Feel Cold in the house?

If you are in an area that just got hit by the snow storm and it seems cold in your house; heat is not coming on... don't panic and don't call your heating contractor until you go out and uncover the intake and exhaust pipes for your heating system. Now this may not apply to everyone as everyone does not have high efficiency furnaces. However, if you do... this is for you!

The high efficiency units work on intake air, which sometimes is taken from your basement area where ther furnace is located. Some are brought in through a pvc pipe. But, the exhaust always is ported out of the house through a pvc pipe and if that or the intake pipe is covered with snow, the air for combustion and exhaust cannot reach the unit. Thus it will try to cycle and then just shut down. The result, a cold house.

If you have two or three zones, you may feel one area is cold while the rest of the house seems warm. This is probably a dead giveaway, especially if the area feeling cold is on the first floor and the furnace is below grade. The remedy is simple. Put your snow boots on and walk aroud to where those 2' or so PVC pipes stick out of your house and clear the snow from around them. You will have saved yourself a service call and will have your heat back on in no time!

Enjoy the snow!

Want to Lose a Customer? Keep them Waiting!

People HATE to wait — for anything! In a society that increasingly clings to the “instant gratification” lifestyle, the thought of sitting home for that 8 a.m.–noon “window” is simply ludicrous.

A guaranteed way to lose a customer is to repeatedly make them wait for your product/service. Many businesses bring this situation onto themselves by forcing one employee to manage several live customers simultaneously. In particular, businesses allowing for long checkout lines are virtually asking for customers to shop elsewhere.

If for some reason there’s no choice but to make a customer wait, give them something to do while they are waiting. Need to call the warehouse to see if a contractor’s tools have arrived? Then hand ‘em this season’s tool catalog to thumb through while you’re on the phone.

When an unforeseen delay does occur, keep the customer informed every step of the way. Even a seemingly trivial update — “Our driver called and he’s five minutes away” — will put the customer’s mind at ease and lets them know you care. Waiting five minutes for a driver to arrive is nothing when compared to five minutes of being left in the dark.

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Your Smartphone is sharing personal information!

So maybe this is old news, but being new to the smartphone market, I am just learning a lot about them. Just posted in the Wall Street Journel was an article that caught my eye. After investigating several different apps for both the iphone and the android phones, they discovered that a wide range of them send your personal information, stored in the phone to the companies provideing the apps. You can read the story yourself. Find it at  the link below.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020083703574602.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

We have seen the lowest mortgage rates!

While reading some data this morning from one of the experts and from the the daily commentary of a mortgage rate alert program, I am fairly confident to say that we have seen the lowest interest rates of the year and perhaps the lowest for a long time to come! I still say if you are looking to purchase and waiting for prices to drop further, you are going to miss the market! So, waiting for a home price to drop another $20,000 or $30,000 while interest rates climb by 0.50% would cost you over $20,000 in additional interest. Where then, is the savings?

As inflation builds into the market and it will (as the Fed continues to add liquidity through the QE), mortgage rates will continue to increase. So, stop thinking about it and take the next step. Make an offer and negotiate your deal before you lose more in mortgage interest paid than you save by waiting for prices to drop a little more!

Can you be sure prices will drop enough (if at all) to make it worth your while to wait? Just like you cannot time the stock market for extreme highs and lows, I would suggest you cannothere either! 

The odds of getting the lowest rate and the lowest price are growing greater against that happening....

 

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Whole Life Insurance Turns 2,000 - Core Protection Products - Life and Health Insurance News

Want an investment that can guaranty your money will grow without market risk, grow tax deferred, have full access to the money whenever you need it, with the ability to borrow and repay loans, just like a line of credit (except you get the interest instead of the bank!), and ultimately enjoy a tax free supplemental retirement??? Here is a link to a great article. If it make sense to you, send me a comment or email; would like to hear your comments!

Whole Life Insurance Turns 2,000 - Core Protection Products - Life and Health Insurance News

Snoopy’s Christmas

Snoopy’s Christmas

So I just read an article in the USA Today indicating that the approval rating of our Congress is at an all time low! The question is... is anyone surprised? Read it for yourself... if you wish!

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/12/gallup-poll-congress-lowest-job-approval-/1?loc=interstitialskip

 

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Tips for Starting a Home-Based Business

The Internet is an endless treasure trove of opportunities for home-based online business. All you need is a computer and Internet access, right? Well, not exactly. You’ll need to ask yourself a few questions before making your first sale. Questions like, “What will my investment be?” and “What products or services can I offer from my home?”

The most ideal success story for a homemade business is selling a product or service. However, if you do not have such an ideal scenario, there are some other businesses that are aptly suited for the virtual realm.

Affiliate Marketing

As the name implies, your business will have an “affiliation” with another business (usually a merchandiser). Place their link on your website. When a visitor clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you get a per-sale commission.

Direct Sales

A direct sales company will pay you commissions to promote their products by providing you with a start-up kit, support, sales training and other benefits.

Drop Shipping

Select a drop shipper and post their products on your website. You don’t handle any physical product because the wholesales send the product to the customer directly. http://sntk.in/0d783507

So the Federal Reserve pumped more money into the markets and Mr. Bernanke was certain that it would keep interest rates lower. Well,  not so for mortgages! Since the QE2 infusion, mortgage rates are almost a full percertage point higher than they were just prior.And, it doesn't appear that the markets are embracing the latest political manuevering in Washington. It seems that the payroll tax cut or better said, the reduction of individual contribution to social security benefits (4.2% instead of 6.2%) is not receiving rave reviews in the market either!

So, if the Fed was wrong and the markets are not liking what they are seeing in the extention of the tax cuts and the unemployment benefits, then rates are destined to climb higher. Bottom line... if you are thinking about buying a home, STOP THINKING and JUST DO IT! It is safe to say you may have missed the bottom, the lowest rates for the year were offered last month. But, rates are still good. Lock in your rate for your purchase before they go any higher.

Get out and talk to your realtor. They are going to tell you the same thing!

http://sntk.in/0d783507