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It’s hard to believe, but the holidays in St. Louis didn’t always involve putting up elaborate decorations and rushing around to find one last gift. In fact, the idea of a Christmas tree didn’t exist in Missouri until the 1830’s, when German immigrants brought small decorated tabletop trees into their Franklin County homes. Instead of the string lights we now wrap around our trees, they put candles on branches for a shimmering touch – similar to the Jewish Festival of Lights. They also introduced simple German traditions like hanging stockings for St. Nick to fill with small toys and fruit, gathering with family to sing carols together, and baking Plätzchen (Christmas cookies) to share with friends. 

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Believe it or not, most realtors still encourage open houses. Far from being obsolete, they can be a great way to showcase a home when they’re managed by a competent real estate professional.

To understand why that’s the case, it helps to understand the psychology of how people buy houses, even with today’s modern technology.

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If you’re heading out of town soon, you’re likely packing and preparing. But have you given thought to the home you’re leaving behind?

Webber offers the following tips to prepare the home before leaving for vacation:

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Planning a vacation? With a few smart tweaks to your travel planning, you can save big money, according to travel resource Hotwire. Below are several Hotwire suggestions for getting more value out of your vacation.

When planning your trip, keep an open mind and focus on the type of vacation you want (beach, city, etc.), then search a variety of related locales to find the best deals.

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