Meet our agents
BIO
Colleen Jelley
Since moving to Carrboro in 1992, I have held down home base for my pilot husband, raised our daughter, worn many hats at a nationally known leadership firm, immersed myself in the community, started three businesses, and become a die-hard Carolina fan. A 15-year collaboration with a NC broker/property manager on numerous Chapel Hill rental and investment properties reignited my interest in real estate and taught me a great deal about our local market, property maintenance and repair, and dealing with renters, buyers and sellers.
Making the transition back to real estate, I created Carolina Staging & Redesign to help clients achieve their goals. Now, as a Broker at Franklin Street Realty, my goal is to help you and your family navigate whatever transition you’re facing by understanding your needs, timeline, and priorities.
With a strong work ethic, solid project management, communication and organization skills (also a NC Notary Public) I can help you. Whether you are a long-time resident or new to the area, I am ready to guide you through your next real estate adventure.
Give me a call at (919) 619-2335. Let’s talk!
BIO
Beth Louden
Dear ol' Dad sparked my interest in real estate with his motto, "You are a nomad until you own real property."
He purchased a piece of real estate for each of us four kids when we were born and sold it sixteen or so years later to help pay for our college educations. In 1978, he helped me buy my first home in Chapel Hill. I was an immediate convert to his motto and have lived the American Dream ever since.
When it was time for new digs, I looked for a real estate agent who would treat me like a friend or family member. I chose a Franklin Street Real Estate Agent to sell my beloved first home (in four days, by the way) and help me find a new one.
Dear ol' Dad showed up after closing, said "I'm proud of you" and set about busily planting a beautiful herb and vegetable garden in our side yard. My husband and I still plant one every spring and fall.
When the opportunity arose to join Franklin Street Realty as an agent and put my "inherited motto" to work, I knew I would fit right in. The folks here at Franklin Street are very busy, very caring, and aren't a bit afraid of having a little fun along the way. I feel right at home-you will, too.
Let me spark your interest in real estate. You know I'll dig a little deeper.
BIO
Paula Hoge
As a Chapel Hill resident since the 80's, I’ve watched our town change and grow, much like my own children. During my time here, I’ve been involved in the community in many ways. I’ve volunteered at the schools, installed gardens, designed and sold spirit wear, and performed with area choirs and drama productions. As a triathlon participant and supporter, I’ve learned all the best places to swim, bike, run and walk in our beautiful area. My real estate career allows me to make the most of these diverse connections, serving everyone from first time home-buyers to downsizers and retirees. For me, it is a privilege to help someone navigate a life transition that involves buying or selling their home. I pride myself on offering a customized approach to suit my clients' individual needs and interests. Franklin Street Realty, with our reputation as local real estate experts, gives me the freedom and the support I need to provide quality service to my clients.
BIO
Eric White
I’m a Tar Heel by birth. I spent the first 20 years of my life in Chapel Hill and after the second 20 years – mostly spent on Hilton Head Island and traveling much of the world – I finally found my way back home. I love this town and I am deeply rooted.
I ran a successful marketing and design company on Hilton Head Island which focused on real estate companies, developers and builders. This experience afforded me excellent knowledge for working as a licensed real estate Broker.
Through my consultative approach, I will help you define, prioritize, and manage the efficiency you are seeking in your home buying or selling experience. Call me today at 919.360.2935 to discuss your Triangle real estate needs.
BIO
James Blackburn
The variety of people in the area & the variety of houses available always amazes me. I have sold everything from a chateau in Chapel Hill, to an 1850’s historic home in Hillsborough, to a double-wide in Durham. Big or small, old or new, first-time buyers or old hats, it's always a lot of fun helping people find their new home or sell their old one.
I was born in Melbourne, Australia, and grew up in Oxford, England, (which explains the accent!) I moved to Chapel Hill more than 20 years ago, and have spent the last seven with Franklin Street Realty. I have a love of travel that has taken me across the globe from New Zealand to Nepal, and while I know something of what the rest of the world looks like, somehow I always find my way back to Chapel Hill.
As one of the area’s only professional real estate photographers, I also understand the importance of presenting property at its best and the value of excellent marketing. My work has appeared in The New York Times Real Estate Section and Unique Homes magazine, and is frequently featured in local publications. You are welcome to view my portfolio at www.jamesblackburnphotography.com.
