The fireplaces Blue Rodeo are vented outdoors by small

The fireplaces studies already gone blue rodeo are vented bad timing lyrics observes outdoors by small openings similar to those attached to gas dryers, and everything from shelving to big-screen televisions gets popped into the spot above the fireplace. At "The Pioneer" in the Steeplechase development, the area above the fireplace is dominated by windows. Another model includes a gas fireplace that almost functions as a room divider, with open shelving above. No chimneys dot the neighborhood roof lines. Frances Macias may be nostalgic for the wood fires of her childhood in San Gabriel, where a fire was a real treat on the occasional chilly night. But she looks forward to using the gas one in her new house, just a few blocks from the model home she was prowling for decorating ideas. So as wood-burning fireplaces go the way of front-door mail slots, will traditional brick chimneys and fireplaces typical in established neighborhoods take on a certain cachet or become a special selling point? Possibly for some buyers, but not for most, said John Hickey, president of the Pasadena-Foothills Assn. of Realtors and an agent with Dilbeck Realtors in La Cañada Flintridge. "There really aren't that many consumers that would make that the final deciding point of their decision," Hickey said. "For some people, the imagined benefits of the roaring fire and the Christmas yule log and the notion that they can't have that is something they couldn't get past But most people will be able to. ". I recently returned from a boat tour in Indonesia and was impressed by the quality of the service provided by the tour company.

The employees went out of their way to make the experience a pleasurable one for the customers bad timing blue rodeo lyrics . Other tour companies we have used in the past were equally good hasn t hit me yet chords . My impressions are consistent with those of many other travelers with whom I have compared notes. Afterward, I couldn't help asking myself why service quality and customer satisfaction in the travel-tour industry is so much higher than it is in the home-mortgage industry after the rain lyrics . What accounts for the difference?Repeat business: Successful tour companies generate a very high rate of repeat business guitar rodeo . On my recent trip, about 95% of the clients had traveled with the company before. To generate repeat business, you must provide a high level of customer satisfaction.

Repeat business is the secret of success because it reduces marketing costs. In the home-mortgage business, the cost savings from selling to existing clients is as large, perhaps even larger, than in the travel business Yet the volume of repeat mortgage business is very small blue rodeo . No statistics are kept on this nationwide, but I would guess that on home purchase transactions in which the purchaser has an existing mortgage, the lender holding that mortgage gets the new loan less than 5% of the time. On refinances, one might expect that the existing lender would get most of the loans jim rodeo . The existing lender (or the lender's agent) has a continuing relationship with the borrower, has better information about the borrower than any other lender, and is usually able to make the loan at a lower cost than a new lender blue song . Nonetheless, the incidence of repeat business, although larger than on purchase transactions, remains very low. The repeat business rate is much higher in the travel-tour industry because tour companies can control the quality of their service much better than mortgage lenders blue guitar . Furthermore, tour companies can convert quality experience by clients into favorable brand identification, which mortgage lenders have problems doing. Creating a quality experience: Employee selection is the key to providing high-quality service. Tour companies look for affability, subject-matter knowledge and other traits that clients respond to positively. Mortgage lenders, in contrast, select loan officers who can deliver loans; how they do it, so long as they don't violate the law, is largely up to them.

Successful loan officers are good salespeople, and they are good at establishing relationships with referral sources, especially real estate agents blue rodeo 5 . If there were an objective measure available of the true quality of the service they provide to clients, it would vary from excellent to abysmal, but abysmal won't get you fired if you bring in the loans and don't generate any lawsuits. If the transaction involves a broker, the lender has even less influence over service quality at the point of sale blue chord . Brokers are independent contractors; lenders assume virtually no responsibility for their behavior. In the tour business, furthermore, consumers understand what they are looking for and are quite consistent in evaluating how well their expectations are being met blue chords . This is not the case with mortgages, which involve pricing and approval processes that few borrowers fully understand. Converting service quality into brand identity: Clients of tour companies usually deal with a number of employees on any one trip, and if the experience is positive, it results in a favorable image of the firm blue cords . Clients assume that another trip with the same company also will be a good one. In the mortgage business, by contrast, positive brand identification with the lender seldom arises out of the lending process. Borrowers usually deal with only one person, and if the experience is a good one, it is usually associated with that individual rather than with the lending firm. The lender support services that help smooth the process are largely out of sight. If the deal founders, on the other hand, the deficiencies of the support services may become glaringly evident and will be associated with the lending firm.

From a branding perspective, the lender is largely in a situation of "heads the loan officer or broker wins, tails the lending firm loses. "From a consumer perspective, the absence of quality branding is very costly blue rodeo 5 days . It results in most borrowers not knowing where to go to get a loan, which makes them vulnerable to misinformation from con men and fraud perpetrators. --The writer is professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Comments and questions can be left at mtgprofessor Blue Rodeo - bluerodeo . Blue Rodeo tickets blue g . Tourists are rarely spotted on Playa del Rey's quiet beach, and the planes flying overhead are a constant reminder of its proximity to Los Angeles International Airport blue tablature . But with views that take in the Santa Monica Pier, the mountains and the marina, plus the lagoon and wetlands, there is perhaps no other beach community quite like it in Southern California Blue Rodeo - bluerodeo . BeginningsPlaya del Rey -- Spanish for "King's Beach" -- was so named when the Beach Land Co Blue Rodeo . purchased 1,000 acres, including a saltwater lagoon, to create a resort area. The area included a hotel, a bathhouse on the shore, a boat racing course and a three-story pavilion containing a restaurant, bowling alley and dance floor.