Smart Choice Realty

My wife and I moved from the bay area and found Smart Choice Realty through some glowing online reviews. We sure lucked out. I've worked with 5 realtors in my life, and Samara is the best.

Samara gave us a complete tour of the Chapel HIll area, even picking up my wife from the airport on one of her visits. I was immediately impressed by how knowledgeable and articulate Samara was. She worked incredibly hard for us, driving us everywhere, doing research, patiently and cheerfully exchanging God knows how many emails and calls, working with mortgage brokers and inspectors and tradesmen. She has got to be the hardest working person in real estate (she is in her late 20s, which must help)!

Now I'll tell you what most impressed me. At one point we found a house on Brookview Ave and were under contract. Samara noticed some nailpops in the ceiling and repeatedly asked the sellers if there was any more information about the foundation. The sellers said no, no, everything was fine, but Samara was relentless in her investigations. A few days before closing Samara dragged it out of the owner that the house almost totally collapsed when it was being built in the 90s. A inspection by RamJack confirmed that the foundation issues were serious and continuing, and it would cost 60K to MAYBE fix the problem.. The owner was dishonest and almost certainly doing something illegal. Samara got us out of the contract. If it had not been for Samara's diligence, including arranging multiple inspections, we would be in that money pit now. As it turned out, we found the perfect house immediately afterward. Samara negotiated a good price for us and handled the arrangements smoothly. My wife and I are so grateful and couldn't be more pleased with the results.

In short, Samara is the best. I'm a tough critic so rest assured that I'm not giving an inflated, biased review. I wouldn't even dream of using a different realtor. My aunt and father may move to this area, too, so of course I steered them straight to Smart Choice.

Pros: Hardworking, Knowledge, Internet Savvy, Honest, Personable

Cons: Busy

Posted 09/17/09

Samara sold our house during the toughest time in the market in less than 4 months. She was great to work with, keeping us informed of all visits, feedback, etc., while aggressively marketing our house. When the time came for a deal, she was even more persistent, arranging things to ensure the deal went through with minimal impact (and maximum profit) for us. We would strongly recommend Smart Choice Realty and Samara to anyone interested in selling their house.

Pros: Positive attitude, constant communication, and knowledge

Cons: None

Posted 05/12/09

Smart Choice Realty was the right choice for me! I needed to sell my place quickly and with Samara I had my place under contract within a week and at a great price too! I highly recommend Smart Choice Realty!

Posted 12/15/08

Samara provided unbelievable service for our first home-buying experience! Not to mention, she did it while we lived 250 miles away and then were out of the country up for two weeks until a day before closing. Samara is aggressive at getting details taken care of for her clients (she did ALL the legwork for our purchase), making the transaction much easier for a buyer. I would highly recommend using her services if you are looking to buy a place in the Triangle.

Pros: Friendly, thorough, aggressive... and a Tar Heel fan!!

Posted 12/12/08

We highly recommend Samara at Smart Choice Realty. Her style and use of modern communication technology works great for the market context of the Chapel Hill community and our distant location from the property we were trying to sell. Her lower cost listing option was only surpassed by her professional responsiveness and handling of our real estate transaction. We only wish she had been the selling as well as the listing agent! Great Job Samara! Thanks for your help.

Posted 06/09/08

We bought our house with Samara's help in Zebulon, NC. She was always ready to show us different houses that suited our needs. Because we lived in New Hampshire, she would adjust her schedule to show us houses in the Raleigh area. Now that she is in her new agency we would go to her again for any real estate needs.

Posted 03/07/08

We recently relocated to NC and Smart Choice Realty was a lifesaver. Before traveling to NC to look at houses, we searched the internet and thought we had everything figured out - a list of great houses - thought we knew about the neighborhoods, etc. But after Samara shared her deep knowledge of the area with us, we realized that we were totally off the mark. Samara really understood what we were looking for, and most importantly, wasn't afraid to express her opinions.

We spent two days driving around looking at houses and at the end of the second day, she suggested that we go to look at one more house that she found. I told her it didn't seem to be what we were looking for, but she really thought we'd like it. As soon as we walked through the front door, I knew that was the house we were going to buy. She knew what we wanted more than we did! When I think back on some of the houses that we had considered -- I shudder. I can't image not living in this house now - and it's all thanks to Samara.

Pros: Experience, knowlege of area, friendliness, professionalism

Cons: n/a

Posted 03/03/08

Awesome customer service. We looked for six months to find the right home for us and Samara was with us through all of it. She even looked at homes for us before she took us to them! We found an amazing home in the perfect location. The neighborhood is great and perfect for a family because of the well ranked school district surrounding us. I knew nothing about buying a home but Samara took us step by step through the whole process and put our minds at easy. The only thing i really did was look at home and that is the fun part!

Pros: Great customer service, knowledge of general pricing of an area, Knowledge of industry

Cons: None that i can think of, great first home buying experience!

Posted 02/28/08

Smart Choice Realty was the "smart choice" for sure!! Samara went well beyond her duties to help us find the home of our dreams! Having to relocate is always a difficult thing, but we were really put at ease with the amount of knowledge that Samara provided for us. She helped us find a home with the right school districts, activites, etc. Rest assured, the neighborhood was the best of all! So many kids for our family to grow up with! Samara was with us through every step of this process. We must have seen 40-50 homes together, but it was that last trip that made the difference. In addition, Samara was present for the inspections, walk throughs, and the closing of the home as well. We could not have done it without her. I would reccomend this company to anyone who is looking for a new home. You will be amazed at how seamless she makes it all seem.

Pros: Knowledge of industry, pricing, expectations, inspections, Best customer service ever!!

Posted 02/25/08