Whether you’re interested in buying or selling, moving up or paring down, I'd love to meet with you and see if I can help. Just remember —
James Knows Homes!
BIO
Kevin Cohan
Having lived here forever, I can certainly attest to what a great place the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area is to live, and that includes Chatham County and Durham. I grew up along the high banks of Morgan Creek and the UNC Botanical Garden. My father was a Professor at the UNC Business School and my Mom worked in the ticket office at Carmichael Auditorium (the old Dean Dome) and then the Dean Dome (thanks for all those great tix Mom!). Over the years, I've spent time living in town, on the fringes, and in the country, and loved them all for their different lifestyle experiences.
From my days attending public school & Durham Academy, to those at UNC and as a professional, it has been a fantastic ride. I've always had a penchant for the surrounding real estate and I've spent many weekends driving around the area checking out the latest new homes and developments and keeping up with what's happening in the older neighborhoods.
If you are into golf (everywhere), skiing (hey, its not Vail, but you can get a fix), yoga (several great centers), working out (several gyms and the great outdoors), charity work ( I do Relay for Life ) or just meeting good people, this is the place.
I came to real estate after spending the first part of my professional life as a sales engineer with a telecom company in the Research Triangle Park, and then as the General Partner of private stock and currency trading enterprises. Many years of successful but solitary days at my computer left me feeling that I was missing something, despite the heady and exciting nature of trading.
That's where Franklin Street Realty and you come in! The best realty company in town, and you, the best client I could have. Give me a call and let me help you through the process of buying or selling a home, lot, or acreage. I will do everything I can to make it an enjoyable, low stress experience for you.
BIO
Dave Bennett
I’ve moved a lot. A lot. My folks liked to move every 2 years or so, and as an adult I’ve followed the same trend. Even before I was in real estate, I was in real estate. I’m rather new to the profession but I’ve already seen it all. I’ve been a buyer, a seller, an amateur inspector, a full-time builder, a handyman, a landlord, a renter, a property manager, an air conditioning salesman, a crawlspace specialist, a Zillow junkie, and HGTV binge watcher, occasional flipper, and a generally enthusiastic person in general. I Graduated from UNC in 2004 and I’ve lived in Chapel Hill, Durham, Pittsboro, and Carrboro ever since. In my youth I lived in Wake, Alamance, Granville, and Vance county as well so I’m happy to search far and wide with you.
If you have any questions or just vague curiosity regarding the market where you live, rental property as an investment, purchasing land for a doomsday bunker, selling your current home, buying a fixer upper, tackling a major renovation, becoming a turn-key landlord to college students whose parents pay way too much to help them rent a “nice house”, or anything else real-estate related, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. If you manage to stump me I’m extremely happy to pester my veteran colleagues at Franklin Street Realty until I find out exactly what you need to know.
It is my hope to become the most full-service real estate agent I can be. I collect staging furniture when I can. If you need to move on a day your movers can’t be there I’ll round up a few friends to help. If need to borrow a few large paintings or fix a drippy sink before you go on market, I’m as on top of it as I can be. Want me to meet the inspectors for you, babysit your painters, get you multiple estimates on upgrades before you list; I’m there. My hope is to make buying and selling with me the smoothest best experience in your real estate life. If I can help you in any way don’t be afraid to ask.
BIO
Jenny Wears
When you have been selling homes for 20 years, you learn a lot about what is really involved in finding and closing on a home. I love the challenge of locating the perfect fit for a buyer, as well as a grateful thank you from my sellers at closing.
My background in interior design helps both my buyers and sellers visualize the best use of space and features of a home.
As someone with a trained eye. I can help you find just the right house or help you prepare your home for sale.
"Jenny is delightful to work with. She is always professional in her demeanor while being attuned to clients' needs. She has a great sense of humor, which can help put clients at ease while going through the process of buying or selling real estate. Her innate creativity can help clients see possibilities which they might otherwise miss." MB
Jenny Wears was simply remarkable in her work with us, both selling and buying in the Chapel Hill/Durham area. She followed our leads perfectly seeming to intuit our wishes, and patiently assisted us in getting to know neighborhood options and sales figures with her extensive knowledge of both communities.
In selling, she gave us essential advice about preparing for sale without overdoing it, and, when it came to negotiations, greatly simplified our response to the inspection report.
In buying, her insightful recommendations and network of contacts helped us to see houses in our chosen neighborhoods that hadn't yet hit the market. For an old house, her attention to detail in ordering and review of inspections saved us from several disasters that we could not have foreseen.
