How To Make Your Emails More Effective

Estimates are that 269 billion emails are sent every day worldwide, many by professionals in a working environment. While you may know proper email etiquette, follow these tips to make sure your business emails aren’t deleted.  Use a concise, compelling subject line. “More information” and “new program” only ask the recipient to say “about what?” Better to say “Action Items On Project XYZ.” Say “urgent” if necessary.  Don’t use long lists of email addresses if the subject only pertains to some of them. Type the relevant addresses into the address line ("To" line) and use the BCC line for the others.  Keep your message to the point. Say why you’re writing within the first two lines and try to limit yourself to one topic. Using bullet points helps you organize your thoughts. Re-read or print your email out (if you have time) before you send it.  Be careful with humor and irony. Emails aren’t good at conveying emotions, and humor, inside jokes or over-used phrases don’t really build a dynamic business relationship. Avoid phrases like “can I pick your brain” (what are you offering in return?); or “please advise” (better to say “can we discuss this further?”).  Respect confidentiality. Should everyone read this?  As a recipient, do not “reply all” unless everyone needs to know. You know this but people still do it, sometimes accidentally.  Respond promptly. Don’t leave people hanging. Include your signature and phone number for follow-up.

Smart Charitable Giving

‘Tis the season when many people start thinking about charitable giving for the holidays. There are a lot of organizations clamoring for your hard-earned money. Use these handy tips to ensure you’re making the best decisions when it comes to doling out charitable gifts. □ Seek out an established charity. Especially in times of crisis or disasters, charities seem to pop up out of nowhere in response. A good check that an organization is established is that it has at least been approved for tax purposes as a non-profit. Ensure charities are registered as tax-exempt with 501(c)(3) status (check IRS.gov for “EO Select Check” to verify that an organization is registered as exempt). □ Research the charity in question. Consider your gift a financial investment and conduct due diligence before deciding how to invest it. Check out sites like charitynavigator.org and guidestar.org, which have done a lot of the work by vetting organizations based on criteria like financial stability, funding, transparency, and ethical practices. □ Give an unrestricted donation. Once you’ve established the organization handles its funds well, consider giving money that isn’t earmarked for a specific effort. This gives the charity freedom to decide how to use the gift (and lets it decide what is most helpful). □ Look for a matching gift. Find out if your place of employment, church, social club, or a neighborhood business is currently offering to match financial gifts to certain charities. Taking advantage of a matching effort helps the donation go even further. □ Consider tax benefits. Generally, donations of cash and property to qualified non-profit organizations equaling $250 or more are tax- deductible. These donations must be made no later than December 31 of the year in which the deduction is claimed.

In Debt? Five Warning Signs You’re In Over Your Head!

Most of us carry some type of debt: mortgage, car payments, credit cards, or educational loans. How do you know when you’re carrying too much debt? Most people fall into debt trouble with impulse buying. Here are five warning signs that you may be in dangerous debt trouble, and what you can do about it: 1. You’re unable to pay more than the minimum payments on your credit cards. 2. You have more than three major credit cards and they’re near the credit limit. 3. You use your credit cards to pay other bills. 4. You hide your bills from your spouse. 5. You don’t have a savings account. If you answered “yes” to any of the above warning signs you may want examine your debt load and set up a realistic budget. If you are carrying credit card debt, begin by paying down the highest interest credit cards bills first. Resolve to not use credit cards unless you have the cash to pay your bill off when the bill arrives; otherwise, the first step to financial health is to remove the temptation and cut up your credit cards.

