Susan Galyean
Personal Philosophy
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." — Winston Churchill
Susan’s clients benefit from her personal & professional commitment to lifetime learning & continual improvement. A perpetual student, teacher, writer and mentor, Susan approaches life and real estate by “figuring out what I don’t know, finding a way to learn it and enriching others’ lives by sharing it”. She judges personal success by how confidently her clients use the expertise she shares to make sound decisions about residential & investment real estate.
Experience
Licensed since 1987, Susan helps clients with personal and investment real estate decisions throughout Central Texas. She has extensive experience with all types of residential properties including duplexes, 4 plexes, condos, garden homes and homes on acreage. Susan has guided clients through the home building process, working with some of Austin’s finest architects and custom builders. Her expertise also includes homesite selection, construction and purchase financing, renovation projects (fix & flips), and 1031 exchange transactions for investors. Several investor clients routinely add to their inventory of single family and duplex properties as a part of their retirement strategies.
In many ways, Susan’s upbringing and experience prior to real estate shaped who she is professionally. From the age of five, Susan loved to go to work with her father who owned and operated an excavating company in Pearsall, just south of San Antonio. She listened to him talk to farmers and ranchers about their land and the projects they wanted him to do for them . . . using terracing to limit erosion or redirect drainage, carving out stock ponds for livestock, and creating stable platforms for homes, barns, aircraft runways, recreational venues like tennis courts and rodeo arenas. This early exposure gave her a deep respect for “the land” and what you can and can’t do with it.
Both her parents modelled a hard work ethic and an understanding that “doing the right thing” is not optional, regardless of the outcome. Growing up in a small town with not a lot to do resulted in Susan spending much of her summers in the library where she became addicted to history, great literature and the lessons that they hold for us today.
Early college and work experiences taught Susan how to anticipate potential problems, come up with potential solutions and “solve” them before they become critical. These are all skills that she brings to her real estate career. “My job is to solve problems with and for my clients before anyone else realizes that they are problems.”
Background, Education & Awards
• Native Texan, grew up in Pearsall, TX
• Bachelor of Arts, Rice University 1974
• Master of Arts, Rice University 1976
• Taught at Cy-Fair High School 1976 to 1980
• Technical writer & trainer for Fortune 500 companies 1979 to 1981
• Married to husband, David 1982
• Fortune 500 companies computer sales 1981 to 1986
• Austin REALTOR since 1987
• Began real estate career with Easter & Easter Realtors 1987 to 1994
• Member Riverbend Church since 1986
• Sponsored first International Adoption Kidsave program in Austin in 2000
• Adopted daughters, Natasha Michelle and Nina Nicole, from Krasnodar, Russia in December, 2000
• Numerous RE/MAX awards including Hall of Fame Award in 2000
• Celebrated Realty Austin 10-Year Anniversary 2024
• Platinum Top 500 REALTORS®️ 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
• Realty Austin Diamond Club $10M+ Top Producer 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
• Realty Austin Hall of Fame Inductee 2019
• Austin Business Journal Top 50 Residential Real Estate Awards Nominee 2000, 2021
• Austin Business Journal Residential Real Estate Awards Nominee 2022
• Texas Monthly Five Star Professional 2013 -2026
• REAL Trends America's Best Real Estate Professionals 2022
License Number: 371930