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Breihan Malecek Petersen & James

Steve Breihan and Carolyn Malecek specialize in helping people buy and sell homes/condos in the St. Louis metro area. They are with Berkshire Hathaway Alliance out of their Clayton/Ladue office located in the Maryland Walk building at 8077 Maryland Avenue in Clayton. They joined Berkshire Hathaway Alliance (formerly Prudential Alliance, Realtors) in 2009 and in 2016 were ranked #2 in the Berkshire Hathaway Alliance Clayton/Ladue Office with a sales volume of over $26 million. Steve and Carolyn are also ranked in the top 1% of all agents in the St. Louis real estate market. They are also members of the prestigious Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chairman's Circle Platinum Club, Berkshire Hathaway's highest ranking, which is only awarded to the top 1% of all Berkshire Hathaway agents nationwide according to sales volume and production.

Steve and Carolyn started their real estate careers with Gundaker Better Homes & Gardens back in 1994 and 1997, respectively. Steve was the 1995 Rookie of the Year Runner-Up for Better Homes & Gardens nationwide and was awarded the Better Homes & Gardens International President's Council Award. The pair have been close friends for the past 30 years and have worked side by side in the same office since 1997, winning every award their company ever offered for production and customer service. After long careers at Gundaker Better Homes & Gardens (which became Coldwell Banker Gundaker in 2002), Steve and Carolyn decided to partner their business. They made the move to Prudential Alliance (now Berkshire Hathaway) and brought over 31+ years, at that time, of combined real estate experience to their clients while being able to offer even better service and even more availability to both buyers and sellers.

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Recommendations (136)

Mar 4, 2024

Becky Luttbeg recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn was amazing from start to finish. She guided me through the process effectively and provided me with the appropriate expectations. I appreciate her years of experience and her knowledge of the neighborhood and surrounding areas which helped the buyer feel comfortable and confident in their decision making process. I highly recommend Carolyn. She was always very communicative and stayed on top of any items that were outstanding during the sale of my home. Thanks so much Carolyn for your help and expertise selling my house!
Feb 22, 2024

Dan Wojciechowski recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn, Erik, and Ashlyn were great to work with and helped take much of the stress of selling a house off myself. I had never sold a property before and from the moment Carolyn and Erik first came to my house for a first look to the closing date, they were always available to answer any questions at any time I had with the sale. Carolyn and her team were a pleasure to work with and would recommend to anyone who is in the market.
Feb 10, 2024

tjf recommends Carolyn Malecek

what a wonderful job Carolyn did for us. She listened to what we wanted, did the research, picked out a few houses to view, and walked us through all the properties. With her guidance we selected an historic house, in a stable community, with a lot of local amenities to enjoy, and obviously within our price range. She never missed responding to either a call or text. Surely could not have done it without her.
Nov 3, 2023

Greg Rebman recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn was the best. See made the process of selling our parents house very easy. Anytime anything needed to be done she took care of it immediately. We highly recommend Carolyn.
Oct 3, 2023

Thomas Fehr recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn, Steve, and the rest of the team were fantastic throughout the entire process of buying my first home. With their guidance, I always felt well-informed and confident- even in such a competitive market. I am so grateful for all of Carolyn’s hard work and cannot recommend her enough!
Sep 29, 2023

Lauren Barnes recommends Carolyn Malecek

This is my third home transaction with Carolyn, Steve and the team. I’ve relocated a few times now and I always feel more comfortable when I’m moving with them! Their knowledge of the market and industry experience ensures things run smoothly and details are taken care of without me having to worry. So thankful to have them by my side!
Sep 6, 2023

Daniel Albarran recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn was an absolute joy to work with. She was punctual, attentive, and invested in finding the perfect home for my son and I. After hitting the ground running, we were able to tour multiple homes, discuss other options/needs/wants, and close on the perfect home within just a few weeks. Highly recommended.
Jul 28, 2023

Angela Holt recommends Lizz James

Liz was great! We had a house in no time with the help of her recommendations on offers!!
Jul 28, 2023

Lauren Lilak recommends Carolyn Malecek

HR Manager

We could not imagine a smarter, more responsive or more professional team than Carolyn and her team. They are the best advocates for their clients! She took the stress out of the home buying and selling process for us! We would recommend to anyone! They are the absolute best.
Jul 25, 2023

Nancy James and Keshab Bhattacharya recommend Carolyn Malecek

We had the pleasure of working with Carolyn to sell our Brentwood home. From the very beginning we felt very comfortable working with her. She is a real estate professional with valuable knowledge, great communication and organizational skills, and a great sense of humor; a quality that is actually quite helpful in the home selling process. She is a good listener and has a customer focus. Although on some issues she was adamant to do things in her way (such as setting the house price, staging the house, removing all non essentials from the kitchen counter tops during the photograph sessions etc.), we never felt she was inappropriate or too forceful. Every time she passionately explained to us the rationale behind her suggestions. We really enjoyed working with her.

Overall, she tied with one other agent as the best we have ever worked with (we have worked with a total of 10 agents in our lifetime). With her strategy and some luck we received 2 offers within 72 hrs and were able to cancel the scheduled open house. We also received an offer that was not only above her suggested asking price, it was above our original hoped for amount that we had reluctantly agreed to lower based on Carolyn’s strategy. Thank goodness we listened to her; she knows the market and what she is doing!

Based on our experience of working with Carolyn, we recommend her to anyone who wants a real estate agent who is a great advisor and a great advocate. Thank you Carolyn for all your advice, hard work and support during one of life’s more stressful transitions.

Nancy and Keshab
07/25/2023
Jul 17, 2023

Lisa Remack recommends Carolyn Malecek

This letter will serve as my very high letter of recommendation for Carolyn Malecek, who assisted my husband and me with the sale of our 70-year-old home and the purchase of our condo in the summer of 2023.
Carolyn has the qualities that make her an extremely effective real estate agent. I can’t say enough about her professionalism and knowledge within the industry. She has high integrity and is very conscientious and tenacious, always keeping her client’s best interests in mind. One of the qualities I valued the most was her no-nonsense style. She gets to the point quickly yet professionally, always respecting her client’s opinions and schedule, sometimes amid unexpected and tight timelines. She does a great job of listening to her client’s needs and manages expectations respectfully. She does extensive research to assist with assessing the fair market value of properties and then negotiates effectively with the opposing broker on behalf of the client. She is extremely responsive to questions and concerns, replying immediately. She shows great attention to the details enabling tasks to be completed successfully. Our transactions went very smoothly, and we closed on time although we had inspection items that needed to be addressed on the sale side. Carolyn followed up throughout the process and even took care of items after closing.
Carolyn’s team also delivered A+ service. Steve Breihan provided keen advice, along with the highest level of professionalism and integrity. Ashlyn Mantia was extremely helpful in navigating items associated with the closing process.
My husband and I deeply appreciate Carolyn and her team and highly recommend them.
Jul 6, 2023

Nick and Theresa Lilak recommend Carolyn Malecek

New home owners!

We couldn't be happier! Carolyn's is a professional with a personal touch who quickly gained our complete trust. Carolyn knows the area extremely well and guided us to our new neighborhood and home. She is experienced and has a wealth of knowledge regarding home construction, inspection repair estimates, and recommendations for everything from pest control to kitchen remodeling. Once we found the right home for us, Carolyn expertly helped us write a winning offer in this highly competitive market. Thank you Carolyn!
Carolyn and her team of professionals were always responsive and supportive regardless of the day, the time, or the absurdity of our question/concern. We absolutely would use Carolyn again and certainly recommend her to anyone wanting to find their dream home.
May 8, 2023

