
Photo Courtesy of Kathryn Romanchuk
Kathryn Romanchuk, middle, is a realtor at RealtySouth.
It was Kathryn Romanchuk’s “Roving Realtor” videos that caught the eye of national television producers and led the Homewood resident to be a host for the HGTV show “The American Dream.”
Romanchuk’s episodes of the show aired in June and spotlighted homes in Birmingham and surrounding areas.
“The Roving Realtor videos are where I go into homes for sale or hotspots in Birmingham and sing a karaoke song, changing it to real estate industry words, such as my latest, ‘Somewhere Over the Mountain,’” Romanchuk said. “Others I have done in the past are ‘Sold Signs Are a Girl's Best Friend,’ mimicking ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,’ or ‘Open Your House To Me,’ mimicking the song ‘Open Your Heart To Me.’”
Romanchuk, a Realtor with RealtySouth, said that one day, she received an email from the staff of “The American Dream.”
“I took the phone call, did my research and just crossed my fingers until they called me and said that I was chosen as a TV host,” Romanchuk said.
“The American Dream” is a national TV show where local real-estate professionals are chosen to act as hosts. The show uses positive media about local neighborhoods to educate and engage viewers about the lifestyle and culture of communities across the country.
Romanchuk represented RealtySouth on the show, which began filming in parts of Birmingham and the surrounding areas in May. Each real estate agent hosts an episode of the show.
For the first segment, Romanchuk said she planned to highlight Homewood, Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook.
“I want the chance to showcase our town of Birmingham and beyond and show what a close-knit community we live in, with many businesses and attractions that make us great,” she said. “We have beautiful homes, rolling hills, a booming downtown area, luxury hotels and state-of-the-art golf courses and attractions throughout our area, with more residential and commercial developments coming every day.”
Romanchuk said one of her favorite parts of being a realtor is that every day is different.
“The best part is meeting new people and holding their hand as they navigate through different seasons of their life, be it college graduation, getting married, having a baby, downsizing, upsizing or moving to Birmingham from out of state for any reason,” she said.
Romanchuk hopes that national viewers will see that Birmingham is easy to navigate.
“When you come here, you don’t feel like you are lost in the shuffle,” she said. “There are so many different areas of town. And helping a buyer find the home that they can most closely identify with and find the perfect house is really rewarding.”
She said she was looking forward to the experience of filming a TV episode.
“I have been singing since I was a little girl, so I am not scared of the spotlight,” Romanchuk said. “But also, telling heartwarming stories of small business owners in our community, as well as showcasing long-standing businesses with deep roots and what made Birmingham great, is something I am looking forward to. Recently, I have gotten calls from California, Oregon and Michigan that are all pleasantly surprised when they see the homes, the areas and all of what Birmingham has to offer. I work with a lot of out-of-town buyers. This will just help showcase how beautiful Birmingham is.”
Episodes of “The American Dream” can be found on HGTV, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Travel Channel, Amazon Fire, Apple TV and ROKU.
For more information on specific episodes that will air at a future date, visit https://americandreamnetwork.tv/.