Fall is in the air...

It's hard to believe the summer has zipped by so fast (again). Kids are heading back to school, school busses will be holding up traffic to work again, almost time to stash the golf bag, think about putting the motorcycle away and the last major holiday until Thanksgiving is in the rear view mirror.

Enough of the depressing news whew. We had a pretty eventful August, with several real estate transactions closing... sales are still sluggish though, but don't despair... I usually maintain a pretty good fall and winter volume, and have written offers on Thanksgiving as well as Christmas eve. Keep the faith, we'll snap out of this soon I'm sure.

I recently joined realtor.com which has always been a pretty significant investment for realtors. It is important to do this in order to gain the best exposure for your listings. I now have the ability to enhance all of my listings with more photos, specific info regarding contacting me personally about your home that I have listed... who's most qualified to talk with buyers than the guy that listed your home? Realtor.com pulls all the info from the Multi Listing system. I pay for both Oakland and Macomb county and place all listings on both services for better exposure. Century 21's main website also hosts our specific listings and links buyers to our Town & Country site as well. Rest assured that you are getting the max on-line exposure for your listing with my service.

Which brings me to our new lead router system... with all this on-line exposure, and consumer access to all this information, it is critical to be the first realtor to react to on-line inquiries. Lead Router is a new system that Century 21 Town & Country uses that alerts agents about buyers that have inquired on line or via phone about our listings. My phone rings within seconds of a search inquiry, and all I have to do is answer the phone and the customer info is forwarded to me via the phone as well as e-mail. I can call back right then and discuss the info "while it's hot", rather than a few days later when the buyer forgets all about what they were looking for. What an impression that makes from a service standpoint. In my profession, what is there to offer but service with a smile?

If you haven't done so in the past few months of seeing this blog, please click around in the links above. You will see all of my listings, and how they link into realtor.com as well as the Town & Country web sites. There are also a lot of other fascinating sites to link to as well... enjoy, and if you have something you feel could be important info on my site, I'd be happy to check it out and potentially place it in the links section... always looking to improve and help out.

As for the family... Jessy returned from California visiting Dave & Lauren and her very cool niece. She is all moved in to her new apartment and starting her masters in just a few short days. Several trips to Kalamazoo, and bunch of labor later, we have her all set up for the comfort she is accustomed to :0)

Dave & Lauren are well, and we hope to see Lauren & Bella in October as they pop home for a couple days to visit. Dave has one more year in the Army and he's flipping coins about another enlistment, but it seems like he's leaning heavily toward returning home and living with us while he looks for work around here. If anyone knows where they need a great tank mechanic... give me a call :0)

Kelly & I are well... but missing the kids. Can't wait to squeeze Bella again. Bike nights are almost history for the summer. It gets pretty cold at night to ride, and we've been caught in a couple pretty grueling rain storms this month that have added an element of excitement to the sport... But, hockey starts again this week, and she can't be talked into retirement even after breaking her ankle this past spring... here we go again.

Thanks again for your referrals. They are appreciated, and we treat them as our own family and friends.

See you in October

Dave


FYI... this is from an inspector friend of mine at accu-spec (see link above). Don't forget to change your air filter getting ready for Fall.

Breathe easier -- buy a decent air filter for your furnace
By Master Handyman Glenn Haege
The easiest way to improve your home's air quality and arguably your family's health can be found at your local hardware store and won't cost more than $100 a year.
One of the highest rated filters is the True Blue Allergen MERV 11. It's available at ACO for $7.99. A 3M Filtrete Ultra Allergen, also rated at MERV 11, lasts 3 months and costs $22.99. MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, which is a rating of the effectiveness of air filters in removing contaminants from the air and is dependent on the particle size of the contaminant.
Before your eyes cross, stick with me. I want you to be a more informed consumer.
Three caveats:
1. The best brochure I have read on this subject is 3M's nine-page "Breathe Easier Filtration." I found it is on the Filtera Web site, listed as the 3M Filtration Brochure ( www.filtera-b2b.com/businessfilters/resources.htm) at the very bottom of the page.
2. You can buy filters almost anywhere. to but shop the Web for information. Some of the retail Web sites I recommend are: allergybuyersclub.com, filtermarket .com, filtera-b2b.com, filters-now.com and ushomefilter.com.
3. If you, or anyone in your family, have asthma, allergies or any type of heart or breathing condition, don't rush out and buy anything based on this article. Over the next few weeks, I am going to cover other indoor air quality issues so don't make a buying decision until you have all the information.
The disposable furnace filter is the first line of defense for your family's air quality. If you have natural gas forced-air (most of us do), your furnace is equipped to use a 1- or 2-inch air filter. It can be adapted to use a 4-inch-thick media filter.
Washable furnace filters are also available. They sound like a good idea until you start cleaning them.
One- and 2-inch filters usually have to be replaced monthly. 3M Filtrete and some electrostatic filters have to be replaced every three months. Thick media filters can last one year.
Most filter manufacturers brag about their filter being efficient down to 1 micron in size. Many dangerous pollutants are much smaller and pass right through. Your family would breathe easier with a more effective filter. Tune in next week.
Hope to see you soon
Dave Jones
www.accu-spec-inspections.com
248-393-1250