As part of our house search process, she worked collaboratively with a "for sale by" owner who floundered and made several missteps eventually costing him a sale. It ended up as a perfect illustration of the value of the nuanced understanding some realtors have in the complex process of navigating the biggest transactions in most people's lives. Jenny has it in spades. We wouldn't want to buy or sell without her." J.J.
I highly recommend Jenny Wears to anybody selling their house. She gave us very professional advice on setting the asking price and the timing of putting it on the market.
She helped us with the repairs by bringing in qualified people and then overseeing the various projects.
She was fully committed to us and our property. She led us through the whole legal process and all the paperwork.
She sold the house in two months and we were very grateful for that! C.G. September 2018
BIO
Bill Bracey
I am one of many Chapel Hill recidivists—came for school, left for a cup of coffee, found a reason to return to one of the best places to live anywhere. I had my coffee in the San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland and Berkeley). The Bay Area is great, but emigration is easy from Berkeley to Chapel Hill.
I first came to Chapel Hill in 1978, putting myself through school working nights as a bartender and later as a chicken sexer on a Chatham County poultry farm. I did my few years on the Coast, and have been in real estate here full time since 1987. In 1992 I started Arbor Realty, which I still run as a property management concern, but happily joined Franklin Street Realty in 2010 for support in listing and sales work.
Chapel Hill & Carrboro have seen a steep growth curve in the last three decades, and we are becoming a mature community. By that I mean that there is little land left to develop given political boundaries, protected watershed and the self imposed rural buffer. (an exception is the thousand acre tract known as Carolina North, north of Estes Drive and west of MLK). Most development from now on will be infill and re-development of underutilized land. The downtown Greenbridge and 140 West Franklin projects are harbingers of this new paradigm. This type of dense residential development promises to burnish our already stellar downtown restaurant scene.
Chapel Hill is a corner of the conurbation known as The Research Triangle. It is the smallest of the anchor communities, but has the loveliest patina. There are gracious antebellum homes lining the Franklin Street entrance to downtown, and many fine examples of the Modernist style are scattered around the neighborhoods peripheral to the UNC campus. (The Triangle is third behind L.A. and Chicago in numbers of Modernist homes) There is a lot of other interesting residential architecture here alongside the white bread. I myself live in a converted French handcuff factory that I had dismantled in Marseille, shipped here and re-assembled on Hillsborough Street by Jean Valjean under the fatherly supervision of the Town of Chapel Hill's Inspector Javert.
As one would expect in a town with a major university, cultural opportunities are abundant, and almost all of the music, theatrical, art, dance, social, educational and environmental institutions provide avenues for active volunteer involvement. As a certified tree hugger, I have served as president of the N.C. Botanical Garden Foundation, a board member of the Triangle Land Conservancy and the Greenways Commission, the Orange County Economic Development Commission, and am active in the local Sierra Club.
I find this place easy to love, and would like to put my enthusiasm to work for you in buying or selling real estate. Since the avaricious amongst us brought the financial world to its knees in 2007, real estate transactions have become somewhat thrilling. My job is to make finding the right house or the right buyer fun, and the actual transaction as boring as possible.
If you have a sense of humor and like what you see here, please call. I'd love to have a chance to work with you. Email me at bill_bracey@yahoo.com
BIO
Suzy Armstrong
Over 22 years ago, my second long-distance move in a few years led me to the decision that Chapel Hill was to be my permanent home. After several decades of working and traveling for clients, I “retired” from environmental consulting for the Federal government and chose to enter the Chapel Hill real estate market to transfer my skills to a more local arena and use my personal and professional experiences to help others make life-changing moves.
My youngest daughter started kindergarten in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro school system and is now in graduate school so I’m familiar with the school system and have the greatest respect for our hard-working teachers. My older children and grandchildren all moved here from other states and are enjoying getting to know what the Triangle lifestyle is all about. My grandchildren are in the Orange County School System so I’m getting familiar with those schools as well.
Since moving here I’ve gotten involved in our community and am continually amazed by the diversity and interests that our population represents. I’m into rescuing dogs and children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. I've served on the Board of Directors and volunteered for years with animal non-profits, as a Guardian ad Litem in the Orange/Chatham court system, as a member of the United Church of Chapel Hill, and P.E.O. North Carolina Chapter AT. I also volunteer with the American Red Cross and the Orange/Durham Habitat for Humanity Restore.