Selling Homes During The Holidays

Every year, at about this time, I am often asked by home owners if it is prudent to put their home on the market during the upcoming holiday season, or if they should wait until after the first of the year. My answer is that they should definitely consider putting their home on the market, because November and December offer a higher exposure ratio compared to other months. November and December have the best exposure ratio of any other months of the year. It’s true that February thru June produce the highest amount of home sales, but when you compare the percentage of sales to the total number of new properties that come onto the market, November and December prove to be extremely good months to sell your home. The key to this analysis is understanding the real estate definition for “new on the market”. New on the market refers only to the first thirty days that a home is on the market. It is commonly known that this period of time is the most crucial for any home sale. The reason for this is that new properties receive the most exposure during this time, so there is a greater chance of making a sale. A large part of what contributes to those high rates of exposure is that there are fewer homes listed during November and December, resulting in fewer “new on the market” properties. In other words, there is not as much competition for sales, so homes have the potential to receive much more exposure than it would during the spring and summer months when there are significantly more homes on the market, further increasing the exposure and potential sale for current listings. This year more than ever, I’m encouraging owners to consider selling due the very advantageous conditions, including low home inventory and very low interest rates. When you combine high exposure ratios for homes and the serge of buyers that continue to come into the market, this years holiday season is an advantageous time to consider selling. Selling your home is a big job and should not be left to chance. Expect nothing but the highest level of service when selecting professionals to represent your interests in the sale of your property. While there are many agents to choose from, it is important to recognize that there are varying degrees of knowledge, experience and commitment to meeting your real estate needs. Call today to schedule a FREE HOME MARKET ANALYSIS and go over Coldwell Bankers seller service guarantee and proven market strategies. If you are in the market to purchase a home the Frasch Team is here to represent you and your best interests as well.

Find Time to Watch the Movie Yesterday

I grew up listening to the Beatles, my dad loved their music and it rubbed off big time! I purchased every Beatles CD and still listen to them on a regular basis. The story is about a struggling musician who realizes he’s the only person who remembers their music after waking up in an alternate timeline after a global power outage. There are no big stars but I thought the acting was great and the characters were well developed. Of course I enjoyed the soundtrack but there were enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. I think it’s the right kind of movie to bring multiple generations together for a fun shared experience. I hope you will see it soon and let me know what you think. davidfrasch@msn.com

Encouraging Young Readers

A lifelong love of reading starts early. Fostering that love means creating a home environment that encourages affection for the written word. There are some simple things parents can do to make sure reading is fun, easy, and enjoyable for children. Read aloud to your kids. Even if they can read on their own, reading aloud means kids hear language at a more advanced level than their own. Get older kids to read aloud to younger siblings. And yes, audio books count! Play audio books the whole family can enjoy on your next road trip. Mix up the media. Not only do audio books count as reading material, there are lots of other ways to incorporate reading into every day. Magazines, recipes, and game instructions are just a few of them. Put reading material where kids spend time. Having a well-stocked library in the den is great, but keeping a few books and magazines in the bathroom, car, or at the dinner table (when the kids are a captive audience!) ensures reading material is accessible whenever the mood strikes. Create cozy reading spaces. Kids love hidey holes, whether that’s an actual nook under the stairs or a simple blanket fort under the dining table. Make sure there’s good lighting, comfy pillows, and plenty of books. Read in front of your kids. Modeling your own love of reading is one of the best ways to get kids to love it, too. Instead of movie night, try a reading night when everyone lounges together to read for an hour or two.

Perfect Timing to Visit Kubota Gardens

Kubota Garden was started by Japanese emigrant Fujitaro Kubota in 1927. He was awarded the Order of Sacred Treasure in 1972 by the Japanese government and tended the garden until his death in 1973. Kubota Garden was protected and integrated into the park system in 1987. Located in the Rainier Beach neighborhood it is an exceptionally rich collection of unique and mature plantings, waterfalls, ponds, rock formations, and artworks. The 20-acre park is fun to visit any time of year but is especially beautiful in the spring and fall. Enjoy!! 9817 55th Ave S Seattle 98118 206-684-4075

Lowering Home Heating Bills

As temperatures drop, the heating bill rises. Before the shock of your first higher-than-average bill, here are some things you can do to your house to make sure you’re not wasting money. • Keep Heat Inside – Close the fireplace flue or damper tightly when you’re not using it. Replace worn weatherstripping around windows and doors. Add caulk or foam sealants around your electric outlet boxes. These small measures can add up. • Adjust Temperatures – Lowering the thermostat by only 2-3 degrees can make a big difference. Having a programmable thermostat is even better since you can set it to 10-15 degrees cooler when you’re not home or awake. Turn down the water heater to the “warm” setting – it’s still 120 F, plenty warm for a hot shower. • Give Your Furnace a Check-Up – Make sure your furnace is running as efficiently as possible and you’ll be getting the most bang for your buck. Electric and oil heaters should be serviced every year, while gas heaters should get a check-up every two years.

