Western Mass Homes Lesley Lambert

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Attitude of Gratitude

Daughter's artwork- 5th grade

I have already had several conflicts rise up for this weekend, work vs. family.  I am going to have to stand by my kids no matter what, but I am glad.

I am glad for the business, of course. but honestly…if work comes up against family, family wins.  I am glad to share that fact with my clients because if they don’t understand that, then we aren’t really a good match.

I also need my clients to help with weekends like this…my daughters’ have a dance competition.  You may wonder how a customer or client could help with  a dance competition.  Well, quite honestly, I need to work to pay the entry fees for said dance.

So the attitude of gratitude is not a platitude, but rather a latitude of thankfulness that my clients understand what my children need best.

That moment of Dr. Seuss was brought to you by the letter Y.  Y? Because we like you!

Yes, I understand how many youthful commercial memorical metaphors I just mixed.

OK…back to gratitude.

My daughters are so talented.  They are amazing performers and dancers and I am so excited to share a love for dance and the stage with them.  They take the dance world experience to new levels for me…my eldest with her gorgeous voice and vocal solos and my youngest with her tumbling.  I never did either on a stage and am so proud of their fearless nature and gifts.

They are gifted in so many other ways, too.  They both dance, they both sing and they are both so smart.  The eldest is also showing amazing artistic talents.  She has been published as a poet and her art is the featured picture in this story.  We go to Mass MoCA every year and I swear this could be on display there!

My gratitude doesn’t end there, although I thank God every day for two healthy, talented, smart and capable daughters.

I am also grateful for a man who loves me so well.  I don’t want to make my readers nauseous, but today is a special day…the third anniversary of the best first date ever.  I met my boyfriend, Morriss, on Twitter over three years ago.  He turned my world upside down and taught me so many things.  As for all of you it isn’t always easy, but let me tell you…I wouldn’t want it any other way.  Morriss is an amazingly talented man.  He is musical, thoughtful, dedicated and sweet.  Take a look at this video from our five monthaversary:

In closing I am grateful for so many things, including the career that allows me to help other families with their dreams at the same time as I help mine.  What a wonderful life!  Being a real estate agent in Western Massachusetts allows me to provide for my family and to help others with their dreams.  Thank you for choosing to work with me.

Thank you to my children (Sean, Shaun and Ry) and Morriss for putting up with my crazy schedule…that is not the smallest gratitude!

For a life filled with arts, family, love, houses, fun, excitement, adventure, support and GRATITUDE…I thank all of you.

 

Save Money and the Planet with the World Wildlife Foundation Tips

The World Wildlife Foundation, the world’s leading conservation organization has been working for the last 50 years to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature.

On their site they host a series of conservation tips that are good for both the environment and your wallet.

The money saving tips from the WWF include:

Screensavers don’t use less energy. “Sleep mode” reduces a computer’s energy consumption by 60 to 70%. At the end of the day, power it off completely.

The refrigerator is the single biggest energy-consuming kitchen appliance. Opening the door accounts for between $30 and $60 of a typical family’s electricity  bill each year.

U.S. consumers spend up to 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than for tap water.

Energy saving tips included:

Using cold water can save up to 80% of the energy required to wash clothes.

Use a microwave instead of the stove to save energy. Microwave ovens use around 50% less energy than conventional ovens do.

The average U.S. office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of copy paper per year. Print on both sides and in draft mode whenever feasible.

These are only a handful of the very helpful and energy efficient tips hosted on this important site.  Be sure to visit WWF to read many more wonderful ideas.

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“I Hate Doing Real Estate Without An Agent”

“I Hate Doing Real Estate Without An Agent”

Image representing iPhone as depicted in Crunc...
Image via CrunchBase

This was a quote from one of my clients today as he related a story of a small family sale that is being transacted privately.  I told him that I applauded his sentiment, but was curious as to what made him say that.

His response was direct…it is a pain to keep track of all the little details.

I joked with him that my day was made up of a million little details and that it can be a pain sometimes, but a good real estate agent has systems in place to help them deal with it.

I am a very organized REALTOR, I have to be…I don’t have time for disorganization and I need to be efficient and effective for my clients.  One tool that I referenced as a lifesaver in my career was DropBox.  With the help of this cloud filing system, I have my paperwork with me at all times, literally in the palm of my hand on my iPhone.  If a client, attorney of lender needs something from me, I can accomplish their request instantly and that saves me from having to remember to do it later (which is not an effective system for me at all).

There are a number of other tools that I utilize that help me to deal with the fine details of a real estate transaction.  I am glad to know that there are clients out there who recognize the need for the assistance of an agent!  There are a lot of reasons besides organizing a transaction that you want a good real estate agent on your team.

If you are in Western Massachusetts and need an organized, experience real estate agent to help you with the purchase or sale of a home, I hope you will give me the chance to try for the position!

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The 413 – Western Massachusetts

Map showing area codes for region with Massach...
Map showing area codes for region with Massachusetts in blue and A/C 413 in red. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

413 is our phone prefix in Western MA and when I was young my mom  would ask where we were going, I would reply “The 413!”.  I love it here, there are so many towns with amazing history, culture, oddities and stories.

Tonight on Twitter Mark Fitzpatrick (@mrkfitzpat) shared what may be my favorite YouTube video ever…a hip hop music video homage to Western Massachusetts.  I bring you: 413 (music video) by :

 

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Sell Your Western MA Home for MORE!

Park Square Realty’s showings and pending sales are up about 200% over last year. Additionally homes are selling for about 5-7% under the asking price when Western MA homes are priced within fair market range.

I am the #1 Agent for listings sold at Park Square Realty and my percentages for percentage under asking price are often much better than the local industry averages.

If you are considering selling your Western MA home, I hope you will allow me the privilege of presenting my marketing plan and “auditioning” for the job.