Or,  "Memos from MO":

 Because that's what most of these notes will be!   But they will change often, so please keep coming back.    (We'll always be adding at the top....newest first, older last!)

2/6/12: Several new blogs have been added.  In the "Family Corner" section, under "Family Fun/Winter Fun" there are two new blogs; one on Eagle Watching on the River Road, and one on Winter Feeding Birds in SW Illinois.  Under "Stories/Family Stories" is a new blog about Valentine Days Past...one (this writer's..) was a painful third grade experience.   Coming is a report about an award that 3 of our agents just won, naming them amont the top 7% of all St. Louis agents in client satisfaction...now for many years in a row.

11/4/2011: This is to announce that Christopher Mitchell has returned to our agency, after working almost two years in a traditional agency setting.   We were slow, and he wanted the experience, so we agreed it was a good thing.  And now, we agree it's good to have him back.  Not only is our traffic increasing, but his mother, Nancy Jo needs the help, and we expect them to do a lot of teaming.  And incredibly, now as he returns, he is President of the RASI Board of Realtors, and making quite a name for himself there.  We're proud of you Chris, and look forward to working with you again in exclusive representation.

10/31/11:   Under "Schools", then "Clippings", we added today a clipping from the Belleville News Democrat that published ISAT and PSAE scores.  We published a front page summary, where O'Fallon and Mascoutah High Schools were shown as excelling.   We have the complete scores in our offices.

9/29/11: We've added a most interesting analysis of long-haul interest rate differences.  It's in the article at the bottom of the home page called "A Great Time to Buy a Home!"  And it's most revealing....one of those things that's hard to visualize until you see the actual mathemetics.



9/22/11;  Merrill quoted in "Smart Moves":  Recently, Ellen James Martin, author of a nationally syndicated real estate column called, "Smart Moves" quoted Merrill extensively (after an interview) on the subject of resale.   While the column has extensive national exposure, it's not published in the St. Louis area.   One can find it by Googling, "Ellen James Martin and Ottwein".  Some dozen or so older columns will also be cited in the results that show.  One of our "hot buttons" is resale, so the quotes are extensive in this newest column.

9/2/11;   We just installed today a new toy called "Walk Score".   It's a quick and simple tool for a kind of neighborhood analysis.   It quickly tells you what amenities are within walking distance of any address you can think of....and identifies what kind of commute to work you'll have from that address.

• Some of course will be looking for real "walk-to-ability"....others will be looking for the absence of non-residential activity.

• But this will tell you the truth, according to Google at least.

• The mapping will also allow you "Birdseye" and "Street Level" views of most addresses....and more all the time.

• You could measure any home you find on our MLS searches as additional analysis.

• And what you don't have here in "Life Style" evaluation, please let us know....we're prepared to comment on these "Life Style" factors:

Family Friendly?     Traffic?     Schools?     Artsy Things?   Public Transportation?   Shopping?   Pet friendly?  

• And it's a fun toy.   Please have fun with it, and tell us how you like it or how it could be improved.

 

9/2/2011;  Our search for a different MLS search tool:   We might disclose that we're still searching for an MLS search tool that would be easier to use when searching for High School Districts....and that's because we believe so strongly that it's a better way for most of you (but not all) to search for your next home.  Most of  our top High Schools serve more than one city, so, when high schools are the targeted issue, it would save a bunch of time to do one search instead of two.  Too, there are many homes on the periphery of all school districts that have an address other than that of the biggest city in the district....(witness, the O'Fallon High School District serves a few addresses on its periphery such as Lebanon, Caseyville, Belleville, Fairview Heights and Collinsville.)   The point:  We haven't found one that directly allows that....our pre-defined searches therefore still the best way....until we find otherwise.

Remember, though, you can set up custom searches by high school on our browsers, and on our trackers, or we would be pleased to set up searches and trackers from our own data bases!   Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .