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Married founders Michael and Amanda Valente, along with partners&nbsp;Briana Gershenzon, chief design officer, and John Bura, chief construction officer, each bring their unique set of talents to the company, but remain driven by a single purpose: to help home sellers get top-dollar for their home.Rather than simple furniture staging, <a href="https://franchise.renovationsells.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=meet-the-minds-behind-renovation-sells-2715578" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Renovation Sells</a> works directly with real estate agents and homeowners to provide a strategic “nip-and-tuck” rehab that delivers the on-trend looks that today's buyers demand. All without the hassle and expense of a traditional renovation.&nbsp;They’re bringing that same attitude, expertise and focus to the franchising game as they expand their concept nationwide.&nbsp;&nbsp;So take a moment to meet the team and understand what drives them to succeed.<h4>Michael Valente: Co-Founder &amp; Managing Partner</h4>Stuck in the corporate grind as&nbsp;a salesman at a logistics firm, one day Michael had to ask his boss for a day off, and something clicked. He didn’t want to be beholden to others for managing his schedule — let alone his career success. He wanted to control his own destiny.&nbsp;&nbsp;“I’m an entrepreneur at heart,” he says. “I’m built to work for myself. I’m not built to work for anybody else. I like being my own boss.”Swapping his cubicle for a pair of construction boots, Mike leaped feet first into the world of home renovation. Starting with simple kitchen and bath condo jobs. By the time he was 30, he had a real estate broker’s license, was rehabbing houses and working with star designers and decorators on multi-million dollar mansions. Not long after, he opened his own real-estate development company.As a dad of two small children, work-life balance was important — and Mike did not want his work schedule controlling him once again. But more importantly, he also realized something about today’s homebuyers: raised on HGTV's 30-minute rehabs and Instagram, they have what Michael calls an “I-want-it-all attitude.”&nbsp;“People can be turned off by projects or anything that creates and causes more distraction in their already distracted lives. If they don’t see what they want, or think that something is going to be too difficult to achieve, they move on.”So Renovation Sells was born to give buyers exactly what they want and give sellers a way to achieve targeted cosmetic, Instagram-worthy rehabs. “I feel like we're changing the way real estate is sold,” says Valente.<h4>Amanda Valente: Co-Founder &amp; CMO&nbsp;</h4>Amanda, Renovation Sells marketing guru, spearheads communications, branding and marketing.Living in and working from the Chicago suburbs, this 36-year-old mom never thought she’d be entering the world of home rehabs with her husband. That changed when her high-powered corporate job in marketing was losing its allure.“I knew I wasn't going to be in the corporate world forever,” she says. “And I just didn't really want to miss the time at home doing something that I knew was not my end game. It made more sense to work with Mike, and we could focus on creating something we owned.”Bringing a new background and skill set to the business, she was able to quickly see the business with a fresh eye. She immediately realized the traditional construction model was inherently inefficient.&nbsp;“We worked with high-end luxury designers — and the work was gorgeous, but the burnout was real!” Amanda saw the exhaustion and inefficiency created by last-minute designer changes and often-demanding clients,” Amanda recalls.&nbsp;There had to be a better way. How could they do what they loved, but maintain a reasonable work-life balance? Then she had an epiphany.They narrowed their focus to a single key market: People who were ready to put their house on the market, but needed just a few key updates to get it ready. These were upgrades that required more expertise than a handyman could offer, but with less time and expense of an interior designer or general contractor.&nbsp;&nbsp;It seemed like a win-win: they’d be able to have more control over their schedules by offering customers an easy turnkey solution for updating their homes. And overnight, business was booming. There seemed to be no end to the demand of people who needed exactly this solution. But how?“One day, we were talking about the next chapter and I just turned to Mike and said, ‘We really need to franchise this business. We know that it works. And if it works here, it can work anywhere.’ So we didn’t initially set out to franchise, but it just made so much sense. We thought this business deserved to be franchised. It’s something we believe in.”<h4>Briana Gershenzon: Partner &amp; Chief Design Officer</h4>Briana brings the wow factor to the Renovation Sells team. A pivot from her former role designing for luxury residential interiors clients, Briana now focuses on helping owners achieve a fresh, cohesive look guaranteed to generate clicks on the MLS —&nbsp; but without the high-end cost, effort or timetable.“If you’re upgrading your home just to sell it, you don't want to spend hours choosing finishes,” she says. “That’s where we come in.”After five years in corporate marketing, Briana pursued her true passion of interior design. “I always had an eye. Even as a child, I was selecting paint colors for my bedroom and rearranging furniture in our home,” she says.After attending Harrington School of Design in Chicago and working as a design assistant at well-known firms, she started partnering with Michael on high-end projects, as well as developing her own roster of clients.&nbsp;Over time, she developed a strategic eye for what renovations gave sellers the biggest bang for their buck. “I think a lot about the target market,” she says. “We know what the buyers in the price point and the area are looking for.”&nbsp;She helps sellers who are faced with the prospect of undertaking a kitchen update or a bathroom remodel by removing all the uncertainty that comes with an avalanche of choices that they would have to make if they worked with a traditional designer or contractor.&nbsp;“As a new mom, flexibility is important to m,e and the way people work in general is evolving. I have complete control over my schedule and trust from my team the job will be done and done well,” she says. “<h4>John Bura, Chief Construction Officer</h4>As a third-generation contractor, John has been around construction since he was a kid, and he’ll tell you that’s exactly the way he preferred it.&nbsp;“The construction industry has been a part of every phase of my life, even as a kid,” Bura said.&nbsp; “My grandparents were building houses for my parents, and I quickly realized that I didn’t want to be playing with other kids, I wanted to be building with my grandfather.”&nbsp;Bura worked as a contractor and after just one project with the Valentes, he said that’s all it took. Now, after hundreds of projects with the team, he’s excited to bring his experience running crews and identifying and managing quality subcontractors to the franchise opportunity.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Our model is great because it doesn’t require heavy lifting. When you put it all together, it looks like a million-dollar project. I want other people to get the same satisfaction I do from these projects, and that’s possible now with this opportunity.”&nbsp;Bura will assist franchisees with identifying their contracting partners and navigating the world of construction.&nbsp;The total investment necessary to begin the operation of a Renovation Sells franchise ranges from $74,445-$97,824. This includes $50,000 that must be paid to the franchisor. \The brand is actively seeking franchise owners in Illinois. For more information on franchising with Renovation Sells, please visit <a href="https://www.renovationsells.com/franchise?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=meet-the-minds-behind-renovation-sells-2715578" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.renovationsells.com/franchise</a>.

Picture of the founders and partners of Renovation Sells

Meet the Minds Behind Renovation Sells

1851 Franchise

They say teamwork makes the dream work, and that couldn’t reign more true than at Renovation Sells, a company shaking up the world of real estate. Find out how these four home-reno pros combined their individual expertise into one singular mission: to change the way real estate is sold.  

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