Client Testimonials

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Buyers

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Moving Back Home:

May 29, 2009

When we started our search for a home in Rutherfordton, we had a short time window to make our decision. We knew we needed a real estate partner to make it happen.

You made our search so easy! In your attentiveness and attention to detail, You listened to our wants and needs, and presented homes to us that were perfect for our desires. We could not have done it with out you! Moreover, in our experience with you, we not only gained a knowledgeable partner to help us in our real estate endeavors – we gained a friend. In today’s real estate market, you really need an experienced real estate professional, and we would certainly recommend you to anyone that will be looking for a home in the Rutherford County area.

Aaron & Haley Perry

Rutherfordton, NC 28139

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Building a Dream Home:

February 4, 2009

Charles,

I have attached some pictures of the new house for you to see now that were finished with the build. You were so wonderful to help and show me all those floor plans and then get me in touch with a builder that could actually make those plans become a reality. I really do appreciate all your hard work and assistance. I keep your cards in my desk and I send you as many referrals as I can.

Again, thanks for all the help!

Erin C. Hooper
Associate Agent Rutherford County Farm Bureau
828-287-2428 Phone

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First Time Buyers:

November 13, 2008

Charles made it easy buying our first home. He was dependable and helped us with every aspect of our purchase. I would definately recommend his services for anyone in the market for buying a home.

Chad & Megan Hensley

Forest City, NC 28043

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Time for Retirement:

September 15, 2008

Living in sunny Florida for the past 6 years and thinking this would be our home even after retirement was wrong. One of our girls moved to Rutherfordton with her family. We made several trips to visit and reconsidered our retirement plans.  We drove around the area and liked what we saw.

We started researching the area, checked the MLS frequently. We found a house we liked on line and asked my daughter to meet with the broker who held the listing for that house. She did, took many pictures and sent them to me. I had several questions regarding the house, it was very old and I had many concerns. I sent a list of questions to the broker who in turn forwarded them to the owner . I received answers to some of the questions as well as quite a few “unknown” and “did not know” answers. My thoughts “ What, you own the house and don’t know how old it is, or what type of electrical service is there currently, is the house insulated…”..that was just not good enough.

I continued searching on line and found a property that appealed to me.  I contacted the broker and had a lovely conversation with a woman who took my number and told me Charles Burgess, her son, was going to call me with that information. And so he did. I explained to Charles what we were looking for; he in turn asked many questions to find out our likes and dislikes. He sent me many online properties that he thought would meet our needs, in some instances he sent us the site plans and particulars about a subdivision.

We scheduled a meeting with Charles. We drove to NC from Florida and he was ours exclusively. He spent entire days and even weekends showing us house after house. As it turns out, we fell in love with two homes. Each one needing some work. We were out of time and had to return home and so we did. On our trip home, we discussed in detail the pros and cons of each house.

Primarily, what each house would entail to make it our own. After many years of working, and renovating one home and doing a remodel to another, my husband just was not up for a major remodel. Oh okay, a paint job, or some minor landscaping, but no more kitchens or baths. After discussing with Charles about this he suggested we look into building a house. I always thought that would be totally out of the question, but he gave me some insight into the process.

Shortly later on that same month, we drove up to NC again. This time to look for property. Charles took us out again and brought us to several subdivisions both new and old. He also brought us to several builders’ model houses to show us the type of workmanship they provide as well as to answer any questions we may have about their building process.

Charles took us to a community with beautiful mountain vistas amongst tall pines and we were awe struck. We now own that lovely homesite and look forward to having our home built. The process for buying the property was painless. Charles took care of everything and answered all our questions. We are still in contact with Charles and my only wish is that he could sell our property here in Florida! Now wouldn’t that be grand!

We would recommend (and have) Charles Burgess for all your real estate needs.

Sincerely,
Bob and Gail Riegger
Holiday, Florida

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Planting New Roots:

August 30, 2008

Over the last 25 years, I have lived in many different locations.  For that reason, I have bought and sold several different houses.  I have had the opportunity to work with many different realtors.  I can honestly say that Charles Burgess worked harder for me than any I have ever dealt with.

