The Hills Living Magazine - Meet the Menser-Polley Family

**Check out Pages 12-14!**

Ben Polley and Stephani (Menser) Polley met at the beginning of 2012. They were introduced through a mutual friend that they both went to meet with at the Folsom Hotel on Sutter Street. They spent several hours talking and Stephani mentioned that she was a realtor and was hosting an open house on Breese Circle that weekend. Ben, living in Serrano, decided to stop by the open house and ask Stephani on a date. In 2015, they got married in Cancun, surrounded by 70 of their closest friends (most from EDH) and family.

Ben, originally from Sebastopol, CA, moved to the Sacramento area in 1994 to attend college at Sacramento State. After college, he moved up the hill and settled down in El Dorado Hills. Ben owns Polley Insurance and Risk Management, formerly known as Clinton Polley Insurance Brokers. After 20 years of building his business, Ben recognized a greater need to manage risk for his cli- ents beyond the placement of insurance policies. At the beginning of 2020, he announced the launch of his new company branding.

Stephani grew up in El Dorado Hills and graduated from Oak Ridge, the same high school her teenagers now attend. Her parents, Steve and Donna Menser still reside here as well. Stephani is a realtor with the Menser Real Estate Group at Coldwell Banker. She formed this team in 2013 alongside her mother, Donna, and longtime friend (also an EDH native) Melissa Cvitanovic.

The Polley’s are a blended family with Aden (17) and Lauren (14) from Ben’s previous marriage. In August 2016, Steve was born. “We have a very busy household!” says Stephani. “The big kids live with us a week on/a week off. We have our au pair Barbie, from Coahuila, Mexico, that lives with us to help with Steve. We also have two dogs-Juicy, a 12-year-old Chihuahua, and Caymus, a 6-year-old Yorkie.”

Aden is a junior at Oak Ridge and works at Safeway. He is a big Sacramento Kings fan and when he is not working or teaching his little brother how to play basketball, he is working on his ‘67 Chevelle. Lauren, a freshman at Oak Ridge loves to play soccer and, as a typical teenager, socialize with friends. Steve is attending his second year at Step by Step, Paso a Paso, a Spanish Immersion preschool. Steve is the biggest personality in the Polley household. His hobbies are golfing, swimming and dressing up in costumes. Some days he can be found dressed up as a bagpipe player in their backyard, entertaining his parents while they pretend they are in Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach. Barbie (20) is the Polleys’ third consecutive au pair. She’s lived with them for a year and a half and will be returning home shortly to finish college.

For fun, the Polley family loves spending time on their boat or golfing at Serrano. They also frequently attend concerts and Sacramento Kings basketball games. Prior to COVID, they would often visit KP Karaoke as a family and take trips to the Delta, Lake Tahoe and Mexico.

“COVID has really been an eye-opener for us,” Stephani says. “We’ve always loved where we lived, but being forced to shelter in place, we have become much more grateful for our neighbors and our beautiful community. We are very social people and our backyard saved our sanity. We live on the 8th tee box and were able to (from a distance) visit with members from the Club as they drove by our house.”

Their favorite part of living in El Dorado Hills is the sense of community that comes with it. Although it has grown tremendously since Stephani grew up here, it still has the small-town feel that they love.

The Hills Living Magazine | The Menser Real Estate Group

THE MENSER REAL ESTATE GROUP - YOUR ‘GO-TO’ REAL ESTATE TEAM!

Since 2002, the Menser Real Estate Group has been specializing in El Dorado Hills residential real estate. Their intimate knowledge of the area and collaborative approach to assisting their clients have landed them in the top 10 of Coldwell Banker teams in the entire Sacramento region. You may have seen their TV commercials. 

How was the Menser Real Estate Group formed? 

Surprisingly, mother-daughter, Donna Menser, and Stephani Menser Polley, were initially competitors. When Donna's husband was sick, Stephani helped by showing homes while her dad recovered. It was a blessing in disguise because they ended up forming a team. A few years later, Melissa Cvitanovic left the brokerage she was at and joined the Menser Group. 

What are your services? 

In short, we help people buy and sell residential properties in the El Dorado Hills area. It is much more than that, though!

We are negotiators, stagers, marketing professionals, personal shoppers, strategists... Our clients don't just call us when they want to buy or sell. They call us when they need a referral, remodel/decor advice, or comps for an appraisal. We like to be their go-to source for anything house, EDH, or real estate related. 

