working in this area requires a specific realm of knowledge, and Sara has spent two and a half decades developing it. She offers in-depth local familiarity with property values, neighborhoods, and market trends, along with an extensive network of trusted local resources.

Sara holds degrees in business and resource management. Her professional background is diverse and broadly beneficial to her clients, with years of accumulated experience in new construction, county planning, tourism, resource management, and facilitation—all of which have been helpful in her career as a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty Southwest Associates, a brokerage she was involved in bringing to Durango. Her skill set is diverse because working here often demands it.

Staying in the Room When Others Move On

What sets Sara apart is not complicated to explain. She is available and ‘hands-on’! She answers the phone, meets with clients in person, and gives generously of her time from start to well beyond the finish. It’s about whatever her people and the transaction require. This differentiates her in an industry that has increasingly moved toward volume and speed.

“Today,” she explained, “many realtors are trained to focus on attaining the most appointments and number of sales in the shortest amount of time. This takes the human aspect out of the equation.”

The ‘in and out’ approach does not align with the kind of work she does, nor the community she lives in. Real estate transactions are among the largest financial and emotional decisions many people face, and she treats them that way. A seller might be letting go of a home under challenging circumstances. A buyer might be stepping into something entirely new to them, full of possibility but also uncertainty. She brings empathy and heart to the table, and she does it with a strong knowledge base, honesty, and even humor to help ease the process.

Problem Solving in an Unconventional Market

Durango and its surrounding areas adds its own complexity to transactions. The market here does not always follow the patterns or have the characteristics that buyers and sellers may expect going in, and Sara helps educate and advise from their first conversation. Whether she is talking about price, process, or what to realistically expect along the way, her objective is to assist her clients in feeling comfortable with their decisions and getting to a successful outcome.

Even with the thorough upfront research she is known for, the unexpected can often surface during the contract period. This is where experience and resources prove invaluable. When issues arise, Sara is on top of it, using critical thinking and strategizing to navigate hurdles. She has built a reputation for working through those moments without losing momentum. She successfully closes 98 percent of the properties she puts under contract. That number reflects persistence and years of resourceful problem-solving.

Credibility Built on Relationships, Not Rankings

Sara does not necessarily measure her success by industry standards and metrics such as dollar volume or production standings. What she focuses on is how clients feel when the transaction is finished, and whether they trust her enough to send someone her way afterward. Referrals are the foundation of her business, and she is deliberate about earning them.

That said, the recognition has followed. She consistently ranks in the upper percentages within both her brokerage and across the three-county MLS area, and she receives annual brokerage awards. Her peers consult her regularly, which she considers one of the more meaningful forms of acknowledgment in her field. A 98 percent closure rate and a career built largely on word of mouth do not happen without a level of consistency that clients and colleagues both notice.

For Sara, one of the important attributes of being a broker with Keller Williams Realty Southwest Associates and Keller Williams Realty International has been the opportunity to be involved with KW Cares, the organization’s charitable arm. Through voluntary repetitive agent contributions, KW Cares funds a wide variety of causes across the country. KW can mobilize resources quickly when communities face disasters, often because local agents live in those areas and are already embedded in the community. The power of having so many agents participate nationwide leads to a huge physical and financial contribution.

Long After the Deal Is Done

Sara spends her free time with the same attitude she works, enthusiastically exploring! Hiking, biking, snowshoeing, yoga, boating, and camping, whether in the high mountains or nearby deserts. She loves this magnificent region and enjoys sharing her knowledge of it with her clientele so they, too, can understand… It’s more than just a place to live.

The relationships she builds do not end at the closing. In a small town, staying connected is a part of the culture, and it comes naturally to Sara. Long after a transaction wraps up, she remains someone her clients reach out to, and not just for real estate, but as a trusted advisor for both business and fun. Twenty-five years in, it is what her work encompasses and has become a part of life, which is exactly how she prefers it.