Sherri Mercurio Blog

While it is not exactly "cold" yet, if you're up early like me you know that Fall is most certainly right around the corner. Our longing for those "cool nights that are so good for sleeping" has been satiated. I even had to reach for a light blanket a few times overnight this past week. Another sure sign is the apples on our tree in the back yard have started to drop in earnest. It might be time to invest in a cider press!

This is a great time of year for some of those home projects as well. The ones that you wanted to do over the summer but the simple act of walking to the garage induced a puddle of sweat. This is the perfect time to enjoy the cooler temps and prepare your home for the impending doom that is winter! If you have been reading all along, you know that winter is my favorite tim...

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I snuck out of work a couple hours early last Monday. It was just a beautiful day and let's be honest; The writing is on the walls. The mornings are getting cooler and the apples on the trees in our yard are starting to leave their fall droppings for me to hit with the lawn mower. (At least it smells nice!). On my bike ride, I noticed that there were a higher percentage of busses running around through town. That could only mean one thing: The roads are going to be even quieter between 8am and 2pm. And the kids are back in school.

When we were in school, especially during the first half of the year, it was a bit of a crazy time. Soccer, concert band, marching band, jazz band (Yes, I was a band geek!), part-time jobs, friends, skateboarding and generally being a persnickety teenager all seemed to fill my...

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Life, relationships and yes, real estate, are all riddled with compromise. These include some of those more important life decisions like whether to finish binge-watching "Scrubs" or start "Brooklyn Nine Nine". You know - the important stuff. If you have been partnered up for any length of time, you are keenly aware of the importance of compromise and negotiations. As The Rolling Stones taught us: You can't always get what you want.

One of the more important "rules" for these discussions is simply to keep it professional and courteous. Regardless of the state of the current, local market, low-ball offers are always going to be a "thing". We can't fault the buyers for wanting the best price, but as sellers (and agents) it is important to not take the offer personally. It is even more important not t...

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It's a Dog E. Dog World. I know you're reading that and saying to yourself "He's a nut job, it's supposed to be 'dog eat dog'." And you're right. It's also true that, although more formal and professional, Kermit the Frog's name is not Kermit E. Frog (But don't tell my sister-in-law that!). I truly have no smooth transition from that to our topic today but here goes. Pets are a fantastic part of being human and offer loads of benefits beyond just companionship and loyalty. But housing a pet is another story. I lived with a couple housemates for a while and one of them had a dog. I learned quickly that although it was the dog's abhorrent behavior that was beyond annoying and leaned me towards never wanting one for myself, it was the owner's poor training (or complete lack thereof) that was the issue. But I digres...

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If I'm being honest, it is really not a conundrum at all. Communication, regardless of whom you are speaking to, is a vital part of our everyday lives. Starting out in sales as a cold-calling robot, I learned quickly that small talk and asking strangers for their business was not a strong suit of mine. Breaking the ice with a decision maker is a challenging process riddled with countless nuances and split-second decisions. Now imagine trying to do that via text messages. Yikes!

Being able to read people's faces or at least their tone of voice is paramount to understanding the full context of the message being delivered. I am pretty good at reading people. I tend to lean towards the sarcastic side of things, so being able to quickly determine if my joke has "sunk in" or (unintentiona...

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