The View from Here
A Message From Michael Saunders

My good friends:
Labor Day is at hand, which signals for many of us the unofficial end of summer, back to school for the kids and a return from leisure-filled vacations to the hectic pace of business as usual. Here at Michael Saunders & Company, however, there was virtually no letting up this year; not much time to enjoy too many lazy summer days.

Versus last year, closed sales are up, pending sales are up and our call center is bursting with activity—up a full 24% over last year on the heaviest year-to-date call volume since 2004. With conditions perfectly aligned for them to take advantage of the best buying opportunities they’re likely to see in a lifetime, international buyers are furiously combing the market.

Regardless of where buyers come from, every single closed sale is a tribute to the amazing dedication and hard work of the associates who put it together. They work incredibly long and hard hours to unite buyers and sellers in mutually acceptable transactions—which means educating sellers to price their homes as realistically and aggressively as possible so that buyers determined to maximize the value of what they purchase will respond with a winning offer.

With autumn now ushering in the final months of 2008, we’re looking forward to still busier times in early 2009, when even the most pessimistic pundits expect the gloomiest days of the nationwide market correction to be behind us. On that cheerful note and with increased closed and pending sales tending to underscore its accuracy, here’s hoping you enjoy this, the fifth edition of Saunders@Home.

We would love to hear your comments and suggestions as to what you would like to read in the weeks and months ahead. Please email them to me, care of editor@michaelsaunders.com. Meanwhile enjoy our fifth issue.

Cordially,

Climbing Through Windows
Hollywood couldn’t have cast a more traditional looking American family to replace the six very real members of the Heinz family—whose youthful fresh-scrubbed faces... View entire article.

Making A World Of Difference
MSC International Is Uniquely Positioned To Help Foreign Buyers And Domestic Sellers Achieve Their Goals
Whether they motor in from across the Canadian border or crisscross the entire globe to get here, Southwest Florida has always enticed international buyers drawn... View entire article

Be Sarasintric
Courtesy of ThisWeekInSarasota.com
In popular usage, Sarasintric (adj.) refers to behavioral displays of uniqueness found only in a sunny city on the bay—individually Sarasota.... View entire article.