Charlie:
Welcome to Comfort on Porpoise, sponsored by Dolphin Cooling and Heating who have been providing 24/7 Comfort on Porpoise since 1998.
Lauren:
Hi everyone. It’s Lauren from Dolphin Cooling with you here today. And today I actually have a special guest. Her name is Debbie Gallant. I have known her my whole life, believe it or not. She’s a long-time family friend and also a coach and mentor to me. Her background is in real estate and she actually owns a boutique real estate firm here in Naples called Gallant Real Estate. But even more important than that, she’s also one of our VIP customers here at Dolphin Cooling.
So Debbie, thank you so much for being with me here this afternoon.
Debbie:
My pleasure.
Lauren:
So I was hoping that you could share with our listeners today a little bit about your experience since you’re a customer of ours. What has your experience been with our technicians and how have we helped you?
Debbie:
Well, I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Dolphin Cooling. As a family-owned business, I think that they treat everybody as if they’re a family member. It is a very responsive company.
We actually have been using them full-time for the last three years, when we moved down to Florida full time. And the experience has been great because we actually live in a carriage home, which is very common here in Florida. And one of the things that we had was we had an issue with our line set, which is also referred to as your refrigerant line. And they came very quickly and offered alternative HVAC because it was very hot at that period of time, and were able to coordinate all that was needed with permitting, et cetera, and also taking care of everything. And I think that the employees are very dedicated. They’re very loyal to the company. And also that they’re very cognizant that this is somebody’s home. They make sure that they’re taking care of it. And also very polite, which my husband loves as well.
Lauren:
Well, that’s great. I’m so happy to hear that you guys have been pleased with the service that you’ve received from us now. Now, I also know that you’re one of our Plan One members here, which is our Maintenance Contract. So can you share your experience with the maintenance that you’ve received from us?
Debbie:
Yes. I think it’s one of the things that a lot of people might not realize, but when, once you move down to Florida (and there’s a lot of folks from up North coming down) it’s absolutely critical that you get into a twice a year program for maintenance and for filters and things like that, because humidity is really a great concern down here in Florida.
Twice a year we’ve got our filters taken care of, any service calls, they’ll assess the system and if for some reason they see something they’ll also be able to address that right then and there. So we absolutely love it! And we’ve got them into a regular program which works out really well for us.
Prior to us moving here full time, we had Dolphin also coordinate with our Home Watch person when we were not here if we had any issues so that they could enter into the property as well. So having a good Home Watch person and having a good relationship with Dolphin is also really important, and it’s one of the things that we absolutely love.
I do want to add when you talked about technicians, I’m fortunate because I do speak Spanish and one of Dolphin’s employees speaks Spanish. The last time he came for maintenance to our home, he actually brought me a key lime pie! And I thought that that was absolutely wonderful, and Gracias Martin!
Lauren:
I’ll let Martin know. That is fantastic! Talk about A-plus service right there. So yes.
Debbie:
Very good service.
Lauren:
With your background in real estate, obviously, you’ve worked with many home buyers and sellers over the years. So from your experience working with buyers and sellers down here, what can you share with people potentially looking into either buying or selling their home, and the AC system that you’re finding as you’re talking with people that are really of importance or tend to come up frequently?
Debbie:
Well, in a real estate transaction, the HVAC system is probably one of the most important components of the home. Number one, the age and oftentimes age also has an impact on the insurance, on your future insurance because of the way that insurance companies look at it, but also in terms of its maintenance. So if you’re a seller, you want to make sure that you’re having a good maintenance program on your HVAC system, because it’s the type of thing that a buyer would be looking at. And also to make sure that it’s running properly before you list your home.
So oftentimes we might have Dolphin come in beforehand, do the HVAC service/maintenance and get it all ready so that there’s no potential issues down the road from a buyer buying a home.
On the buying side, it’s one of the first things that we educate consumers on. Now that they’re buying in Southwest Florida, they really need to develop a good relationship right off the bat with an HVAC company to get that maintenance program going. Sometimes people think, “Maybe I’ll wait a little bit.” And I always say “No, this is one of the biggest investments that you’re going to have in your home is an HVAC system. And you want to take care of it.”
I’ve always said that an HVAC system is only going to take care of you if you take care of it. And so making sure that you have the regular maintenance, that you’re changing your filters. It’s kind of like a car, going in and taking care of your car.
Also, making sure that your humidity levels are also there, which also kind of goes hand in hand. Also, I recommend strongly for those that leave here, that they also hire a Home Watch person that also has a good relationship with an HVAC company.
So HVAC to me is so critical down here from a real estate perspective because it can either kill a deal on a real estate transaction or really get somebody getting very excited about purchasing a home because oftentimes one of the questions people ask is how old are your systems? And so I think that that really is a key component.
Lauren:
Well, thank you. That was a ton of great information. I’m sure it will be very helpful to all of our listeners. Debbie, I really appreciate you coming on today and taking some time to chat with us and share a little bit about both your experience and your expertise being in the real estate business. Is there anything else that you want to share with us today before we go?
Debbie:
No, I just want to say thank you for having me today and gracias.
Lauren:
Well, thank you so much, Debbie. It was great chatting with you. You have a wonderful day and thank you so much to our listeners. We’ll see you back here soon.
Charlie:
Thanks for listening to Comfort on Porpoise to learn more about our sponsor Dolphin Cooling and Heating visit www.dolphincooling.com or call 239-596-9044. That’s 239-596-9044.