Rainmaker Properties - Improving Lives with Silicon Valley Real Estate

A few months ago, Filtrete, the home filtration products brand by 3M, had a rebate for a free air filter. Being a homeowner, I thought that this was a pretty nice promotion and I shared it with readers and clients on Facbook.  Well, it seems that Filtrete now has just rolled out the Clean Air Club to help consumers get a better idea of how their products can help improve the air in your home.

Signing up is free and you automatically receive a $3 Filtrete Rebate (just click on the link to download) on certain Filtere products.  Here are some of the other benefits:

A Homeowner’s Guide to Better Indoor Air Quality
This is a great way to learn about things that affect the air in your home and methods to help create cleaner indoor air (from the American Lung Association®).

Indoor Air Quality Journal
Keep track and schedule easy steps to help improve indoor air quality.

“My Size” wallet card
This is useful if you can’t remember your filter size.

Seasonal eNewsletter
This Clean Air Club eNewsletter is packed with exclusive special offers, product news, home tips and filter change reminders.

Exclusive member promotions
Enjoy a range of members-only perks, like sweepstakes, rebates and special offers!

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It always feels a bit dicey flipping open the yellow pages to look for a service provider when you’re in a pinch. It’s one reason I love word-of mouth referrals and consumer rating sites like yelp.com. Rather than buying services sight-unseen, you’re able to get a sense of the company’s or person’s performance before hiring them.

I much prefer working with people when they come to me with high recommendations from a friend or trusted website. People have given me good ratings at yelp.com, for instance. And because of that, I’ve found relationships with new clients.

I’ve developed something of my own yelp.com. After all, an important part of my business is referring clients to reliable, honest people to help them with everything from tree trimming and small maintenance projects to bigger jobs, like bathroom renovations or redecorating. Thus, I’m always looking for the names of great service providers.

Before recommending anyone, I always do my own screening, either by hiring them for a job myself or by interviewing them. I always zero in on their view of and commitment to customer service. I want to be sure they’re focused on the client, not just on the money they’ll make.

Just last week, for instance, I needed some wood chips put around some trees at a house. I interviewed one landscaping company that gave me a $1,000 estimate. The other person gave a $100 quote. He also had the chips in his truck and was able to do the job right away. Now that’s going the extra mile and really delivering.

If you ever need help finding people-movers, gardeners, painters, roofers, and so forth-don’t hesitate to call me.

Also, keep in mind that I’m always happy to add new businesses to my referral list. Right now, I could really use the names of some good movers, painters and house cleaners.

If you have recommendations, please send an e-mail that includes their contact information-name, phone, website and e-mail address. And if you’ve had an especially good experience with a person or company, please jot down a few comments and let me know what makes them so terrific or how they went the extra mile for you.

If you are interested in knowing more about businesses that I have reviewed (good and bad), you can find my them here at http://www.alexw.yelp.com.

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Today, the simple task of cleaning my closet made my day and probably somebody else’s, too.

I’ve had a bag for old clothes in my closet for months. But like so many of us, I’ve always found something more important to do than to rummage through my clothes and bag up the ones I haven’t worn in ages. And once you see
something like a bag for old clothes in your closet for a while, it becomes part of the scenery.

But recently I was in my car driving to a listing appointment in Mountain View and heard a radio ad about Men’s Wearhouse’s National Suit Drive, and I finally became motivated to act. Through the end of October, the national menswear retailer is collecting gently used suits, sport coats, slacks, ties, and belts to benefit at-risk men and youth who are transitioning into the workforce but who don’t have the money to purchase that professional attire themselves. All the clothing it receives will be distributed in communities throughout the nation by local nonprofit organizations.

In exchange for your donation, you get a 10 percent coupon toward your next purchase at Men’s Wearhouse, along with a tax deduction.

I gathered up and took in about five suits, a dozen shirts, some pants, and some shoes. But I didn’t do it because I wanted a coupon or a tax deduction. I did it because I’ve always believed in giving back to my community. Donating clothes I don’t wear anymore was a way to help out-of-work people. Any help the unemployed can get, the better we’ll all be.

While I was in the store dropping the clothes off, it was such a positive experience knowing that everyone there was working toward a common cause. After I left, I felt really good. I felt like I’d accomplished something and donated to a charitable cause.

Do yourself—and somebody else—a favor. Take an hour to rifle through your closet, and pull out the clothes you know you won’t wear again. Then join a good cause by taking a drive over to a Men’s Wearhouse near you.

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I received a letter in the mail today from  a company called Equity Management Services.  It tells me of a late relative with the same surname as me (what are the chances of that!) who died in 1999 and this company has been making every effort to track down any member of his family or next of kin.  Guess who that might be?

The letter continues by saying…

My intention is to transfer this sum of $15.5M in the aforementioned account to a safe account overseas.  I am therefore proposing that you quietly partner with me and provide an account of set up a new one that will serve the purpose of receiving this fund.  For your assistance in this venture, I am ready to part with 30% of the entire funds to you.

Well, if you haven’t caught on yet, THIS IS A SCAM. I see a great deal of these types of scams (see Nigerian Scams) flooding my email inbox, but I was surprised to see one come directly to me through snail mail.

Receiving this letter got me thinking about how I deal with unwanted mail.  Whenever I receive any junk mail in my mailbox, I immediately do what i can to stop it from coming again.  Today, I receive very unwanted solicitations in my mailbox.

Here are some resources that may not stop someone from sending you a Nigerian Letter, but at least these tools should be able to help you stop the majority of junk mail flooing your mailbox:

CatalogChoice.org - Catalog Choice is the free service that lets you opt-out of unwanted catalogs.

GreenDimes.com - This service was pretty cool.  The sign up is easy and I was amazed that I the amount of mailing and marketing lists I was on.  Green Dimes says that they can help eliminate 90% of your unwanted mail.

41Pounds.org - This environmentally friendly non-profit has a $41 for a five-year antI-junk-mail plan.

Hope you find these sites useful.

P.S. As I had mentioned earlier, nowadays I receive very few junk mail solicitations, however in the past, I would receive a ton of junk mail.  I learned a great and useful tip on what to do with the unwanted junk mail and how to support our United States Postal Office (USPS) at the same time:

Step 1: Take everything that was included in the solicitation, including the envelope, and place them all into the “postage paid return” envelope.

Step 2: Mail it back to sender.

Step 3: Feel good that you have less trash to throw away and you helped the USPS with some additional revenue.

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