He quickly came to an understanding of my situation and what my needs were.  He was willing to work around my already busy schedule to show me houses at my convenience.  Once the buying decision was made, he moved the process along quickly and efficiently coordinating such things as appraisals and inspections. Even after the closing, he was a tremendous help to me in resolving a couple of issues I had with the property.

To this day I know that if I needed his help with any real estate matter, I could call him and get a prompt response.  When and if the time comes for me to sell my present house, I will list it with Charles.  I would have full confidence that everything possible was being done to help me sell the house.  I would definitely recommend Charles to anyone buying or selling real estate in Rutherford County.

Bill Morris

Rutherfordton, NC 28139

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Relocating Closer to Family:

August 15, 2008

We first met Charles in October, 2007. We were looking for a Realtor we could feel comfortable with to be our eyes and ears in North Carolina. We were doing our home search long distance from Pennsylvania via the internet and MLS listings! We sent him a list of our criteria and MLS listings we would like to get additional information on. He advised which fit the criteria and suggested additional homes in the area. He researched the homes and neighborhoods very accurately for us because he knew we didn’t have much time to look once we visited.

When we finally did come to North Carolina to personally look, we had one week to find that dream property and make an offer. The expertise Charles showed was invaluable. He spent two solid days showing Maggie homes we had requested to see, and then additional ones which he suggested we should also consider. At the end of the week when Lee flew down, we re-visited those which were on our short list. It turned out that the winner was a home which Charles had suggested we look at and it was love at first sight! We both loved it, the neighborhood and the view. We made an offer over the weekend, had it accepted on Sunday, and were on a plane home to Pennsylvania on Monday to begin packing.

We moved into our new home in mid-December, but Charles was a constant source of information and help prior to the closing. He tried to make everything as simple as possible with the paperwork for the closing, or we would call and ask – “who would you recommend as an inspector, a plumber, an electrician, a surveyor, etc.” All of his recommendations were fantastic and he was never too busy to help us out. His help didn’t stop there – even after the settlement, Charles was there to guide us to additional services as we needed. He was a friendly face in a strange neighborhood.

We would highly recommend Charles (and have) to anyone looking to purchase, or sell, a home. He is very willing to “go the extra mile” all the while looking out for the interests of his clients.

Lee & Maggie Tice

Ellenboro, NC

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First Time Buyers:

October 26, 2007

As first time homebuyers, my husband and I were a little bit apprehensive about making such a major decision. Thanks to Charles, the homebuying process was made a lot simpler and a lot less intimidating.

He made sure he explained each step of the process, while answering all of the questions we had in an EXTREMELY timely manner (normally within 24 hours). During the final stages of the closing process, he volunteered to assist us in anyway needed by agreeing to pick up or drop off the needed paperwork, and make phone calls on our behalf.

We now have a wonderful home, and a pleasant experience along with it. He comes highly recommended to anyone looking to buy or sell their home. We look forward to working with him in the future on our next home transaction!

Shawn & Alesha Logan
Ellenboro, NC

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Sellers

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First Time Sellers:

December 17, 2008

RE: Charles Burgess – Washburn Real Estate, Inc.
Sale of Property @150 Asheland Drive, Ellenboro, NC 28040

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Washburn Real Estate and our agent Charles Burgess for the sale of our first home. As with all big decisions making processes we studied and researched all the information possible before making a choice of which company and realtor to use for the sale of our first purchased home. We had lived there for over 17 years and had put a lot of our heart and soul into making it our home and we wanted to choose a realtor that would promote that as a selling point. After checking out all the local competition and speaking with many different brokers we chose Charles Burgess. We chose Charles because we felt like he was the best opportunity we had to present our home the way we thought it should be marketed.

Most prospective home buyers are using every tool available to find their perfect home, and they are using the internet for most of these tools. When we were searching for the right broker and the right company to deal with we wanted our home to stand out in a market where it would have the best chance to excel. Charles Burgess gave our home that chance.

