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In the midst of a pandemic, Keller Williams Upper Peninsula established a real estate office in Manistique. Local resident and real estate agent Julie Barr set up shop in the old WTIQ radio station on County Road 442 February 2020. “During much of the spring, we weren’t able to leave our home to work, let alone open our doors to the public,” shared Barr, who received the help of her husband, Alan, while working to establish the office. “Our company immediately pivoted and focused on technologies that allowed us to continue helping families make their moves into new homes. That, and maybe most importantly, Keller Williams as a company put the focus on one thing: making sure our clients knew we were there for them, standing ready to help in any way we could. “
Keller Williams’ Green Bay Market Center provides “back room” services and support to the Manistique office, which currently consists of two full-time and one part-time agent.
Barr, in her third year of real estate, holds the Accredited Buyers’ Representative designation, is a certified Pricing Strategy Advisor and has recently completed NAR’s Commitment to Excellence program.
Associate broker Patty Rogala joined the company in January 2020. Patty and her husband, Dick, live in the Thunder Lake area of Schoolcraft County. She has been involved in real estate since she was in her 20s – both in Florida and Michigan. Rogala also recently completed the Commitment to Excellence program.
Licensed in both Michigan and Wisconsin for more than 10 years, broker Jared Tetzner, along with his wife, Amy Jo, own cabins in Blaney Park and live in Green Bay.
Tetzner has experience as an appraiser, along with knowledge of commercial/multi-family real estate.
The Keller Williams staff has the ability to serve both residential and commercial clients and all three agents have been recognized by the Green Bay Market Center as “top producers”. Recently, the KWUP office was honored with a presentation of “first dollar”, provided by Schoolcraft Tourism and Commerce. Representing STC for the presentation were Director Alison Cook and board member Amy Kraatz. As part of the day’s celebration, area businesses were given office tours and had a chance to meet members of the agent services team from Green Bay.
“Due to COVID restrictions, we had to really limit the number of people we had coming through for the day,” explained Barr. “We look forward to summer when we can have a more traditional open house for our community.” Other locations being served by KWUP include Iron River and Menominee. “It’s been a challenge, getting started during a pandemic, as the KW brand isn’t well known here in the U.P.,” Barr stated. “On one hand, we are counting on people knowing who we are as individuals deeply committed to the success of the communities in which we live. On the other hand, people very much want to work with someone they know, like and trust, especially around such a significant change in their lives – and we have been building our real estate business based upon those three things. In fact, KW culture really emphasizes building a lifelong relationship with our clients.
We want our clients to have the best experience they can – and we believe we are providing that, as evidenced by the many who have become friends during and through their real estate journey,” she continued. “It’s all about caring and putting people first.”
Other locations being served by KWUP include Iron River by Nikki Hebert and Menominee by Megan Cornell.
For assistance with Upper Peninsula real estate needs, residents may reach a Keller Williams agent by calling (906) 286-4337.
*This article was originally published by the Pioneer Tribune. Click here to learn more about their online subscription to follow more local news.