Smart Charitable Giving For Savvy Donors

‘Tis the season when many people start thinking about charitable giving for the holidays. There are a lot of organizations clamoring for your hard-earned money. Use these handy tips to ensure you’re making the best decisions when it comes to doling out charitable gifts. □ Seek out an established charity. Especially in times of crisis or disasters, charities seem to pop up out of nowhere in response. A good check that an organization is established is that it has at least been approved for tax purposes as a non-profit. Ensure charities are registered as tax-exempt with 501(c)(3) status (check IRS.gov for “EO Select Check” to verify that an organization is registered as exempt). □ Research the charity in question. Consider your gift a financial investment and conduct due diligence before deciding how to invest it. Check out sites like charitynavigator.org and guidestar.org, which have done a lot of the work by vetting organizations based on criteria like financial stability, funding, transparency, and ethical practices. □ Give an unrestricted donation. Once you’ve established the organization handles its funds well, consider giving money that isn’t earmarked for a specific effort. This gives the charity freedom to decide how to use the gift (and lets it decide what is most helpful). □ Look for a matching gift. Find out if your place of employment, church, social club, or a neighborhood business is currently offering to match financial gifts to certain charities. Taking advantage of a matching effort helps the donation go even further. □ Consider tax benefits. Generally, donations of cash and property to qualified non-profit organizations equaling $250 or more are tax- deductible. These donations must be made no later than December 31 of the year in which the deduction is claimed.

Find a Hidden Gem at Schmitz Preserve Park

Have you ever wondered what the Seattle forests looked like? Well the last of our untouched old growth forest is located in West Seattle! Former parks commissioner Ferdinand Schmitz was watching our forest rapidly disappear and decided to act. His 1908 donation allowed a small piece of it to remain as nature intended. Enjoy! 5551 SW Admiral Way West Seattle 98116 Open dawn to dusk

5 Foods That Fill You Up

If you’re watching your weight, you can eat more than salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These foods will help fill you up, not out: • Oatmeal (not instant). It’s a healthy carb with a high fiber content. • Eggs. Eat them for breakfast and you’ll have about 330 calories less than usual throughout the rest of the day. • Dark chocolate. Researchers say compounds in dark chocolate slow down digestion and make you feel full longer. But don’t eat the whole bar! • Soup. A Pennsylvania State study showed that people who had two servings of low-calorie soup daily lost 50 percent more weight than those who ate the same number of calories in snack foods. Choose broth or vegetables, not the creamy variety. • Pine nuts. They contain pinolenic acid, which stimulates hormones that suppress your appetite. Plus, your mouth likes the crunch.

Help Kids Build Healthy Habits

From choosing healthy meals to creating positive relationships, there are lots of little things adults can do every day to instill good habits in kids. Physical • Exercise regularly as a family, and make it fun! Go for evening walks in the park, take advantage of open swim days at the gym, and ride bikes together. • Eat a healthy diet. Start early with introducing a rainbow of produce and minimizing sugary snacks. Mental • Maintain – and reflect – a positive outlook. Kids mirror what they hear and see, so use positive reinforcement and praise appropriately. Celebrate your successes as well as theirs. • Keep screen time to a minimum. Sedentary behavior is known to increases risks for obesity and cardiovascular disease, and it’s not conducive to positive social or mental growth either. Set a daily limit for TV viewing, video games, and smartphone usage and stick to it. • Read every day. Incorporate this habit into playtime or bedtime routines to help build self-esteem and success later in life. Social • Encourage kids to explore a myriad of activities to find one (or more!) they really enjoy. Whether singing in a choir, playing soccer, taking language lessons, or volunteering with a youth group, kids will meet others with similar interests while also developing their self-identity. • Eat dinner as a family, and use this opportunity to maintain open lines of communication with everyone around the table.

3 Ideas For Happier Holidays

The holidays can get stressful in a hurry. Try these simple methods for celebrating the season – and make it easier for you and your family. 1. Focus on the act of giving, not the presents. Buy gifts for the kids, but get your kids involved in giving homemade gifts (cookies, picture books) to other family members. 2. Start a family gift exchange. One idea: have family members put books they’d enjoy on an Amazon.com wish list. Share those lists and choose the books you want to give them. 3. Participate in (or donate to) a charitable activity. Check out a site like www.volunteermatch.org, but start looking early to make sure you are matched with the organization you want. On a smaller scale, bake something special and deliver it to a fire station or senior citizens’ home. 4. To ease your own stress, remember to plan ahead. Use a calendar to set aside days for exercise and rest, and learn to say no if you have too many commitments.

