My hubby is a realtor, and an extraordinary one at that! By that I mean that he always goes the extra mile with his customers, whether working with the buyer or the seller. Today, for example, he got a call from the purchaser of a house who was anxious that the oil furnace hadn’t been turned back on since the sellers had moved out of state. The house had been empty for a few months while the real estate transactions were being processed. Today the rapidly decreasing temperatures grew chilly for the first time this season, so naturally the customer was anxious about the water pipes freezing. That said, my hubby drove to the house to turn the thermostat on to be sure that there would be no concerns. Thankfully, there were no concerns with the oil furnace starting; however, he has had situations that weren’t as straightforward. Once, there had been a home inspector who had turned the oil furnace’s power switch off while he was checking it and never turned it back on. Naturally, once the current owners moved in and turned the thermostat on, the oil furnace didn’t start. Who would suppose to look to see if the oil furnace switch was off or on? Certainly not the new homeowners, who resorted to calling an HVAC professional as well as paying for a house call to find out what the source of the concern was. But as frustrating as that was, at least the oil furnace didn’t need to be repaired or substituted. Of all the house service concerns that realtors run into, replacing an oil furnace is one of the most expensive. And going the extra mile for a client is all in an afternoon’s work for my hubby.