Suzanne Andresen
From Dorm-Room Real Estate to Premier Magazine for Real Estate Investors
by Carole VanSickle Ellis
When Suzanne Andresen matriculated at the University of South Carolina to earn dual degrees in real estate and marketing, she did not let any grass grow under her feet. By the time she had become a senior and hall advisor in the dormitory, Andresen’s career in real estate was already in the works.
“It was prohibited to ‘work’ if you were a hall advisor at that time, but I was selling real estate out of my dorm room,” Andresen admitted. She recalled handing her first business card, complete with her dorm-room phone number, to a client looking at a local property. “Little did I know he was one of the deans of the university when he asked if the phone number was a dorm room!” she laughed.
Fortunately, the dean was more intrigued than interested in shutting down her burgeoning business.
“That was my first step into the industry, and I have been drawn to it ever since,” she said. “Oh, and he bought the house.”
From there, Andresen proceeded with what quickly emerged as characteristic zeal for her chosen profession. Despite an active and successful career in real estate marketing and publishing, Andresen never lost her attraction to real estate itself.
“I hold my real estate license with William Raveis in Maine and am also a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR),” she said. “It keeps me linked with the industry and helps me connect with the readers and clients of REI-INK.”
A Long Road, and a Good One
Andresen joined the team at REI-INK, one of the few monthly print publications for active real estate investors available today, shortly after its founding in 2019. Before she did so, however, she participated with typical passion in several notably distinct business ventures — all while simultaneously sticking close to real estate as well. Throughout these years, Andresen’s determination to succeed and her wildly flexible dynamism was constantly on display, first at Xerox, where she had to apply twice to get the position, and then as she ran a successful family deli with her husband and father despite what she insists was “no culinary experience.”
“I learned a lot of things during that time,” Andresen recalled. “From Xerox, I learned that I never had to be ashamed or embarrassed of having to try something more than once.”
After not getting an offer following her first interview, she remembers thinking, “Oh, they must have been mistaken,” and heading off to interview in a different district. When she got the job and arrived at the office, she saw her district manager had framed his first rejection letter from the company.
“Little did I know when I set up that second interview that Xerox considered it a huge bonus if you tried again because it showed you never accepted ‘No’ as an answer,” she explained.
She spent seven years with the company, swiftly becoming a highly productive sales representative and winning many accolades. “Once you attained President’s Club status, you just want to keep achieving. That job showed me that if you create a positive driving force, it will help push you forward and help you push yourself to do better.”
After leaving Xerox, Andresen worked briefly with a colleague running a print shop before leaving to run a family deli with her husband and father. The early days of that business are particularly meaningful to her because they were an “amazing experience” shared with her father.
“My dad always really wanted to have a restaurant in his career path, and I had a great time spending eight weeks setting things up with him,” she said. “Four months after that, he passed away, so it was amazing to get to do that with him.”
She also realized two important things about retail. First, “the customer is not always right,” and, second, “I wasn’t really cut out for retail.” Fortunately, Andresen had always known she was cut out for real estate, and she headed back into the industry with enthusiasm.
Andresen also recalled a bit of irony mixed with real estate while at the Junior’s Deli.
“My husband and I had a first right of refusal with our lease. Six months after opening the deli, we were presented with a contract of sale for the property. The deli occupied retail space in a set of two three-story brownstones with four separate business tenants. We had one week to get funding to purchase the buildings. We managed to success-fully purchase the buildings, and part of that funding strategy was to sell our condo and move into one of the mixed-use spaces.“
Ultimately, the couple lived in part of the retail space while they finished the renovation on the portion of the property.
“We put deli paper up on the windows for privacy and set up a little living area,” Andresen recalled. “Experiencing hardship helps build character and provides the opportunity to embrace success when it happens,” she concluded. “Having all of this happen in our first year of marriage certainly put my husband, Scott, and I to the test!”
Andresen recently celebrated her 25th wedding anniversary with Scott, and the two remember using their early experiences in the deli as a “learning foundation” for their son, Tyler. “He spent 18 months as a cashier at a local grocery store before heading off to the University of Maine’s College of Engineering,” Andresen said. “He enjoyed working at the store, but realized retail might not be his passion either.”
All About Coming Home
In 1999, when Andresen headed back into real estate full-time, she did so with a much deeper understanding of the industry, the players in it, and what she truly stood to offer other real estate professionals.
“To me, the best thing about real estate is that it is a life cycle,” she explained. “I understand that cycle, and I understand what the different players in that life cycle really want and need because I have spent time in nearly every phase you can think of when it comes to real estate assets.” She continued, “Whether it is the rehab component, the project management angle, hard-money lending, insurance, property management, or a broader vertical strategy, I have been in there and I have a lot of empathy with the people that I work with today at REI-INK.”
That collective approach to the industry is a key part of the foundation to developing the REI Referral Network. Andresen felt that there was an opportunity to connect real estate professionals with investors to support the acquisition and disposition elements of their portfolios. Creating an organization to support both sides of the equation was the main purpose behind this venture, where the service providers can operate in the middle of the platform helping both sides achieve their goals.
At the magazine, where she serves as chief revenue officer, Andresen found that her reputation for forthright honesty and longstanding presence in the field has served her and the publication well. Her forthright honesty also served her well in getting elected to her town’s 3-person governing Select Board.
“I have always been honest and trustworthy; when I am received that way, I feel I’ve experienced success,” she said. “I just find such pride in helping new companies enter the space and being a part of the process for established companies that are truly thriving here. I have such a passion for success not just for myself but for the real estate investors and professionals in this industry who are building up their foundation and their success every day.”