From the beginning of the service to after the sale we could not have asked for a more professional, knowledgeable, and dedicated real estate broker. Charles spent countless hours preparing the sale of our home and even more time answering the questions that only newcomers to the real estate world would ask. We learned a lot from our sale experience and we appreciated having Charles to guide us along the way. We have referred Charles to all our friends and encouraged them to at least sit down and talk with him before they choose which broker they will use for their real estate needs. Some of these friends have already listed and sold with Charles.

We could not have been more pleased with our first real estate sale and we owe it all to Charles Burgess and Washburn Real Estate for a job well done.

Thanks again,
Brad & Tammy Joyner

Ellenboro, NC

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Experienced Sellers w/ Growing Family:

August 12, 2008

Re: Charles Burgess and Washburn Real Estate, Inc

After several months of planning and preparation, we were ready to sell our home. Charles was the last of four agents to come do a walkthrough and take measurements and give his recommendations. My wife and I discussed it thoroughly and decided he was the one for the job. One of his initial quotes to me on our couch was, “You could choose to GIVE your listing to another agent, but you will know that I have WORKED and EARNED the job of representing you”.

I verbally agreed to let him list our home, and before I signed anything, I kept up with his hours spent taking pictures and measuring, and working on the listing on the computer. He put in nearly 20 hours. We did make it official and sign all the necessary paperwork, and every night my wife and I discussed what he was doing and how well. We were excited to see the end result and the listing he was creating.

In the meantime, he was still working on finding us some more property to build on or a house worth the renovation to sell again, as that is what I told him we would do. Within 6 weeks we had our home sold, and within two weeks after that another one was under contract for us to buy and remodel.

The whole process was flawless and worry free. He took care of ALL the details as he said he would do. He still stays in contact on a regular basis on our remodel project to make sure all is going well and see if there is anything he can do. He has endless ideas and input, a lot of which we have used.

I have recommended him to everyone talking about real estate, and will continue to do so.

His work is exceptional, his website was even better. (View the Duncan’s Micro-Site). He is a smart young man who understands the market, and understands that his compensation depends on doing things right the first time.

We would be happy to answer any questions about him or his agency by phone, email, or in person. Let him work for you and that is exactly what he will do, and you will probably have a new friend afterwards too.

Sincerely,
Chevis & Jennifer Duncan

[mobile : 828.429.5095]

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Agents/Colleagues

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August 17, 2008

Brent and Charles,

I wanted to follow up from the 2 showings I did on 2 of your properties this weekend, but first I would like to pass on a couple of comments or observations.

My dealings with both of you were extremely professional and pleasant and it was a real pleasure to deal with you over the weekend.  I do not show a lot of property in Rutherford County, but I was assisting an agent I hired about a year ago and took on the mission of showing her client property in your area and I am not overly familiar with your area.  My positive experience started with a call to Charles to inquire about 1 property this client wanted to look at and Charles was very prompt on replying to my call and in a detailed email, offered up several other properties that fit price, size and acreage almost to the tee.  That was very helpful and then after getting over into your area, I had MLS Sheets that had a couple of homes that were close fits to what we started to look at, but I had not set up showings on.

Brent, you were extremely responsive to my calls and very, very helpful with directions and explanation in getting these showings setup.

I was President of the Hendersonville Board of Realtors in 2006, still serve on the Western North Carolina Regional MLS Board and the Hendersonville Board of Directors and I wish all of our agents put forth the effort you guys did to get your listings shown and offered up for showings and at least an opportunity to get sold.  It was refreshing to see the effort you put forth.

The agent that I was covering for tries to show property in your area and I have gently attempted to advise her to refer this type of client out to experts such as you guys when clients want to look at property outside of her area of expertise.  I can assure you that if I have the opportunity to show property in your area, either of you will be at the top of my list.  Thank you for your efforts.

I will try to advise you as to what happens with this client and I can assure you that if I ever have a request to show property in Rutherford County, you guys are at the top of my list, which now includes just you two.  Thanks again, keep up the very professional job that you did this weekend.

Sincerely,
Steven R. Dozier

Prudential Beacon Realty, Hendersonville, NC