About Us

Charles H. "Chip" Browne III, BIC/Owner

Chip Browne is President and Owner of the Real Estate School of South Carolina. No one has successfully prepared more real estate students than Chip Browne. Period. Licensed since 1978, he began teaching real estate sales and broker courses in 1982 with his father, the late Charles H. “Charlie” Browne. Chip has earned the reputation as an extremely thorough educator who possesses the rare ability to communicate effectively with beginning students as well as seasoned professionals. He has taught real estate courses throughout South Carolina, Florida and abroad. In fact, not long ago Chip was honored to be able to instruct many Florida real estate agents at the $150,000,000 Club at Hammock Beach resort in St. Augustine, Florida. Additionally, he is the Broker In Charge of South Carolina Realty, a real estate brokerage and development company.

Chip is the author of the textbook, South Carolina Real Estate Principles, a reviewer of Dearborn Real Estate Education’s Ethics in Today’s Real Estate World, and is a founding member of the American Association of Real Estate Schools and Colleges. A Clemson University graduate, his post-graduate work includes Constitutional Law and Political Science. In his spare time, Chip enjoys scuba diving in exotic locales, tropical gardening, and having fun with his many automobiles.

Melissa Sprouse Browne, Vice President

Congratulations to Melissa for being chosen as one of the "20 Under 40" Honorees by The State Newspaper for 2009!

This honor is given to the top 20 business leaders in the greater Columbia, SC area who are under 40 years of age and meet the criteria of excellence in business and are active in their communities.

Melissa Sprouse Browne holds the roles of Vice President and Co-Owner of the Real Estate School of South Carolina President of The Marketing Division, a full service advertising agency and co-owner of South Carolina Realty, LLC. Melissa has extensive experience in the marketing, advertising and public relations field. She has served as creative director of a multi-million dollar advertising agency, the regional marketing director for Trane Comfort Solutions, publications manager for the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and was the marketing director for one of the larger real estate firms on the East Coast.

She has authored, "Unit History: The 755th Field Artillery Battalion," a day by day account of the Battalion's movements during World War II from December 1944 to May 1945. She compiled this small bit of history as a gift for her father, Paul Sprouse. He was never one to boast of his accomplishments and Melissa wanted to know more about what he experienced during World War II. She created the book from her research and presented the finished copy to her father for Christmas in 2001. One of the most interesting things to come from the research was her discovery that he had earned several medals during his service. However, he never was able to share those honors because they had been sent to his parent’s home while he was overseas. Before he returned to the States, the family home burned and the medals were lost. Melissa was able to have the medals reissued and presented them to her father, along with the book. It was a great day!

Her project has been well-received; a recent purchaser writes, “You will never know what those books mean to me. Like your father, mine never spoke of the war. I never knew what he had been through till after his death in 1989. I do remember him telling about being surrounded and the reply to a request to surrender that is so famous today (“Nuts.”), but never really knew anything else until a few years ago when I started researching his military records and going over his discharge papers. I wasn’t sure about him even being at Bastogne until a few years ago. I guess the series “Band of Brothers” and my love of history is what started it. But, I would have never done what you have. So, from the bottom of heart, thank you.” – Danny Harrleson, MS.

A firm believer in community service, she has volunteered with Children's Hospital of Palmetto Health and received the Governor's Year of the Child Hero Award in 2002. She is actively involved with the Meals on Wheels program through Senior Resources, Inc., where she was chairman of the 2005 and 2006 March for Meals events and is now a member of the Board of Directors for the years 2009 - 2011. Her 2006 March for Meals Committee was chosen as the winner for best volunteer service at National Philanthropy Day in November, 2006.

She is currently working on a book about caring for elderly parents and is in the process of querying literary agents for representation of her manuscript.  In February 2009, she and her husband Chip were honored by the SC Purple Heart Society for their contribution to the mission of that organization. Her previous community involvement includes serving on the board of directors for Trustus Theatre, performing in The Singing Christmas Tree at Shandon Baptist Church, and as secretary and chairman of the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Midlands.

In her duties to the Real Estate School of South Carolina, Melissa is responsible for the overall marketing of school courses, as well as the daily operations of the Columbia headquarters. She has created several courses that are now approved by the South Carolina Real Estate Commission and the South Carolina Appraisers Board. A reviewer of Dearborn Real Estate Education’s textbook, “Ethics in Today’s Real Estate World,” she is always happy to contribute to the advance of real estate education.

As the leader of The Marketing Division, Melissa and her team provide focused advertising solutions for individuals and companies in the real estate industry. Her lengthy experience in real estate marketing gives her the unique advantage of knowing the difference between effective advertising and wasteful spending on useless marketing gimmicks. She is a strong communicator and her work is always highly professional – you can be sure that a brochure designed by her team will use proper grammar and spelling, unlike some of her competitors!!

A licensed real estate broker and real estate course instructor, Melissa is the co-owner of South Carolina Realty, LLC with her husband, Chip Browne. She has been licensed as a real estate professional since 1999. She attended the University of South Carolina and majored in Criminal Justice. Her passions include traveling to Caribbean islands, her three cats, writing, and her husband, Chip!