Your New Donation Companion

By John Thompson, Executive Vice President, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.

We all do it. Drop off a bag of clothes at the local Salvation Army and take the donation receipt with the intention of filling it out later and then loose it.  Now, with a drop off every few months, these dismissed and lost receipts can add up to a huge pile of missed tax credits. Your donations are something you already do so you might as well take advantage of them, right?

Well, iDonatedIt is an app that will help you organize and stay on top of your generous donations without needing that receipt. The app tracks the date your donations are made, the organization they went to, what you donated and the value of those items. Just think, one place to track all of the information for your donations; compliant and IRS ready. The app does cost $2.99 but the return on your investment is well worth it.

Setting up and using it is extremely simple too. When you go to make a donation, add a new donation event right from the home screen of the app. Enter the name and address of the charity, the date the donation was made and attach a photo of the donated items if you like. Add the items you donated and an estimated value will automatically be provided by the app. Once the donation event is complete, a report is created and sent to your email. It’s all so simple and done in about 5 minutes! No more loosing receipts, racking your brain about the donation you made last April, or dismissing great value in your generosity. You’ll be so ready for tax season you won’t know what to do with yourself.

Weekend Wellness – Imagine if…

By Tammy Parkinson, CPT, ACSM, NASM, Nutritionist, Body Firm Personal Training & Nutrition

Imagine you could wake up tomorrow and realize anything is possible.  Just imagine.

What if…you felt amazing and you absolutely loved to exercise…how would that change your life?

What if…you loved eating foods which were really good for you, foods which helped your body heal and repair and gave you energy…what would your life be like?

What if…you managed your schedule so that you could spend quality time each day with your family, your friends and the people you love and could freely laugh and feel happy?  How would your relationships that you have now change?

What if…you knew you were taking care of your health so well, you rarely, if ever, worried about the next Dr.’s visit?  Would you still be afraid?

What if…you were able to stop worrying about money and felt secure with what you already have?  Would you smile more readily?

What if…you truly loved what you did for a living?  Would you wake up excited to live your day?

What if…you imagined the impossible?  What if the impossible could happen…even if for a day?  What would happen?

Wake up tomorrow, and imagine…what if…?

Save Energy and Money with Nest

By John Thompson, Executive Vice President. Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.

I’m sure by now you’ve all received your gas and electric bill for the month of December and you might not be too happy with it.  Between the heater running all day and the Christmas lights running all evening, I’m always amazed at how much it goes up during the month of December.  Not to mention the fact that you forgot to change the settings as you ran out the door for that last vacation of the year.  All of these elements can add up to a very expensive and wasteful month.  If only there was a way to set it and forget it.

The Nest Thermostat can help you do just that. The device learns your schedule, programs itself and can be controlled from your phone. With this kind of set up, your heating and cooling bills could be lowered by 20%.

To get started, purchase the Nest Thermostat here.  The device itself is about $250 but I promise, it will pay for itself.  Install the Nest Thermostat and answer a few simple questions to optimize the system, then over the first week turn it up and down as you go through your normal daily routine.  This teaches the thermostat what temperatures you like and builds a personalized schedule just for you.  After about 7 days, The Nest will automatically set everything on its own. Pretty amazing!

If you need to reset the system, say for the summer months, just go through this process again to reprogram it for your new routine.  If you leave on vacation and forget to turn off your thermostat, don’t worry, The Nest Thermostat will automatically turn to an energy-efficient Away temperature.  Want to adjust your thermostat while you’re away? Connect your smart phone to your Nest with the Nest app and you’ll have a warm welcome when you arrive home.

When your setting are saving energy, The Nest Leaf appears on the thermostat so you know you’re moving to a more eco-friendly temperature.  The Nest Thermostat even gives you an Energy History to see exactly how much energy you’re saving.

It really is super simple to use and by doing so, you could end up with a great reward: not only more money in your pocket but a more energy efficient home too.

2014 - The Year to Buy

We been asked by several people what is coming for the real estate market in 2014. We pretty much agree with this video.

Home Improvements that Pay You Back

We’re all spending a lot of time in the house now, and probably many of us are thinking about improvements. Here’s our recommendations on what pays you back when it comes time to sell your house. Of course, this is not the only thing to consider when you’re deciding on how to spend your home improvement dollars.

Luxury Insider – Ready-Set-Go!

By Alain Pinel, General Manager of Intero Prestigio international, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.

So long 2013! It was a nice year in real estate, but it’s behind us. Now we have 2014 to deal with. What are we going to do with it? I repeat: “What are WE going to do with it”? It is, after all, up to us. Right? Too many buyers & sellers have been frozen in place all of last year, unclear as to what to do-when-how & why. I guess they were overwhelmed by a constant flow of contradictory news about the economy, so they chose to wait & see. Too bad, both sides would have substantially benefited from acting on their first impulsion.

