Margaret Crayé - Testimonials

I really liked that she gave me space and time to make my decision. She is the realtor you need.

When things didn't go as planned she was there to help us navigate the unexpected. We wholeheartedly recommend Margaret and will use her again if needed!

We throughly enjoyed working with her. Margaret is honest, kind and doesn’t pressure her clients. She gave us great info about the lake and what to look for in a property that would suit our lifestyle and needs. We definitely recommend working with Margaret!

When you're trying to sell and buy simulatiously we think the world revolves around us and Margaret would always make herself available to support my dreams, calm my fears, and talk me off the ledge of real estate and the ensuing moving chaos. She loved my kids and my kids loved her. She endured my pessimism and was undaunted by my pursuit of the next perfect house. We drove EVERYWHERE. We literally viewed a home during a tornado!! We talked, we text, we messaged, Facebooked, and emailed. The pictures on my for sale home were so beautiful even I wanted to buy my own house again. They shown every angle in amazing light on a perfect sunny day with outstanding aerial views. We had a contract in 2 weeks. After viewing 80000 homes we ran across a house under construction I knew I HAD to have. We called the builder and paperwork was done in a matter of days. Margaret left no stone unturned and no task was too small. Im the worst kind of student. I am a teacher. I am the worst kind of maintenance. I think I'm low-maintenance but I'm really high-maintenance. She was not dismayed; catering to a couple who found it difficult to see eye-to-eye on needs vs. wants and location. More than a realtor she became a friend and I'm thankful for the Wonder Woman she is.

She kept us on track for our goals, and worked to get us what we needed, and when we needed. We could not ask for a better fit for our family and we love her enthusiasm for and knowledge of the lake area. When we decide to buy and sell again - which we will - it will be with Margaret.

She worked very hard to accommodate our requests even with the short notices we often had. We were uncertain about what we were looking for and some 40 houses later we ended up purchasing a house that she had selected early in our search. We hope she will stay in touch and join us for an occasional glass of wine while enjoying the mountain views overlooking Smith Mountain Lake.

She did a staging along with a professional photographer to ensure we got a large audience to view it and get is SOLD!

Her thorough and timely responses to our questions made us feel like our home search was her top priority. Margaret is honest, knowledgeable, straightforward, and NOT pushy. She worked around our busy schedule and proactively sought out properties she thought we would like to make our limited time more efficient. We would work with Margaret again in a heartbeat.

She was knowledgeable, resourceful, timely and always on top of the details. One word - exceptional service and will commend her to anyone looking to buy or sell.

We hired Margaret because of her success in selling other homes in our neighborhood. Our house had been on the market for many months when we hired Margaret. She told us exactly what we would need to do to sell the house (which did not include lowering the price!) With our blessing, she took over the process to manage everything that needed to get done to get our house ready for showing in a very short time. She did anything and everything to stay true to our agreed upon timeline! Margaret is also very creative and came up with a clever twist for our video home tour that literally resulted in thousands of views. The most important result: Our home sold three weeks after listing! We were blown away by Margaret’s ability to get the job done. Margaret instilled a great deal of trust in us from the beginning. We did not question her suggestions and I believe our sale in such a short period of time was due to letting Margaret help us with decisions and then do what she does best – marketing our home and closing a deal. We are grateful for her help and refer her at every chance we get. You won’t be disappointed!

....wonderful, fantastic, impressive, excellent are but a few. She was on the ball ALL the time...even through Christmas/New Years holiday. Anyone at all looking for a realtor in that area will not get the same results with any other realtor but Margaret. I could go on and on if I could find the words......just know that she is totally the best.

Living three hours away we wanted to see as much as we could when visiting. Margaret was very accommodating on short notice. She spent many hours coordinating our visits, with a deep knowledge of the inventory. She also provided us detailed market data and analysis, which I personally appreciated very much, very reassuring to understand what the market has been doing. With many years of living at SML and working with realty, Margaret's experience and input really helped my wife and I weigh a difficult build-vs-buy decision. Margaret was genuinely focused on our getting what would make us happiest. We recommend Margaret wholeheartedly.

Aside from professional photos and help in staging our home we got a quick sale.

She is a consummate professional. She is committed, diligent, and detail-oriented. Margaret ruthlessly advocates for her client and is zealous in making sure every item that needs to be addressed is taken care of. She even stepped in to make things right when the seller's agent dropped the ball. I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Margaret for any real estate needs.