Quotes To Live By…

“I truly believe in positive synergy, that your positive synergy gives you a more hopeful outlook.” –Russell Wilson “When we are battling with something, or struggles, or at our highest point as well we want somebody to be there for us and to say well done. That’s Jesus!” –Russell Wilson “My dad used to wake me up at 5:30 in the morning and hit me ground balls and tell me, don’t be afraid to excel. Don’t be afraid to be great.” –Russell Wilson “My thing is, and I’ve always been this way – to get to know as many people as I possibly can on a personal level, so that way, when you get on the football field, you’ve got your buddy right beside you and you’re ready to go.” -Russell Wilson

Extended Warranty: Worth It?

After you buy a laptop, phone, major appliance, or car, you often get an offer to purchase an extended warranty. How do you know if it’s worth the extra money? It depends on two main considerations: First, how likely will it break after the standard warranty? Does this type of product or brand have a history of breaking? If yes, you may want an extended warranty, but only if your credit card doesn’t already provide extra protection and it’s a large purchase. Second, what’s the cost of replacement or repair compared to the warranty cost? Could you easily pay to replace or repair this product? If so, it may not be worth it. However, if the cost of the extended warranty is reasonable, it may be a good idea if it protects you from a major financial burden. For example, a $10 warranty on a $100 external hard drive could be a waste, but a $100 warranty on a $1,000 laptop could be very helpful.

Fall Market Update

Every year about this time I get asked by home owners if it is prudent to put their home on the market this fall or if they should wait until after the first of the year into spring. I definitely think you should consider selling this time of year because these months offer higher exposure rates compared to other months. The housing market typically slows down by late November but before that there is a fall rush that lasts 4 to 8 weeks and there are traditionally fewer homes to pick from. This year more than ever, I’m encouraging owners to consider selling due to advantageous conditions brought on by extremely low interest rates. Mortgage Interest rates have been falling and are near historic lows again. With a strong economy, wage growth, low unemployment and high consumer confidence rates should be higher but the Federal Reserve is signaling more rate reductions. Consistent downward pressure over the late spring and summer months has really helped bring back the refinance market and has helped stabilize housing prices. Seattle home prices are basically flat over the last year but it is more a product of an unsustainable red-hot housing market from the previous couple of years. If you are in the market to buy a home the timing hasn’t been better for several years. Most homes are not receiving multiple offers so buyers can get the house they love and have a normal home inspection process. Buying a home right now feels a lot more conventional where you are not forced to make a quick decision then miss the house because there are six other offers on the table. Buying a home should be a fun experience and now it is! Both buyers and sellers will benefit from gaining insight into our local markets. The Frasch Team can be invaluable in this process. Whether buying or selling it is critical to get a Realtor who knows the market and has a proven track record. The Frasch Team has been serving our local community for over 19 years, and would love to go to work for you today! Call today to schedule a FREE no hassle market analysis and go over our company’s proven marketing strategy. Coldwell Banker since 1906!

Got Burn-Out? Take These Steps

Are you bummed by job burn-out? If quitting your job isn’t an option, take these five steps to improve your situation. • Identify stress factors and learn how to manage them. Be proactive rather than passive about workplace issues. Know the difference between the “shoulds” and the “musts.” If you have too much work and too little time, talk to your supervisor. • Reconnect with your core work. Maybe you’ve strayed from what you were originally hired to do. Focus on the work you enjoy doing. • Take care of yourself. Take time off to recharge your batteries. • Build new relationships. Make friends with people who might have fresh ideas and perspectives. Do something different – open a Twitter account. • Plan your next move. Outline what you’d have to do to change careers and start taking action. Many Americans have unused vacation time, sometimes months worth. Many Americans are cashing out their vacation time instead of taking the deserved time off. Even a stay at home vacation will allow you to reset your appreciation level. Employers who have a use or lose policy are becoming more common for this reason. Take your time off, you earned it!

Save Money Now With This De-cluttering Tip…

Want to save at least a $1,000 a year? Clean out your self storage unit. Nearly 1 in 10 households in the U.S. currently rent one, and let’s face it, most are filled with stuff people probably forgot they had. Here’s what you should do: Don’t keep stuff “in case you need it.” You might as well make extra money by selling some of those items on eBay or Craigslist. If you don’t have time to clean it out yourself, hire a professional organizer. It’ll cost you less in the long run. If you must rent a unit, make sure it’s temporary. Many companies offer the first month’s rent free because they know you may stay indefinitely. Know what you’re storing and make sure you only keep the unit for a few months at most.