The good news is, there is always another year. Here it is. We’ll give those would-be buyers and sellers another chance!

Allow me to suggest a tip they will need to consider in order to maximize their opportunities to win this year:  “Timing is not everything but it’s a big thing.” What is the best time to buy or sell a home? It can be said that the best time is when you want to, when you have to, or when you can. Hard to argue with common-sense, although these factors are more about will and fate than just reason. If you look at a calendar, there is in fact a time in the year when homebuyers and sellers would be well advised to pull the trigger. Guess what it is?

Fierce Competition Makes Home Buyers More Flexible

By Gino Blefari, President & CEO, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.

As we kick off 2014, it’s already abundantly clear that in many places it’s a seller’s market out there.
Even more evidence to prop up this argument has cropped up in the last week as a survey conducted by Redfin found that more buyers are realizing they have to compromise more in order to get the home they want.

By compromise, they mean pay more and accept less.

The Redfin survey revealed that 35% of real estate agents said that buyers are now “willing to pay more” to find a home compared to last summer. An additional 30% of agents said that buyers are more flexible about must-have features and lowering their expectations of what their money can buy.

Good news for sellers, right?

Weekend Wellness – Achieving Success in 2014

By Tammy Parkinson, CPT, ACSM, NASM, Nutritionist, Body Firm Personal Training & Nutrition

Here we are…2014!  It seems a little surreal.   Of course, January is synonyms with resolutions, goals, getting motivated, fresh starts and that’s just the beginning.

I’m all for this.  As you might know, I write down my intentions for the year every January.  It grounds me and helps me gain insight and direction as to how I’d like to focus my energy and attention.   I openly encourage my clients to do this (in their own way) as well…I deeply believe we need to write down what we want for ourselves in order to envelope these intentions into our lives and create the year (and beyond) we want.

So often, though I hear folks worry about the perfection and potential imperfections of setting goals.  Many people seem to be afraid to commit to “New Year’s Resolutions” because they have “failed in years past” and don’t want to claim their goals out loud; some won’t even write it on paper…even if they are the only ones who see it.  They worry that if they don’t complete their goal (sometimes with absolute perfection) then they have failed, so they don’t want to even try; for fear of letting someone (mostly themselves) down.

Better Sleep Means a Better You in 2014

By John Thompson, Executive Vice President, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc.

It’s the beginning of a new year.  That means, new goals, new commitments, a chance to start fresh.  For most people this includes goals of losing weight, eating healthier, or being more productive; making the most of your day to be the best person you can.  Why not start each day with a better night so you can accomplish these goals well rested and energized?  Your standard alarm clock just won’t do when it comes to this, but Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock does.  The app tracks your sleep patterns, waking you up in the lightest sleep phase closest to when your alarm is set to go off.

So why is it important that you wake up in the lightest sleep phase? Well, our bodies go through a cycle when they are asleep, moving from light sleep to deep sleep and occasionally going into REM-sleep (a dream state).  A normal alarm clock doesn’t take any of these phases into account.  It just simply goes off at the specific time you set no matter what stage of sleep you’re in.  Waking up in the middle of the deep sleep phase can cause a great disruption in your sleep pattern resulting in the sluggish, sleep deprived feeling so many of us are familiar with.

Sleep Cycle takes all of this into consideration using a 30 minute alarm window that ends at your set alarm time and wakes you up in your lightest sleep place.  The result: a more refreshed, well-rested you and a more productive energetic day.  Just think of all that you could accomplish when you’re at your best from the start of the day!  All of this for only $.99.

Monday Morning Mojo – My New Year’s Commitments!!

By Tom Tognoli, COO & Founder, Intero Real Estate Services, Inc

Today marks the first full week of a New Year and the day that most of us roll up our sleeves and get back to work and school. It is our opportunity for a fresh start on whatever it is that we want to accomplish in our F5 (Faith-Family-Friends-Fitness-Finance). We all just need to remember that it is the beginning and not the end. We need to pace ourselves or we will crash and burn. Don’t let what happened to your last year’s resolutions happen again this year.

I think it starts first with not making resolutions. I am not a big fan of resolutions because they never seem to stick and most of the time they are these big pie in the sky things…they are hopes and prayers. It is why our resolutions are typically the same each year. Try something different this year…make commitments not resolutions. A commitment is just that…it’s not negotiable. I would rather see people make smaller commitments they know they can keep than making big audacious resolutions that very rarely if ever stick/work.