Most Realtors find real estate later in their career paths. Executive Adam Poehlman has been in real estate since the age of 18. His years of experience have earned him many interesting stories and run-ins with animals. Watch to hear about the time with the squirrels! #RealtyExecutives #WeMoveWI

The dynamic of husband and wife real estate team manned by Mike and Julie Lessila brings two unique perspectives to each client's transaction. Admittedly, they've seen it all and they're ready to help you find the perfect home for your family! #RealtyExecutives #WeMoveWI

Moving is always a source of stress, but there are several ways you can get through the process and work through those boxes as efficiently and quickly as possible. Check out these tips to moving without the stress and hassle.

1. Adopt a solution-focused attitude

You can’t control everything, but you can choose how you react. If you see moving as a challenge, you’re more likely to see options and solutions to difficult situations. Staying optimistic and positive will help you keep calm and open to new possibilities. In contrast, if you see moving as mostly a negative experience on par with getting a tooth pulled, your natural response could be to shut down, avoid, and procrastinate — which will only lead to more stress. While there’s no doubt that moving involves stress and work, you can make things easier on yourself by deciding to move forward one small step at a time. 

2. Make time your ally

Much of the stress from moving stems from time constraints and scheduling snafus. But there are ways to relieve some of the pressure. Start packing early. Do your best to avoid getting forced into a difficult moving schedule. If the timing is too tight, ask for what you need. For example, if you’re moving for a job, negotiate for a start date that will allow more breathing room. The same goes for closing dates. Moving on closing day is a sure way to put stress on steroids. Avoid booking your move date until you’ve scheduled your closing and then give yourself some leeway. It may be well worth paying for some overlap time between homes or negotiating a day or two of extra time to move out or move in. Other options include temporary housing and storage. You can even choose a moving service that’s designed to allow plenty of time for loading and unloading, such as portable storage and moving containers. 

3. Eat healthy meals and snacks

Your mind and body need healthy fuel to keep going during the moving process, but that can be hard when you’re short on time and the cooking supplies are packed away. Missed meals and unhealthy food choices can lead to low blood sugar, which can zap energy, fog thinking, and ignite tempers. Yes, getting “hangry” is a real thing. It’s easy to get so busy that you not only forget about eating, you don’t even notice you’re hungry until it’s too late. Resorting to fast food, while a quick fix, can be a poor choice for your body, as high carbs lead to blood sugar spikes and crashes – the opposite of what you need to manage stress. 

Keep your mind and body fueled up and on an even keel by planning ahead with quick and healthy meals and snacks. This doesn’t mean cooking, either, as there are plenty of pre-packaged choices at your local grocery store. Avoid getting dehydrated, too, by keeping a supply of cold bottled water at the ready. 

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We’re always trying to support green living, and one of the easiest ways to conserve energy is by ensuring your home appliances are energy-efficient. Energy-efficient appliances  can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower your utility bills, use less water and electricity, and overall lead to a cozier, happier, cleaner living space. Here’s how you can ensure that your kitchen appliances are energy-efficient and what to look out for when replacing your current appliances. 

Replacing and Recycling Your Appliances

Of course, you shouldn’t get rid of all of your kitchen appliances if they currently work completely fine. But when it comes time to replace them, here’s what you need to know. First, you should make sure you appropriately recycle your old appliances so that you retire models that aren’t energy efficient, instead of donating them and further contributing to the cycle of greenhouse gas emissions and inefficient energy consumption. You can find an appropriate local recycling site where you can drop off your old appliances (or chances are, they can pick them up for you). Check out the Environmental Protection Agency’s responsible appliance disposal guide here.

Once you’re ready to replace your appliances, make energy-efficient models a priority. They may be more of an investment upfront, but down the line you’ll see lower utility bills (and you’ll be helping the environment in the process).

Energy Star

When the time comes to replace your kitchen appliances for ones that are worth the investment, be sure to look out for the Energy Star label. Energy Star is a voluntary label program aimed at helping consumers find the most energy-efficient products that help protect the environment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Products labeled with Energy Star meet or exceed the guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, but not all are created equally, so be sure to compare models that are Energy Star-approved.  

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Have you ever gotten an email and thought, “I have absolutely NO idea who this person/company is? How did I even get on their list?”

I think we’ve all been there at one time or another. We sign up for things or fill out a little form asking for our email address, and then we forget about them within seconds. Months later, we see an email from someone and wonder where in the world it came from.

In an ideal world, this would never, ever happen to anyone on your email list. And there is a very simple strategy you can apply to your email marketing that will significantly lower the chances of this happening. I’m going to give you all the details on it in this article.

But, no matter how hard we try, it WILL happen at some point; it’s unavoidable. Someone will forget how they got onto your list. The good news is our strategy for lowering the odds of them forgetting will also help you turn the most skeptical email subscriber who can’t remember you into a raving fan (and client). That’s what we call a win-win.

I recently received an email from a real estate agent, and I had this exact reaction we’re talking about here. I couldn’t remember who in the world she was, and I had absolutely no clue how I got onto her list. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

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