“What a blast!”

“After living and renting in Midtown Atlanta for 4 years, I decided to commit to living in Atlanta by beginning a house hunt. I have several friends that live in Southeast Atlanta, so I was a little bit familiar with the area.”

“Knowing that I liked the character and the affordability of the area, I dragged a friend, who lives in Grant Park, out for open houses on Sundays for about a month. When I finally got serious, this same friend referred me to Rob Smith. She told me that he also lived in the area and was extremely attentive to her needs as a first time home buyer. Not knowing anything about home buying, I just said, “Great,” and got in touch with Rob to begin the search.”

“Not long after several email exchanges, Rob invited me to attend one of his annual client appreciation parties. What a blast! Rob introduced me to his buyer specialist at the time, Christina Rumbaugh. We hit it off – in fact, Christina became my REALTOR, and I had the pleasure of being one of her first clients that Rob had referred to her.”

“Being the oldest child and only daughter, my parents were insistent on being included in my house hunt. So one Friday afternoon, my parents and I were driving around Ormewood Park and found the cutest bungalow on the market. I called Christina and told her that I had “warm fuzzies” about this house and I wanted to see inside.”

“The next day, we met with Christina at a coffee shop for our first official “house hunting” meeting. She was so personable and friendly. I especially loved that she was so accommodating to my parents. After driving around and looking at a few houses, I understood that Christina was going to be honest and straight forward with me, which are attributes that I greatly respect – especially as a single, young female.”

“After a while, we finally arrived at the “warm fuzzy” house. I think as soon as I walked in, Christina could tell that I thought this would be the one. That evening, after thinking it over, I called her and said I wanted to see the house on Sunday morning one last time.”

“On Sunday, we saw the house again, and it was decided. I submitted my very first offer ever, and that started one of the most exciting and anxious weeks of my life. Christina says that I made her job easy by having done all of the up front work to find the house, but I insisted later that she made my life easy by sticking by me throughout the negotiations.”

“Throughout the whole process, she remained extremely professional, especially when working with a seller’s agent who was a bit tough to deal with. I found it tremendously comforting to be able to call, text or email Christina at any time with any question about the process, the house, or the neighborhood and get a quick and honest reply. She even continued to keep my parents apprised by copying them on all of the emails!”

“In addition to Christina, I chose to work Rob and Christina’s recommended lender, Brandon Byrd, and attorney, Kati Heller. They were both wonderful individuals whose patience and professionalism was so greatly appreciated.”

“This experience would not have been as smooth and pleasurable without the kindness of Christina and her colleagues. They’ve all stopped by to say hello now that I’m in my new home, and are still there for me if I have any questions.”

- Christina Byrnes