Sharli Arntzen came to Ketchikan in 1988 on the ferry Columbia, and she never really left. She grew up playing in the woods and learning the water, graduated from Ketchikan High School, went south to Eastern Washington University for a degree in English and Technical Communications, and came straight back. She likes to say that if you can live here three weeks and not hate it, you're a lifer. No matter where you go, you'll always want to come back.
She has been selling real estate in Ketchikan since 2011. Four years with Re/Max of Ketchikan taught her the market. In 2015 she earned her Alaska broker's license and opened Providence Properties, built on the idea that people here deserve someone who knows the difference between a house that photographs well and a house that will actually work for them in January. In 2022 she brought Providence Properties under eXp Realty, which put a global network behind a local broker without changing who answers the phone.
More than 500 families and over $100 million in closed real estate later, the job hasn't really changed. Buying and selling here is not like buying and selling in the Lower 48. Ferry schedules, float planes, and what it takes to get a crew out to a place with no road to it are the kind of thing that decides a deal in Southeast Alaska, and none of it shows up in a national guide to real estate. Sharli has spent fourteen years learning what actually moves a Ketchikan property and what quietly kills a contract, and she will tell you which one you're looking at in plain language.
In 2025 RateMyAgent named her Agent of the Year for Ketchikan, Agent of the Year for the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, and one of the top ten agents in the state of Alaska. Those are counted from reviews written by clients after closing, which is the only kind of award worth much. eXp named her an ICON Agent in 2024. In 2023 Ketchikan elected her to the Borough Assembly at the top of the ticket, so the town she sells real estate in is the same one she helps run.
She married her match in 2009 and they are raising three kids here, all of whom have inherited excellent negotiating skills.
Sharli works across Ketchikan and Southeast Alaska: in town, the north end, the south end, and out the road, along with Gravina and Pennock islands, Prince of Wales, Craig, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, and Juneau. Houses, condos, townhouses, land, and commercial property.
Your goals are her goals. Tell her where you want to go and she'll help get you there. Not sure which direction to head? Let her help you map out your path.
Sharli Arntzen, Associate Broker, RECS18137
Providence Properties, brokered by eXp Realty
3955 S Tongass Hwy, Ketchikan, AK 99901
(907) 225-7427
sharli@ktnlife.com
realestateinketchikan.com
Home Types:
Lot/Land, House, Townhouse, Commercial, Condo
Years of Experience:
15
Education:
Eastern Washington University
