Heath's Blog

The EPA has produced a brochure about what radon is and how it affects people that we have summarized here for faster reading. The whole publication can be read on the Environmental Protection Agency web site.

This gas comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock (like granite), and water. It is "off-gassed" out into the air. A simple venting system is the most common method of fixing a radon concentration in a property.

Should you test the property you are buying? Sure, why not.  But, don't make it more of a concern than other parts of the condition of the property. It could be something that this property needs to have addressed just like a new roof, or a termite treatment, etc.  The tests are inexpensive, and treatment is also inexpensive if you find a higher than acceptable level.  There is a map available to see if you are in an "active area" on the EPA website.

Is it ok to buy a house if there is this gas?  If you are comfortable with the level, and/or how it is treated, sure.  But, treat the results of a test like each part of your home inspection. As an example, if there are termites that can be eliminated, would you still purchase the property? And even replacing a roof will cost you more than most other repairs.

Simple testswhich remain in your home for at least 48 hours, depending on the device, give the quickest results. "Charcoal canisters," "alpha track," "electric ion chamber," "continuous monitors," and "charcoal liquid scintillation"detectors are most commonly used for simple tests. Short-term tests are used to measure a specific point in time, and are less useful in finding year-round average radon level. When you need results quickly, two short term tests in a relatively short time span will give good information. Testing once is the most common practice, except in areas already known for radon.

Long term research methods can take 3 months, and will give a better understanding of an annual average level of saturation.

The "acceptable" measurable level is below 4 pCi/L (picoCuries per liter of air). Just read the report that your company gives you to see what the level is in at your location.  As your agent what the common practice is in your are when radon is found. Then decide what course to take.

Other facts:
Smoking increases the problems caused by radon. If you smoke, be more careful.
About 0.4 pCi/L is normally found in the outside air in any location.  It exists everywhere already.
Sometimes radon is found in water from a well, but this is not normally considered to be a hazard.

Some states have new laws or regulations about radon gas.  Check with your agent or broker in New York and New Jersey for their rules and regs.

Happy real estate-ing!
Real  Estate agents' and brokers' web sites, information, listings, and web sites that have all been visited by a person once already.

It is a beautiful day on Cape Cod (Falmouth).  My mom died a few years ago as the result of a fall.  My mother in law is nice, but I'd like to have mom back.  Take some time today to tell your mom what's on your mind.

My wife and her sister are taking their mom out later this afternoon.  Then 2 of my girls are fixing dinner for their mom.  The other two have already called from college. 

My mom would have loved this beautiful day.  Bright, cool, windy, and a Red Sox game later.

Happy selling and listing.

There are over two millon real estate licenses in the United States.  Across the country, less that half of those licensees are in ANY MLS.  In my town there are more than a few that are not in any MLS. 

The big aggregating sites would have the public believe that "all the listings" are on their pages.  In fact, that is not so.  In order to learn about a real estate market, you need to find the agents and brokers that are working in that market.

Customers are like first year agents who are madly trying to learn their market area.  But, they are finding that they are spending time learning only partial, and in many cases incorrect, information.  Pricing is off by hundreds of thousands of dollars on some non agent/broker owned sites.  In my market, there are even companies that ARE MLS members, but they delay many listings from MLS entry by convincing sellers that their can sell it first. 

It seems that wth the Internet, we could unify a little and use sites like this one to help consumers.  It is no longer a question of finding a good local agent or broker because we control the information.  It has become a question of where you want to spend time - learning once or re-learning.

Happy listing and selling!

The Top Ten States list is an indication of future real estate interest.  Because most people are now using the Internet for 2 to 3 months before they talk to any agent or broker, this list is a good indicator of places that future real estate activity will occur.  When you know where people are spending their time studying property and market information, you can plan your lending packages, your inspection marketing, your buyer marketing pushes, etc.

Supporting data from the government's"Housing Price Indicator" shows that the bottom may have been reached last November (2008).  Nationally, February pricing data shows that prices in 2009 were equivalent to the same month in 2005.   The California/Pacific market and the South Atlantic/Florida markets are still dragging the rest of the country down, but "times they are a changin!"

In the month of April, the top states that were searched for real estate were California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia (in alphabetical order).  Both the CA and FL markets are starting to show positive appreciation again.  That of course does not mean that prices are high again, but it does mean that the bottom has been found in many areas.

Illinois may still be receiving notoriety from the new president, but the Decatur, Kankakee-Bradley, and Champaign-Urbana, areas are showing positive appreciation again.  Peoria, and Bloomington-Normal metro areas are holding their own.  Other areas like Springfield ( the most popular city name in America), Rockford, and the broader Chicago area are still looking for a bounce into positive data.

Iowais showing growth in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls market and in the Cedar Rapids area.  Jersey City Missouri is positivly growing, and the once depressed areas around Buffalo New York and Niagara Falls are recovering with positive data.  Mansfield Ohio, Lima and Columbus are attracting investors and lenders again, although the columbus numbers are still climbing. 

In PA, the cities of York and Hanover are leading the way.  Austin Texas is still benefiting from their strong economic development efforts that started a few years ago.  Austin's goals to attract many mid-sized companies from different industries has again given them the lead in stability for the whole country.  Houston is recovering, the flat-lands of Lubbock and Amarillo are perking up, and Dallas is holding steady.  The Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford metro areas of Virginia are leading the charge as Charlottesville and Roanoke add to their recovery, too.

As people look for real estate, they want fast loading, easy to use resources that keep their searching time to a minimum.  What many of the big sites don't tell real estate agentsis that most online lookers get tired of looking at pictures of houses.  As they get closer to actually visiting properties, customers want to find a local professional - they want to find the web site of actual local agents.  

The web pages of REindex.com are most used by Internet surfers who want speed and information without advertising clutter.  It is one place to find local agent web sites who haven't had to pay anything to have their web site found.  This site has been quietly linking the web sites of local agents for over ten years.

Happy listing and selling real estate!

Plymouth MA is the stage and 240 acres is the screen! The latest in technology, the most carefully planned, and the most one stop media production facility got preliminary approval for construction this week.

Plymouth Rock Studios and the town of Plymouth are working toward building the most state of the art movie and television production complex in the northeastern US, and possibly the country.

The planning board in the historic town of Plymouth has given approval for Hollywood East to continue toward full development approval.  In the next 40 days, the town and the developers will work out the details of the construction schedule and plans.

Over 2000 jobs will be created by the facility long term.  When you use the job multiplier that includes all the supporting business that new jobs bring into an area, the total is closer to 20,000 jobs long term.  Add the fun of having famous people and innovative productions to the mix and there is good news in New England.

Cape Cod, the long time east coast destination of the rich and famous, will also see activity and jobs.

Happy selling and listing!