Chapel Hill and Durham real estate markets are vibrant and dynamic and we at Franklin Street Realty have the pulse of this area firmly in our grip. My greatest reward is to smooth those stressful transitions to new places. Whether you're interested in Orange, Durham, Chatham or surrounding counties, I’ll help you sell your home or find a new home that best suits your needs.
BIO
Robert Huls
I moved to North Carolina in 1981, straight out of college, and have lived happily in the Triangle area ever since, first in Durham, then Raleigh and now, for the past 16 years, in Chapel Hill.
I have been honored to help many buyers and sellers in my ten years as a realtor. If you are thinking about buying or selling a home, please give me a call at (919) 883-7893. Or you can reach me at roberthuls@bellsouth.net.
BIO
Fran Richmod
I am a long term resident in the area with more than 21 years experience in listing & selling residential Real Estate in Orange, Chatham and Durham Counties. I'm also a Graduate of the Real Estate Institute.
I have two grown children who have begun their own careers after attending both Chapel Hill/Carrboro City and private schools in this area. They took advantage of all the wonderful activities, sports, arts, dance and music offered in the area as well as the NC University Systems.
I have continued my commitment to children, as well as the community as a court appointed advocate for abused children in the Guardian ad Litem program. In my spare time, I developed a strong interest in Yoga and have become a certified Yoga instructor.
Prior to moving to this area in 1980, I was raised in the Philadelphia area and attended Rutgers University where I majored in counseling, which helped to sharpened my listening skills and coping skills. As a result I can gently guide you through today's real estate world.
Whether buying or selling a house, I will take the time to understand and provide you with informed counsel and all the time you need to make a comfortable decision.
I work hard to make sure the transaction goes smoothly and that in the end, you are happy.
BIO
Bryan Gibson
The Chapel Hill music scene called out to me in the early 1990's, and I obeyed:
Plan A - Play in bands and make tens of dollars.
Plan B - Open a vintage guitar shop and meet and play with many of the great musicians in town and be around beautiful old instruments.
I still own an online music business, and I'm happy to talk about your old Gibson, as well as that old house that needs some updates, or the allure of a shiny, new house.
Having bought and renovated several houses, I'm one of those realtors who will go to the attic or under the house to look at joists and insulation. I take note what direction the house faces or the leaning pine tree about to fall. Structural integrity is crucial. Look beyond the façade to see what the bones are. I can help you to get beyond the numbers to find the house that you have been looking for or to help you find a buyer for your current home.
BIO
Mary Suttle
Listing and selling real estate in Chapel Hill, Durham, Orange County, Durham County, eastern Alamance County and northern Chatham County has been a rewarding career for many years. It’s given me an opportunity to meet people from all over the world and help them achieve their real estate goals, whether selling a house or buying a home.
Even though I have credentials as a Certified Residential Specialist and Graduate of the Realtors® Institute, being a successful real estate agent is much more than earning pieces of paper. It means that sellers and buyers have an advocate who cares about them as well as the community and has the resources, skills, ability and experience to help them complete their real estate goals.
I’ve relocated many times and know first-hand the stresses involved in moving across town as well as across the country. When it’s time for you to relocate and sell your current home or buy a new one, I hope you’ll think of me.
BIO
Sammy Martin
It's doubtful that anyone's first career is in real estate. I went to Wake Forest University in the mid 70s, and played tennis there for 4 years, thinking that I was to be a great teacher and writer. The English Dept pointed out that I could earn a living in shorts, probably a nice way of saying I was on the wrong path. I played the ATP circuit for a while, eventually landing as Tennis Director at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club. Ever had 600 bosses? It's too many. Local real estate guru hears that local Tennis Pro has gotten his license over the winter and bingo … a new job.
That was 1983. I have never regretted it. Realtors in Chapel Hill are a bit different. I don't feel like I am selling anything; I am just continually introducing people to a town and lifestyle that I am excited about and amazed by every day. There is very little difference in the joy people experience when they find the house they are going to buy and the thrill they get from finally hitting 3 balls in a row over the net, and realizing that it's not a fluke. You never tire of helping people find that.
As Broker in Charge, I promise that you will value the experience you have with any of us at Franklin St. Realty. Call the office at 919.929.7174 and just chat up whoever is there or my cell is 919.608.3417.