What sets you apart from other Realtors? 

What works today won't always work tomorrow. We are continually adapting and setting new standards of what we think the real estate industry should be. Our process is different; we take a concierge approach to listing and an innovative marketing strategy for selling it. 

While many agents depend on a "for sale" sign and the MLS to sell their listings, we actively search for buyers through our multi-tier distribution plan. We develop a custom marketing campaign for each listing to target and retarget individuals that are likely to buy the home. We advertise homes the way a large scale marketing company would brand and advertise a product. 

We also stage our listings. We've realized that buying and selling real estate is a major undertaking, and our clients still have other commitments to keep up with. With this in mind, we manage and facilitate the entire process. 

Do you hire stagers or stage yourself?

We are Accredited Staging Professionals (ASP). The majority of our clients live in the homes we have listed. Staging occupied homes can be difficult; most staging companies want the homes to be vacant. Staging is incredibly important to assure the fastest sale with the greatest return. We became professional stagers to make sure all of our listings look perfect. We have three massive storage units full of furniture and decor and are constantly changing inventory. Having in-house staging also helps save our clients money. 

What challenges have you experienced with COVID-19, and how are you adapting?

Luckily we have always been heavy on virtual marketing and technology. Just like everyone else, we have been using Zoom and FaceTime. One of our favorite new changes we've made is that we purchased a 360° camera. We've always had walk-through video tours, but the 360° tours are great. They will even work with VR glasses! We have been using them for listings and even showings for our buyers because most agents aren't doing 360° yet. We are also making individual websites for each listing. It is helpful to track how many people are virtually touring the home, the demographics, and how many times they have visited the site. 

How long have you been in El Dorado Hills? 

We've lived here for a long time - back when El Dorado Hills was mostly rolling fields! There was no Serrano, no Town Center, and only a few original developments. We know the area very well. Did you know that Raley's on EDH Blvd. originally faced the opposite way? That's how long we have been locals. 

What are some real estate tips that you have?

We have several curated guides for buying a home, preparing a home for sale, the sale process, etc. They can all be found on our website at EDHrealtor.com.

"Who you work with matters!"

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June 2020 - El Dorado Hills Neighbors Magazine | The Cvitanovics

THE CVITANOVICS - SHOOTING FOR THE MOON

This month we are getting to know the Cvitanovics (pronounced Svitanovich), who are known as “The Vics” among their friends. Although it is not uncommon to see names such as this in the U.S. (being the melting pot that we are), it is less common these days that the person with that name was actually born in the country from which the name originated. But that is exactly the case here - Nick Cvitanovic was born on the Dalmation Coast of Croatia.

Melissa’s family had moved to El Dorado Hills in 1989, so she grew up here. When she moved to San Francisco to go to college, she met Nick as he was working there at the time. Nick and a friend decided to go out for sushi and happened to end up at the same restaurant as Melissa, who was also there with a friend. “We noticed one another while we were parking,” Melissa recalls. “Two spots opened up right next to each other, which rarely happens. The second I saw Nick, I told m friend, ‘Im going to marry him.’ And I made sure that happened!” The couple met on May 9, 2006, and exactly four years later to the day, they were married at Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. “It was a fun-filled, stress-free wedding, with just a few close friends,” adds Melissa.

villamelcroatia.com

Nick has a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and worked in high tech in the Bay Area for several years. He then went into real estate investing and biotech (nanotechnology and DNA sequencing). Melissa has a Bachelor’s degree in Business, and as a result of Nick’s influence, she started her real estate career in San Francisco right out of college, although she now works as a realtor with the Menser Real Estate Group at Coldwell Banker here in El Dorado Hills. As a couple, the Cvitanovics decided to invest in Nick’s home country of Croatia, so they built vacation properties on the Adriatic Sea. You can check those out at Villamelcroatia.com.

The Cvitanovics have three children. Jake is the oldest at nine years of age. He goes to Silva Valley Elementary and loves tennis, golf, and soccer. In the middle is Chloe, seven, who also attends Silva Valley, and her passions are dancing, playing the piano, and drawing. Melissa reports that she is a great artist. Ella, who is is three, is the youngest Cvitanovic and she goes to Paso a Paso (Step by Step), a Spanish immersion preschool in El Dorado Hills. Ella loves to sing Jojo Siwa and dance, and according to Melissa, she is the spunky one.