We got very discouraged because he didn't seem to hear what we were saying. My dad noted that Margaret was selling a property on his street and that his neighbor seemed to be really impressed with her. We checked her out and instantly knew she was the one for us. Margaret's approach isn't salesy, she listens and she has vision. We needed vision because we were looking for a fixer upper and she had the perfect one. We would both recommend Margaret to anyone looking for a genuine experience from someone who knows their stuff.

Margaret is extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and professional. Recently, we had the pleasure of working with her. We quickly learned, Margaret is well-informed of the lake communities and she has a number of excellent local contacts. This helped us greatly when selling and buying our homes. We were pleased with the professional pictures and videos that were taken of our property. They were impressive! We were also appreciative of her time. She always responded in a timely manner and was easy to work with. We highly recommend her if you are looking for a dependable realtor. She provided us with the resources we needed; making it a seamless process.

Margaret then helped me find and preview homes that met the overall description I had spoken with her about. During the time we worked together, I found Margaret to be highly knowledgeable of the real estate market and profession as a whole and extremely versed in the present day real estate market in the greater Roanoke and Smith Mountain Lake area. I subsequently found and with Margaret's help purchased a home that met my needs and desires. Over the span of my life I have bought and sold seven (7) homes and used 9-10 different realtors in different locations throughout the USA. Margaret was hands down the best realtor I have ever used and been associated with. She is highly knowledgeable, motivated, friendly and just overall a pleasure to work with.

She was willing to meet with us at our convenience. She was able to provide various contractors and to offer reliable sources in the community

Margaret was listed as a Smith Mountain Lake agent so honestly we just clicked and she called us within an hour. We were very very lucky because she was absolutely perfect as an agent. She knew the area very well and helped us navigate to the right home on the lake that was in our price range and was exactly what we were looking for. In the middle of our search I got the flu and was out of commission for almost 3 weeks. She was compassionate and said call me when you feel better. We settled yesterday!

I'd say that Margaret is a dedicated chief "JAG negotiator" born into the profession. She's shrewd and meticulous with all the paperwork and tirelessly catered to my every need throughout the short sale house from Hell that we just HAD to have (after a couple of other houses we found fell through). We had quite an adventure from a wacky for sale by owner tour from another planet, through cross county drives, to a fabulous lunch, 70,000 repairman referrals, and another agent with no desire to ever sell a house or communicate much of anything of importance. She stayed on top of the ball the entire time... even trekking through yards of wet grass in her fabulous high heels because she knew we had an obsession with the yard and land surrounding our prospective properties first and foremost. While my eyes widened on houses out of our price range, she kept us focused on the goal of living debt free. It takes all kinds of kinds to work with people, especially those of us who are a kind all our own. Love us some Margaret. Thank you!!!!

Margaret's knowledge of the area along with her friendly and professional work ethics made it easy to communicate from another state. Margaret let us take all the time we needed and showed us several houses until we found the right one to call home. I will recommend Margaret to anyone looking to buy or sell property.

We are grateful we were lucky enough to find Margaret to guide us thru the process. Being new to the community, our questions were endless & she helped calm our fears and made us feel so welcome! Margaret was diligent in helping us find the perfect property and we are so thankful to her for assistance -- needless to say, we highly recommend her for any real estate transaction in the SML area.

After having our offer accepted, the home was found to have extensive, costly problems which resulted in termination of the contract. Margaret's professionalism in the negotiations as well as communication with us was exemplary. Without hesitation we contacted Margaret 6 months later and purchased our home. More than anything, Margaret offered sound advice applicable to any purchase/selling of a home as well as caring for the client versus the transaction.

She was very pleasant and easy to work with when buying our house. She listened to what we wanted and provided additional suggestions that fit our personalities and lifestyle. In the end she helped us close on our perfect lake home and even provided suggestions and tips on a few businesses to help with home services.

She handled many details locally (home inspection, HVAC vendor, etc.) when we were not available to handle them ourselves. Throughout the process, she was readily available to answer questions and she worked very well with the seller's agent. We would definitely use Margaret again were we to buy a home in the Smith Mountain Lake area of Virginia.

She was patient and worked with us over a length of time until we found our home. She looked out for us and represented our interests throughout the transaction. We highly recommend Margaret.

She is very knowledgeable of the lake and it’s surrounding area. If there are questions or concerns with a property, Margaret will get you the answer you need in a timely and professional manner. I would highly recommend her skills as a realtor when looking for a property. She is really just a great person to work with.

As a first time home buyer, she went through the whole process with me and made sure I had no questions. She explained the contract and wanted to make sure I understood what I was signing. Even when issues came up, she made sure to take swift action in keeping us on track to close on time. After closing, she even sent me a gift card to help with the cost of a washer and dryer set since they were nonoperational. I will definitely use Margaret for any future home purchases I plan to make!

