Renovation Sells Welcomes Lisa Carrel to the Team as Executive Vice President

With in-depth experience as both a real estate agent and an entrepreneur, Carrel will help support the Renovation Sells system as the franchise brand rapidly expands across the country.

After selling its first franchise units in 2021, Renovation Sells, the forward-thinking presale renovation company, has continued to expand its footprint with entrepreneurs jumping at the opportunity to dominate their local real estate markets — the brand finished Q2 of 2022 with 21 owners in 12 states. Renovations Sells is building out its executive team to help steer growth and continue that impressive momentum. The latest addition is Lisa Carrel as the new Executive Vice President.

Carrel comes from an in-depth background in real estate, spending several years as a broker with @properties handling residential real estate sales on the North Shore of Chicago. After that, Carrel took the entrepreneurial route, starting her own tech hardware and software company with three issued patents. While running the business from 2016 to 2021, she led the start-up through exciting growth, managing a team of software engineers, developing dashboards and collecting interactive data that was sold to clients. 

Carrel was first introduced to the Renovation Sells concept by co-founder Amanda Valente. Over the past year, Carrel says she recognized that the Renovation Sells footprint was rapidly expanding and that there was an exciting opportunity to come in on the ground floor.

“Part of what drew me to the company was that its mission and values are clearly defined,” said Carrel. “I am a relationship seller — I love understanding clients’ needs and bringing a solution that makes them ask: where have you been all my life? Renovation Sells has a product that really fits where the market is headed. People know that renovated homes sell for more. That is indisputable. There is an endless supply of outdated homes, and Renovation Sells identified a problem and created a unique, simple solution. I am really excited thinking about bringing that solution across the country and scaling nationally.”

Carrel officially joined the leadership team as the Executive Vice President earlier this year with the goal of leveraging her background and experience to expand upon the brand’s support infrastructure.

Where most renovation companies focus on custom projects for homeowners looking to upgrade for their own families, Renovation Sells works with real estate agents to update with buyers in mind. The brand streamlines the renovation process through its three core values: relationships with agents, pride in design and a simple business model. Franchisees have every resource they need to provide this service in their own market, including marketing, in-house design, project management technology, and support with every other facet of the business.

“I understand our client and target demographic because I have been a Realtor, and I understand our franchise owners because I have been an entrepreneur,” said Carrel. “As an entrepreneur, you are always selling, whether it be to investors, clients, employees. When I started in this role, I really wanted to define what we were selling and empower our franchisees to better grow their business to the best of their ability. My role is to collaborate with co-founders Mike [Valente, CEO] on the finance side and Amanda on the marketing side and turn all of their big ideas and initiatives into actionable plans.” 

For example, as someone with in-depth knowledge of the tech world, Carrel says one of her big priorities coming into the role is helping Renovation Sells streamline data management and optimize tech processes. 

“We want to make sure all franchisees have up-to-date tools at their disposal and have the training and support to take full advantage of those tools,” said Carrel. “We recently launched a new customer relationship management system, which includes software tools for newsletters, email drips and more. We’ve already done video training, webinars and a live demonstration across all locations.” 

Looking forward, Carrel wants to continue finding new ways to support owners and establish a stronger foothold in the booming renovation industry. 

“Home renovation is hotter than ever — it is a fun industry, and this is an exciting chance to allow others to take control of their own destiny,” said Carrel. “What you put in is what you get out, but I know from experience that it takes a lot to start a business, and we’ve done a lot of the hard work for our owners already. They can take that business model and make it something that is really their own in their local market. We will continue to build out platforms, tackle projects and provide support to ensure our franchisees can become trusted and essential partners with Realtors across the country.”

Now, as Renovation Sells solidifies its foothold as the premier presale renovation brand, the Valentes say they are thrilled to welcome Carrel as Executive Vice President.

“I can’t imagine anyone better suited for this role than Lisa — her deep experience and alignment with the company's core values and culture will be an incredible asset as we move forward,” said the Valentes. “She has worked as a Realtor, she has started her own company, she can relate to both our franchisees and our clients and understand any of the pain points they may have. Now, as we enter growth mode and scale this concept, Lisa will bring that extra insight into ensuring Renovation Sells is as successful as can be in every market we enter.”

Investments for franchise opportunities in the home renovation space can soar well over $200,000. The initial investment to franchise with Renovation Sells ranges from $78,208 to $101,142, including a $50,000 franchise fee making it much lower than most competitors. For more information, please visit https://franchise.renovationsells.com/.