Communicating with Holly was really smooth - she was quick to answer any questions that would come up and was always available to share her insights and expertise on the home buying-process. Especially at the time of escrow when a lot of questions had to be answered quickly, we felt lucky to have her be so responsive and thorough in her communication.Being a Berkeley resident herself, Holly had in-depth knowledge of the different neighborhoods we were interested in and was able to paint a picture for us as to what living there might be like.As first time home buyers, the process of making an offer was quite daunting to say the least, especially when it came to deciding on what the offer sum should be and how to handle contingencies. We made multiple offers and realized very quickly that Holly's sense of what a property would go for was always right on target. We felt confident listening to her advice about pricing and on how to best formulate a competitive offer.During our first meeting, walked us step by step through the home buying process. She showed us some sample contracts, talked us through each of the sections and even helped us decipher the legal language in the different paperwork.We would have never anticipated how much paperwork is involved in the process and would constantly reach out top Holly and get her guidance. Especially during the escrow process, the amount of paperwork was simply overwhelming. I felt so fortunate to be able to rely on Holly's expertise of the different forms, the legal language and what to look out for.Holly helped us navigate an incredibly competitive market, where every home we looked at was receiving a great many offers. During the offer process Holly was constantly reaching out to the listing agent, extracting valuable information, and talking to her real estate contacts to get a feel for where the offers were landing. Based on her feedback we were able to make crucial decisions which allowed us to make a competitive offer.Throughout our time with Holly, we felt that she had our best interest in mind and we were confident that we could rely on her advice. She is a pleasure to work with, as first time home-buyers there were many things we didn't know. Holly was very generous with her time and thoroughly answered our questions. Holly is remarkably well connected in the East Bay. Everyone we came across during the home-buying process, knew her, and spoke highly of her. Her vast list of contacts and connections was an incredibly valuable resource for us, as she would frequently say: 'I know a person who can help with that' for example : we wanted to get a second opinion on a property's foundation the day before offers were due, and Holly made a quick call and had one of her contacts inspect the property and report back that same day..Holly reviewed the different inspection reports with us and pointed out what to watch out for. She has extensive knowledge about what makes a healthy, sound structure and where we might benefit in investigating further. Whenever we had a question that required involving a specialist, Holly was quick to get us connected and get us answers quickly.We feel very fortunate that we had Holly guide us through the daunting process of buying a home. As real estate novices, we couldn't have asked for a better ally in the home-buying-process.