Real Estate Purchasing Experience Facilitated by Karen GiattinoOne can only appreciate how very helpful Karen was in finding us our new forever home with the following background: We were residents of Illinois our entire lives. Friends of ours who had relocated to the Monterey, TN area a year before aroused our curiosity, causing us to explore the possibility of relocating; they also strongly recommended contacting Karen if we became serious about finding a house.We explored a number of websites, taking daily virtual tours for about a month. Then we contacted Karen, explaining we'd be down to "look over the area" in a matter of days and provided her with our specifications and a LONG list of locations we wished to see (plus any others she might want to add). Karen just took over from that point. We met early on the first of our two full days in town, which happened to be a Saturday. Karen had scheduled a full day's appointments for viewing and lunch. We and our daughter, who flew in from Florida to assist us, quickly felt like we'd known Karen all our lives and became quickly confident that she knew what she was doing, was familiar with her territory and each of the properties she was showing AND that she also had our best interests at heart. As we drove, Karen pointed out locations which would be of interest to us immediately and down the road (very comforting, since we were accustomed to having milk, bread and eggs no more than a city block or two away, in any directionOn Sunday, she gave us a tour that included a few more viewings and "drive-bys" past properties we had expressed an interest in, but that she was pretty confident we'd want to by-pass after finding out about our preferences in pre-trip conversations - she was ABSOLUTELY correct in her assessment. We also took second looks at 3-4 properties that were tugging at our heartstrings.Once we determined which property we wished to buy, Karen worked diligently during the negotiation process and kept us abreast every step of the way. The companies she recommended for various services, i.e., home inspector, were all top-notch and pleasurable to work with.Karen was always READILY accessible by phone, from our first acquaintance by phone to our last, long after we'd moved in.This was so unexpectedly wonderful. Additionally, she was SO PATIENT with our questions, giddiness, and time constraints.On closing day, Karen included in our itinerary visiting each utility, as required, so that we could rest comfortably that all was in order, from day one.At our request, Karen introduced us to her church, which has become our church home as well.In closing, I must say we are extremely happy in our new home and feel that Karen played a LARGE role in making it so; we were not mislead in any way - no surprises! We will recommend Karen to anyone we encounter who is looking for property in this area.Sincerely,Carol and Richard Caddy