There are many words we could use to describe our recent home-buying experience with Smith Spencer. Professional. Thorough. Focused. Personal. Creative. Responsive. Trusting. Incredible. These are just a few of the descriptors that only begin to convey the essence of our home-buying process with our Smith Spencer realtor, Polly Cillpam. We “met” Polly quite by accident. We were in the early stages of looking for a family vacation home in Charleston, and came upon a listing online that inspired us to pick up the phone for the first time to find out more. As fate would have it, Polly’s name came up on page one of our Google search. We dialed her number. Polly picked up the phone that Sunday morning, and an hour later, when we hung up the phone, we knew we had found our “realtor person.” (Yes, we spoke for an hour+…a lot about what we were looking for in a home. But we also chatted endlessly about the crazy commonalities we shared. Things like places we’ve lived, kids, grandkids, jobs, people we both knew. Oddly, it was like getting “reacquainted” with an old friend…except she was a “new” old friend.) Finding a house from afar—and through a computer screen— can be a scary proposition. Not with Polly. In the first couple of weeks, she would send us listings and we would send her listings of homes that interested us. She really got to know the kind of family home we were hoping to find and she began to really zero in. A few weeks later, we flew to Charleston for a long, three-day weekend of house hunting in Charleston. It was exhausting but exhilarating. Even in a seller’s market with lower than desired inventory, Polly worked hard to make certain that we saw properties that fit our specs and budget throughout the greater Charleston area—giving us an even better idea of the myriad communities we could consider. Though we did not purchase a home on that trip, the virtual touring continued with Polly upon our return home. Then…BINGO! A literal DREAM home popped up in the listings! It checked nearly every single box for us— and Polly went to work. We had seen and experienced the highly competitive nature of home-buying in the Charleston market, but Polly knew how much we wanted to win what we expected would be a wild bidding frenzy for the property. So, with razor-sharp skill and well-honed instinct, she guided us along every decision point to ensure success. She always leveled with us as she deftly assessed and re-assessed the evolving situation. The last day of negotiations was nail-biting—but when we finally got the call that we won the bid, it almost felt surreal. We were/are over-the-moon in love with our new vacation home…and so are our kids and their families! To say we can’t wait to start enjoying Charleston and its seemingly endless places to play with our children and grandchildren is understating our excitement! So this is as much a note of thanks as it is a testimonial for Smith Spencer and our exceptional realtor (and now lifelong friend), Polly Cillpam. For us, finding Polly was a one-a-million lottery win. Polly, we can’t wait for our first walk with you on the Pitt Street Bridge…followed perhaps by a jog across the Ravenel Bridge—now our new outdoor gym too!

-Joyce Kamen