We Love Auburn & Real Estate

Ray L. Huff has been in the property management, development, construction, and sales business for over 43 years. He has assisted in developing and building over 60 apartment properties in the southeast and has extensive management experience in conventional, student, and low-income housing (RD Section 515, HUD Section 8, and Tax Credit - receiving varied designations from many courses hat he has taken throughout the years, including Fair Housing). He understands that each market area is different and believes in creating the best strategy for each property to optimize the occupancy for the owner/client. He believes that a strong maintenance program and strong collections are key ingredients in protecting the owner/client investment. He also believes that the resident/customer must be properly taken care of in order to have a successful property.

Ray is the Qualifying Broker and Manager for Auburn Realty, LLC and is responsible for all operations, including financial, budgeting, and personnel, of Auburn Realty which manages fourteen condominium properties, seven apartment complexes, and many other various individual condo/house/duplex rental units totaling approximately 1300 units.

He currently is serving as the Chairman of the Auburn Downtown Redevelopment Authority for the City of Auburn and the Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Lee County Association of Realtors.  He has served as a member of the University Relations Committee for the Auburn Chamber of Commerce.  He was the Founding President of the Alabama Council for Affordable and Rural Housing.  He served as its President for 4 years and is still an ex-officio member of its Board of Directors.  Ray has also served as Board Member, Treasurer, Secretary, President, and Chairman of the Board of the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing - a national rural housing organization based in Washington, D.C.  He also was a member of Alabama Governor’s initial task force to formulate the first Coordinated Housing Assessment Strategy (CHAS) for the State of Alabama.  He also recently served on the Mayor of Auburn’s Student Housing Tash Force.  Ray is a member of the Lee County Association of Realtors.

Ray attended Auburn University from 1974 to 1978 and graduated with a major in Economics and minors in Accounting and Spanish.  He has been an official resident of Auburn since that time.  He is from an Auburn family as many family members also graduated from Auburn including his father, brother, sister, 3 children, 3 nieces and nephews, and many cousins.  Auburn Realty is a family and AU Alumni owned and operated business.

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Michelle Smith is a native of Montgomery, AL and has worked with Auburn Realty since March 2008. She is a 1999 graduate of Montgomery’s Alabama Christian Academy and a 2005 graduate of Auburn University with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing. During her time as a student at Auburn University Michelle served as the public relations committee head and president for the Tau Beta Sigma service sorority. She also was an enthusiastic four year member of the Auburn University Marching Band Flag Corps; an accomplishment she looks back on proudly today. After graduation, Michelle pursued a career in retail management in the Auburn, Opelika, and Montgomery areas where she further developed her skills at customer service.

Beginning in the March of 2008 Michelle joined the Auburn Realty family as a leasing agent and earning a promotion to leasing manager a short time later. She received the title of overall property manager for the company in January of 2014, the same month she obtained her Alabama State Real Estate License. Since obtaining her license and gaining subsequent experience in sales, Michelle has received high praise from her peers as she has since been twice nominated for Lee County Association of Realtors Rookie of the Year Award, an organization she has served as the Community Service Committee Chair, Awards Committee Chair and as a Member of the Board of Directors. In 2019, Michelle obtained her broker’s license and was promoted to Associate Broker with Auburn Realty.

A compulsive organizer in all aspects of her professional life, Michelle loves to plan and organize events with a particular affinity for parties and social gatherings both in and out of work. As an ardent fan of all things Auburn, Michelle loves to spend her free time cheering for the Auburn Tigers, especially at home in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Her enthusiasm for the Auburn community and its surrounding areas is apparent in her work as she works tirelessly and without complaint to make sure that Auburn Realty’s residents, owners, and clients alike are welcomed in a way that cultivates the Auburn spirit. It is her passion for Auburn that has made it easy to transition from retail customer service management to property management and real estate in the Auburn area.

She continues to strive daily to be an “Auburn woman” as described in the Auburn Creed and truly embodies the creed’s phrase of “believing in work, hard work”. One of her favorite lines in the creed reads: “I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.” This quote accurately exemplifies Michelle’s commitment and unequaled work-ethic for her craft and is a true testament to anyone who knows her and her ability to connect with people in a personal yet professional manner.