"Just look at those faces," Connie Hedrick coos with an affectionate laugh. "How can anyone look at those faces and not want to know them better?"

The faces to which the Moyock Realtor® refers belong to those she loving calls The Boys- and no, they are not her children or even her grandchildren. The Boys are the herd of seven male alpaca (think llamas, only smaller, fluffier and cuter) that make their home at SinneWier Farm and Vineyard- the 10-acre farm that Connie and her husband, Steve, now own.

"They each have a different personality. Brutus and Finnegan are my love bugs," she says, pointing out two members of the herd. "The others are pleasantly distant."

Connie's dream of owning a herd of alpaca was born rather recently. A Chesapeake native and graduate of Great Bridge High School, Connie spent several years working in marketing and advertising sales for the Hampton Roads Realtors®  Association. Steve is a retired U.S. Navy chief who currently works as an instructional designer, creating curriculum and providing classroom training at the U.S. Coast Guard's facility in Elizabeth City. But in 2014, the couple tired of the hectic pace of life in Kempsville. In search of more space, they bought SinneWier Farm and moved to Moyock.

In 2015, Connie began volunteering at Alpacawaka Barns, a Moyock alpaca farm. After several months of mucking stalls, feeding and playing with the alpacas, Connie says she went home one day and told Steve that she wanted them to own a herd of their own. So it was that The Boys ended up at SinneWier Farm in the spring of 2016. The alpacas, which are raised for their cozy fleece, are sheared every spring. Now Connie and Steve are learning how to clean and process the black, white, gray, fawn and rust fleece into yarn skeins.

Clients describe Connie as friendly and professional, with an upbeat personality and a willingness to invest extra time and effort into helping them.

"She makes you feel like you are the only customer she has," says Ray Neal, a retired central office technician for Verizon Wireless. "It's a big deal to sell a house and it's nice to have someone you can trust working for you."

During the past three years, Ray and his wife, June Adams, inherited two houses: one in Portsmouth, one in Norfolk. The couple was concerned about one of the houses because it was located in a neighborhood where other properties up for sale had sat on the market for a year or more with no takers. Thanks to Connie, Ray and June's home sold relatively quickly- within just a couple of months. As for the other house, the couple had an offer on it within 48 hours of putting it on the market.

"Not only did it sell quickly, but it also sold for more than June and I had expected," Ray says. "We have to give Connie the credit for it all. She made suggestions that I believed helped us sell both houses so fast. She suggested that we change paint colors in some of the room and do some very minor bits of remodeling."

When these small easy changes were completed, Connie brought in some furniture and a few simple decorative pieces and then had some professional photos taken of the interiors that showed off the houses to their best advantage. With Connie's careful attention to details that others often overlook, buyers quickly snatched up both homes.

"Connie really has a good handle on the market and seems to know what clients are looking for," Ray concludes. "I would definitely refer her to any friends and family. If and when I sell again, she will definitely be involved."

Navy family Dulce and Josh Lewis say Connie alleviated the stress of selling their Knotts Island, NC home after receiving transfer orders to California.

"Connie took one piece of our very stressful life- selling our home- and made it smooth for us," Josh says. "She invested her time in us and it gave us a sense of security- the feeling that this one thing in our lives was locked down and taken care of. It was nice knowing we had someone in our corner, looking out for our best interests. Best of all, we received an offer on the house just one day after it hit the market."

Connie said she thrives on the challenge of helping home-buyers find the perfect home.

"Real estate is about so much more than buying and selling houses," Connie concludes. "It's about forging relationships with clients that last long after keys have exchanged hands. Even after the sale is done, we'll still check in with our clients. We want to make sure they are happy in their new homes."