When my sister and I came to the decision that we would have to sell our family home on Lake Norman, we knew that it would be a heart-wrenching process. Our parents had built the house in 1968. We had spent our formative teen years in that house. After our mother died in that house and our father remarried, he kept the house for the family’s use. We vacationed at that house for decades. The house was an escape from the difficulties and crises of our adult lives. We found comfort and solace there. Our children developed a strong attachment to the house, where they spent thousands of happy hours. Their children, our grandchildren, became old enough to appreciate how special that place was and how much it meant. My nephew, on learning that we planned to put the house on the market, said the news came like a death in the family. The emotional attachments to the house were only one part of our stress over this decision. We lived three and four hours away. That had made using the house difficult (but worth the trouble), but trying to sell a house from long distance seemed impossible. We knew we’d have to have a Realtor who understood our anxiety and who would be willing to do the “heavy lifting” during the sale that we couldn’t do from some 200 miles away. The best thing that happened during this process was that a business-related contact recommended Bill Balatow of Allen Tate Realty, and Bill called me immediately upon being told of our interest. My sister and I met with him and immediately “clicked.” He understood how attached we were — our entire extended families were — to that house and how emotional this life event was for us. He also took charge, advising us in all manner of ways that made our decision to sell our treasure a success. Bill knew the real estate market in the area and helped us with the timing, marketing and pricing of he house. More important, he served as our hands and feet to get things done while we were hundreds of miles away and unable to drop our jobs, families and careers to take care of unexpected real estate issues. Many, many times during this process, I called Bill to ask about a problem that had come up, and he would say, “Don’t worry about it; I’ll take care of it.” And he always did. He kept me apprised of every matter, from home inspection to sewer survey to land and dock survey, and I could reduce my stress level knowing that Bill would keep his word to “take care of it.” I cannot imagine how many hours he must have put into this relationship. but he always remained calm, positive, professional and concerned with our needs and priorities. Without Bill Balatow, I’m not sure our house would have sold as quickly as it did. With certainty, I can attest that selling the house would have been much harder, much more stressful, more negative and more unpleasant without him. I cannot praise him enough and would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone seeking a real estate agent in the Lake Norman area. I know he will treat his clients fairly and will do what is right and what is best for them. Ginny Tarleton