Michael Saunders

With $5,000 borrowed from an acquaintance, single mother Michael Saunders founded Michael Saunders & Company in 1976 to fill the need for a local real estate company serving Sarasota, Fla. with the high level of customer service it deserved. Little did she know that her new brand of customer engagement delivered from a single small office would grow to a full-service firm comprised of 26 branch offices in three Florida counties, offering mortgage, title, relocation and insurance services, as well as commercial, rental and new homes divisions.

According to Saunders, the company’s success was formed around solid core values, driven by knowledge and hard work, and based on the mutual trust that develops from cultivating lasting customer relationships. In 2003, Saunders was joined in the business by her son Drayton, who shares not only her passion for real estate, but her insistence on remaining an independent company.

The firm is committed to giving back to the communities it serves through the MSC Foundation, founded as a way to engage agents, management and staff with those members of the community most in need of shelter, sustenance and a path to self-sufficiency.

With a global reputation for representing some of the finest properties on the Gulf Coast, Saunders is closely connected to the worldwide real estate community, including Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, Luxury Portfolio International, Christie’s International Real Estate, Mayfair International Realty and The Realty Alliance.