Margaret has vast knowledge of the lake community which makes her an extremely successful and effective broker. I can’t say enough about her professionalism and knowledge within the industry. She has high integrity and is very conscientious, always keeping the client’s best interests in mind. My real estate purchase was a small transaction relative to the size of properties and transactions Margaret normally handles but she treated me with the same professionalism and courtesies one would expect for a very large transaction. One of the qualities I respected the most was her no- nonsense style. She gets to the point quickly yet professionally, always respecting the client’s time. She does a great job of listening to her client’s needs and does not waste time showing properties which do not meet the client’s objectives. She does extensive research to assist with assessing a fair market value of the property for the offer and then negotiates effectively with the opposing broker on behalf of the client. She is extremely responsive to questions, and pays great attention to the details enabling the transaction to get done. I have the highest level of confidence in her. My transaction went very smoothly and I closed in a very short time. Margaret represented me on the purchase side of the transaction. I also would not hesitate to use her as my listing agent if I was selling a property. She is very smart and transactions can sometime become very complex. I have the highest level of confidence in her and feel she would be able to properly assess any situation and figure out an effective solution. I highly recommend Margaret for any real estate transaction.

There wasn't a time I doubted her ability to help us accomplish our goal of purchasing our first home . She was there every step of the way. She always answered any questions we had and stayed on top of everything in a timely manner. She always thought of what was in the best interest of my family and I. She had lots of resources to help with the home buying process and she never gave up on us . I wouldn't choose anyone else in the Smith Mountain Lake and Roanoke Valley area to have helped us with such an important process in our life. She definitely made this process a lot easier, and I can’t thank her enough for everything she has done for our family . We love you, Margaret. Love, the Lewis family . P.S. Thank you for helping us make our dreams come true!"

We were remote buyers so that provided a challenge logistically. Margaret visited the homes ahead of time to give us an overview as well as some insight as to what we may or may not like. The whole experience was excellent and by far the easiest real estate transaction I have ever made. We are grateful for Margaret's knowledge of the area and total professionalism.

She aggressively marketed it, and her expertise paid off. I highly recommend her for your real estate needs at SMith Mountain Lake.

!!!! If you're reading this, you are considering using Margaret Craye as an agent for the listing of your home, or to buy one. I have simple advice for you: DO IT! My log home was on and off the market for over 9 years. Talk about a stale listing! Margaret came in with an out-of-the-box thinking process, and within weeks, had the home looking completely different. What an awesome staging process (her taste in art is pretty good!). The listing online looked incredible, especially as compared to previous ones. We had a contract on the home within a month! Woo hoo! And.....this home was located in Botetourt County, an hour away from Margaret's office. Margaret is not only professional and courteous, but also responsive (this seems to be a rarity among realtors these days!) and fun to work with. Highly recommend calling her!

She was absolutely on top of the transaction no surprises. Professional and prompt with responds. Highly Recommend!!

Margaret was always reachable, she is passionate about her job. I highly recommend her. Although it took a while to sell, she kept me informed of market trends and made good suggestions during the process.

We were able to get out asking price. The house wasn't listed long before it sold quickly.

and wanted to move south. We were looking at homes on Zillow and found one in Penhook that looked like it would fit what we wanted. We picked Margaret from the group of realtors that Zillow supplied on the listing. We called her and she immediately picked up the ball and flew with it. We were able to see the property that weekend. We decided to buy it and Margaret took care of absolutely everything for us. We had to do most of the paperwork, and asking of questions, and arranging of times to meet over e-mail and phone. She was wonderful, if we had a question she had us an answer within 24 hours. She made the buying of the home totally painless. She has gone above and beyond the call of duty by finding someone to take the above ground pool on the property that we did not want. She coordinated getting the buyer to see us to answer questions about the house and stable. We can't say enough nice things about Margaret. We feel we have made a lifelong friend. We would highly recommend Margaret to anyone buying a home.