Because Nick works and stays in San Francisco during the week, Melissa works time during the week, and they both travel a lot, the couple has found it very helpful to have someone live with them who can assist with the kids. Therefore, they now have their third (consecutive, not all at the same time!) Au Pair living with them. Her name is Marie, and she is from South Africa. Marie is 19, so the kids think of her as a big sister. Being from another part of the world, her presence has been a great experience for the children, and the whole family is very happy to have welcomed her to El Dorado Hills.

There are also several non-human members of the Cvitanovic Clan. For Christmas, the kids received a King Charles Cavalier puppy. Her name is Roxy and she is reportedly a great dog. The children, of course, absolutely love her and enjoy walking her around the neighborhood. There is also a white cat named Olaf, and a guinea pig named Daisy.

As a family, the Cvitanovics love the Sacramento Kings and attend many of their games each season. They also like to play tennis and golf together. Melissa loves to cook, and is always whipping up healthy recipes for the family. “Family dinners are very important to us,” she explains. “We all sit around the table every night and discuss what we’re grateful for and share stories. This is our sacred time.” Melissa also volunteers, and is on the board of a non-profit mom's group, Sierra Moms.

As already mentioned, the Cvitanovics do a lot of traveling. Each summer they go to Croatia to check on their business and visit Nick’s family. “We love to travel and want to experience as many cultures as possible,” says Melissa. “We also find it very enriching for our kids to see different ways of life.” Every year they also try to travel to a new destination in Europe while they are there. “The best part about Europe is that you have so many countries within such close proximity to one another,” she continues. “Last year we traveled to Barcelona, and next time we’re planning to go to Prague.”

The Cvitanovics have lived in Serrano since 2011. As soon as they had Jake, Melissa knew she wanted to get a place out of the city and back where she had grown up in order to raise their children where the schools and neighborhoods are highly rated and safe. “We love living in El Dorado Hills,” Melissa raves, “and have met many wonderful, life-long friends here. It’s an absolutely incredible place to raise children, with all the summer concerts, festivals, restaurants, and great schools. We also appreciate that EDH has that small-town, tight community feel, but is still conveniently located just outside of Sacramento and relatively close to Tahoe and the Bay Area.”

The motto in the Cvitanovic family is, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” They believe it’s important to set your ambitions high and strive for what you want in life. “Even if things don’t work out perfectly, as things never go just as planned,” concludes Melissa, “at least you gave it your all.” With an optimistic and proactive attitude like that, the Cvitanovic family will go far. Even when they ‘re staying right here in El Dorado Hills!

How to Be a Good Neighbor and Set a Positive Example for Others

Bad neighbors don’t have to be a nightmare. Setting a good example yourself and working with your neighbors in a respectful way can solve problems before they happen. 

Here are some ways to be a good neighbor. 

Start by making sure you’re not the person that’s driving everyone nuts. Before you can ask someone else to turn their loud music down or keep their dogs from barking all night, you can be a model homeowner and make sure you’re not doing the things you don’t want your neighbors doing. 

These include keeping your home well maintained so it isn’t an eyesore, respecting property lines and not having your fences or trees encroach on a neighbor’s property, and not seeking minor revenge for problems. 

It can also help to develop a friendly relationship with your neighbors. Introduce yourself and establish a friendly rapport so that if a problem arises, you can resolve it easily. You can also be a good neighbor by volunteering to collect a neighbor’s mail when they’re on vacation. It’s also a good idea to be proactive and tell neighbors ahead of time if you’re doing a renovation or anything else that will create a lot of noise. 

When approaching someone with a complaint, go into the conversation with the idea that they have good intentions and may not realize that what they’re doing is a problem. 

Your initial complaint may elicit a complaint by your neighbor about you, so take it as constructive criticism and be thankful for the help in resolving an issue that you may not have realized is causing a problem for someone else. 

Problems can escalate, making this  a good time to involve a third party. A homeowners association, neighborhood group, city building department, animal control, code enforcement, police or an attorney could help. To help other people deal with the issue, document the problem with photos, emails, texts and other facts. 

Your HOA, police and other groups may require a formal complaint. Do your research and know what the neighborhood and city rules are before going this far, and do everything else you can to resolve it yourself. The police should be your last resort. 

If none of this works, you should still avoid the temptation to do things that will upset the neighbors. Continuing a feud will not help matters. Don’t leave your barking dogs outside all day, for example, or crank up your music as a way to get revenge. Doing these things could lead to you being the neighbor everyone despises.