Smart Choice Realty

Like you, the reader of this review, I found Samara through various resources on the Internet. I am writing here to let you know that the positive reviews about her company matched my experience. In short, you don't need to read the rest of my review or any other reviews. Just go ahead and contact her! My transaction was the purchase of a home in Chapel Hill. It was great to have someone familiar with the market and the area, even though I have been a resident in the Triangle for the past 15 years. Samara was attentive and patient throughout the process and efficient at getting whatever information I needed, usually before I needed it. I had some ""issues"" with financing (which seem to be more common than the first time I bought, nearly a decade ago). Samara offered good advise during through those tribulations and was looking out for me all the way until I signed the final documents at the closing table. If I decide to sell property in the area, I am quite sure that I would much prefer to go with her flat-fee listing than a traditional realtor and would have no worries about getting less service. I am sure that she works harder for her money than the other agents at a larger firm. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone, either as a buyer or seller! more

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My wife and I found Samara by doing a lot of research and we are amazed at how easy she made the process of selling and buying. All of the reviews painted the picture perfectly. Samara is very knowledgeable about the market and is very detail oriented and helps explain every step in the process. I assumed the flat rate would mean we might not get all of her attention but we were happily surprised. With the amount of effort she puts in you feel she is only working on your transaction. Her referrals to lenders and inspectors turned out to have the same work ethic and ease to deal with. The whole experience was amazing. We are very quick to recommend her to anyone we hear that is in need of a Realtor because we know they will be thrilled with the dealing with her. The experience was not like any of our others and we can?t say enough good things about her. Thanks Samara for all of your help. more

Samara does what very few people do these days: She does what she says she will do. In our first meeting, Samara gave us a road map of what we could expect and then she systematically did each of those things. We sold our home, in a down economy, in about 60 days... and we got close to our asking price thanks to her sage advice. If you are buying or selling a home in the Raleigh area, look no further. more

When we decided to sell our house in Cary, NC we talked to 3 other realtors who all were greedy and tried to set our bar very low. And then came Samara ? professional, energetic and full of optimism. She priced our house right and advertised it very well. We have got an excellent offer (that others told us that we cannot even dream about!) in just a week! Samara provided us with an exceptional support throughout the entire process: putting house on market, negotiations, repairs, and closing! She made the whole process pleasant and easy. more

My husband and I were looking for a home in North Carolina that we would move into a few years down the road. The plan was for my daughter to live there until we were ready to make the move. more

We recently enlisted Samara to help us with sale of our home in Cary. Due to unforeseen circumstances, it was not an easy sell to say the least. Samara not only explained each process as it occured, but did it with professionalism and friendliness. more

My wife and I tried another real estate agent at the urging of a friend, but we felt that she was just along for the ride and the commission. She didn't offer us much help of any real value. As first-time home buyers, we had tons of questions, and we were never quite sure if the answers we were given were adequate or not. Frustrated, I searched online for an agent with good reviews. After reading everything written here, I called Samara. Within 5 minutes of talking to her on the phone, I had more information about the house we had put an offer on than the first agent provided and a clear understanding of why that offer wasn't accepted by the sellers. I immediately set up an appointment for us to meet Samara and look at some houses. We were not disappointed. After a few questions and viewing a house or two with us, Samara seemed to have an intuitive grasp of what we were looking for and guided us through the process with ease. She gave us advice about what to look for beyond our ""must haves"" and was able to answer any question we asked. Once we found the house we wanted, she went above and beyond anything we could have expected to help us make a great deal--and we had difficult sellers to contend with. We couldn't have done it without her, and throughout the entire process she was always available to answer our questions, show us new properties, make recommendations, etc. She made us feel as though we were her top priority. When--and if--we decide to sell our home, Samara and Smart Choice will be our only choice. more

I was searching the net a little time and read a lot of reviews before I choose. And I guess I did the right thing. It couldn't be better to choose Samara. She was very very helpful during the whole process, all the time! She did everything you could ask for to make your life better and she got us a great deal. If you are looking for an amazing agant, I wouldn't search any longer, we will choose Samara again if we have to sell or buy again! Pros: fast, nice, helpful more

Samara was wonderful with getting our house sold. We moved several states away once the sale was started. She was able to do everything remotely. She even sold furniture we left staged in the home on craigslist for us. Even if the was not a flat rate realty I would recommend her to anybody, you cannot beat the customer service. Pros: Service, Responsiveness, Looks out for you more

Samara successfully put a dream transaction together for us. It required selling our house in a slow market and at the same time, deferring a house that we wanted to purchase from going into foreclosure. She is very good at getting different parties to work together. She exhibited great knowledge in working with banks and other individuals to make it happen. I also found out that she does much more work in the background than you think she is doing. If you want to make it happen, you need to get samara. Pros: Very knowledgable about short sales and foreclosures more

Samara was just a pleasure to work with. She was helpful, responsive and reassuring during the many stressful moments in selling a house. Samara worked very hard in marketing our unit and generating traffic to get our place sold. She knew the local market incredibly well -- we were in the Finley Forest condos in Chapel Hill, and Samara knows these condos better than anyone -- and she was very up-front and forthcoming in discussing the other houses on the market. This helped a TON when pricing the unit and negotiating with the buyer. Overall we had a great experience, and I'd hire her again in a heartbeat. Pros: Very friendly, responsive, a great deal more

Smart Choice Reality did a great job in selling my home. We had tried to sell our home the previous year with a different Realtor and only got one showing the year it was listed. Samara helped us price the home right so it got the showings and sold quickly. She also saved us thousands of dollars with her flat fee approach. I would highly recommend Smart Choice Reality if you are thinking about selling your home. more

My husband researched a lot of real estate agents when we wanted to put our house on the market and was struck by Smart Choice. He thought the idea of a flat rate fee for selling a house was a great deal! I was a little hesitant because I thought we wouldn't get the detail and attention we needed. I was so surprised! Samara really went the extra mile to sell our house and it sold within 3 months! She advised and encouraged us all through the process. We even asked if she would be our agent for the purchase of a new home! She, once again, was incredible and found a house in the location we wanted and negotiated an awesome price. She exceeded all of our expectations and we would recommend her to anyone considering buying or selling a house! Call her! more

Samara did a great job selling our house by keeping on top of the details needed to complete the task. Our house sold within a good time frame at a good price when considering these hard times. Pros: Got a Good Price more

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 more

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 more

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! more

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!! more

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. more