?? GET A MILLION DOLLAR AGENT! As excellent negotiators ourselves, and having close friends who own an independent real estate brokerage in an affluent area; we were referred to and interviewed three of the Smith Mountain Lake areas' top REALTORS. We chose to move into listing negotiations with Margaret Crayé and one other agent. Margaret had refreshing ideas, excellent communication, and a strong desire to work to sell our home. Not to mention we thought she would be fun to work with. We knew we could potentially negotiate for a lesser commission fee during the listing process, especially with a greater than $1M+ dollar listing. Margaret confidently responded with absolute assurance that her services were worth every penny and then some; and, we 'wholeheartedly' agree!! Margaret respectfully declined a discount listing commission and she put her heart and soul into the selling of our home. There was nothing standard about the care that was put into facilitating the preparation of our home for the market: she personally oversaw the staging of every single room and produced the most creative marketing content to increase engagement! Million dollar listings sometimes take well in excess of a year on the open real estate market at Smith Mountain Lake to sell (sometimes multiple years). Our home sold in just excess of 3 months for cash. When we had purchased the home it had been on the market for 854 days by yet another well respected 'top' area agent. Margaret is unwaveringly client-centric, and is one of the rare people who aligns their words and their actions. Choose to work collaboratively with her and it is like working with a trusted friend who will listen to your needs, anticipate and initiate actions to meet your goals and mentor with the very best experience; where talent and mindfulness collide. You can trust her implicitly to look out for your real estate interests. We will recommend Margaret Craye time and again!

She was prompt, helpful, and accommodating given we were very particular about the type of place we were looking for. She was very patient as it took three trips for us to commit to the property. When the inspection process did not go as smoothly as we'd hoped, Margaret listened to our concerns and went above and beyond to resolve the issues and assuage our fears. Would definitely recommend her to someone looking in the area

She definitely has more knowledge of the Lake and the rules and regulations than anyone that I have ever worked with. She makes sure that the process runs smoothly from listing to closing, constantly making sure that all steps are completed and on time. Margaret put in more time and effort into my listing than I expected even though it was not a high dollar listing for her. She was willing to come to the property and measure in the rain and offer great advice to us. She worked with AEP and made sure they answered our questions and kept them on the timeline. You will know the true value of an agent in how they responds to a sale that is having issues. Margaret went far beyond my expectations there, she keeps detailed notes and knows when and who to call for answers. Bottom line, I have worked with many agents over the years in selling and buying houses and I would never use anyone else in the future because of her knowledge and professionalism

After talking with us she was able to show us exactly what we were looking for in a home. She was so familiar with the area and what our options were. It takes a special eye and talent to make sure you have the right options in such a big investment. Her responsiveness to our questions was not only timely but her personal touch was great. Protecting our interest in every way. I would recommend her to represent anyone looking to buy or sell.

Not only have we signed the closing documents for the land, but also closed on a home at Smith Mountain Lake to start enjoying the lake life. Margaret earned our trust while working with her, looking at houses, and in talking with her about different properties and offers. With all of the recently closed and current pending deals, we still felt like we were her only customers as she was always quick to respond and provided information on anything we asked. She knows her business, is honest with you, and will help throughout the entire process of selling, buying, or in our case, both. There is a reason Margaret has all of these great reviews, she earned them and will definitely earn many others too. Thank you!

She kept us in the loop with every detail of the closing process, was available to us for questions, & even provided personal touches like giving us a contact for packing supplies to save us money on our move! She truly went above & beyond & is a very genuine soul. At closing she even brought us a very thoughtful gift that included even the smallest member of our family. Margaret will definitely take you & your best interests into account when finding you the perfect home. For her client she even scoured inactive listings to find our home as the perfect fit despite he fact it was a 'long shot.' In addition to being personable, warm & genuine I don't want to neglect to mention her professionalism. She truly earned this 5 star review. Thanks again Margaret!

She knew exactly what my husband and I were looking for and found gorgeous homes within our budget. She was also very down to Earth and easy to talk to. Even though we decided not to move to Smith Mountain Lake at this point in time, if we decide to in the future Margaret will be our go to!

The property had been listed with another realtor for over ten years without one inquiry. She worked to create a client base for our property and sold it within six months of listing. She was personable, knowledgeable, and creative. I would recommend her without reservation.

Our experience with Margaret was phenomenal. My husband and I are a young couple who recently purchased our first home together. Her knowledge, intuition, and expertise were invaluable. Every question or concern we had through the entire process was exceedingly answered and was a priority to her. We did not feel like just another client. She went above and beyond anything she was obligated to do as a realtor and was confident and reassuring throughout the buying process. The care she takes with her clients is remarkable and we would recommend her ten times over and would choose her again if we could.

Her creativity and use of online features to advertise our home helped the sale go very quickly. We had already moved out of the area so Margaret became our eyes and ears throughout the process. We had some home maintenance requests that had to be completed in order to complete the sale of our home and Margaret consistently provided resources and her support to tackle the tasks required. We are very thankful for her professionalism and expertise!