Bridget Obermark recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn was the best! She was extremely helpful while we sold our house. We moved out of town before the house hit the market, but we were extremely grateful for Carolyn providing us with the best service. She put any of our worries at ease!
Feb 8, 2023

Dave Benage recommends Carolyn Malecek

Physician

Carolyn is an extremely talented real estate agent. Organized, smart, hard working, experienced, thoughtful. My partners, friends, and family have worked with her on numerous occasions - always the consummate professional. This was another quick sale, completed without hitch.
Feb 6, 2023

Alyssa Murray recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn made buying our first home such an easy process. Every question we had was answered and we never felt unsure about anything! We are so happy with our first home and will be recommending her in the future!
Nov 29, 2022

Dave Jones recommends Carolyn Malecek

Retired Engineer

Carolyn came highly recommended because of her attention to detail and knowledge of all the processes and myriad of paperwork. I was not disappointed! She was able to get electronic signatures to save time. She expedited required documentation to multiple people in different states. She works well with contractors and architects and has an eye for remodeling opportunities. I was very appreciative of what she did to get the job done!
Nov 29, 2022

Erin Meyer recommends Carolyn Malecek

This is my second time working with Carolyn and Steve, and I can't recommend them enough. Carolyn's expertise, responsiveness, and professionalism is unmatched, and made a stressful process go seamlessly. You can't go wrong with this team.
Nov 28, 2022

The Hardings recommends Lizz James

This is the second home Lizz helped us purchase. Just like the first time, she was always available and ahead of each step ensuring a seamless closing experience. In fact, the experience was so efficient, we were able to close in 19 days with no added stress!!! We will continue to work with Lizz for all of our real estate needs and highly recommend her services to all.
Nov 18, 2022

Kristen Banocy recommends Carolyn Malecek

Could not recommend Carolyn more! I have now bought and sold my first home with her and she has made both processes positive experiences. She is incredibly knowledgeable, responsive and helpful.
Oct 1, 2022

Russ Bley recommends Carolyn Malecek

Retired

Carolyn and Steve were a terrific team in selling my house. Despite unexpected problems which surfaced on inspection, they were patient, thorough and pleasant in getting the job done.
Aug 10, 2022

Tony Gragnani recommends Lizz James

Lizz is amazing! She went above and beyond in helping navigate a difficult housing market to find the perfect house for our family.
Jul 20, 2022

Gail Goodenow recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn Malecek is an amazing member of the Breihan, Malecek, Petersen & James Berkshire Hathaway team. I have known Carolyn for over 20 years as she helped sell two of my properties. Working with Carolyn and her team is extremely productive and enjoyable. They take care of everything to make the process as smooth as possible. Carolyn even loaned me furniture to improve the staging. Carolyn was there for me with the closing. With her expert knowledge of the documentation and ability to guide me through the process, it was the perfect way to complete the sale of my property. From extensive experience, I highly recommend the Breihan, Malecek, Petersen & James Berkshire Hathaway team.
Jul 5, 2022

Courtney Spink recommends Carolyn Malecek

Erik not only helped me find the home for me, he ensured I wasn’t walking into something I couldn’t get out of when I decided to sell. As a first time home buyer he made sure I knew what each document was and why it was needed when attempting to go under contract. Even through the tough market Erik was amazing. Definitely will be referring him to other and will be using him in the future!
Jul 1, 2022

Annie Clohisy recommends Carolyn Malecek

Carolyn (and her team) were absolutely incredible during the process of selling our home. They were so helpful, supportive and insightful when navigating the decisions. She was kind and we could not recommend her enough. Thank you Carolyn!
Apr 5, 2022

Jacob Reed recommends Ashlyn Mantia

Ashlyn made selling our home and buying a new one a walk in the park. She always made it a priority make herself available to answer any questions and got us into looking at other places that we could potentially call home right away. We miss being neighbors with her, but i’d say we built a pretty solid friendship along the way! Couldn’t be anymore thankful!

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