Martha's Vineyard Real Estate -- Trapped In A Deep Freeze

What’s new this week? Well, not much as we, and most of New England, have been in a deep freeze holding pattern for what seems like an eternity.  Once again we got hammered by another snow storm. This time the forecast for 3-6” of snow ended up being 8-10” on Martha’s Vineyard.  Snow is piling up everywhere and we are running out of places to put it. When the snow begins to melt that is when the problems will also begin.  I’ve already seen disaster cleanup company trucks in front of a number of properties around the Island. With the warmup we will see flooded roads, flooded basements and crawl spaces and burst pipes that have been held together by the frigid temperatures.  Dirt roads will look like a war zone.  It is going to take quite a while to clean up Paradise Island. Landscapers are going to be very busy this spring cleaning up properties battered by the elements and rough snow plowing. Gardens decimated by the deep snow load will most likely take a big hit and have to be replanted, but we are New England and we’ll get over it.  I can’t wait to be over it. I was speaking to a listing aggregator yesterday – if you don’t know what that is don’t ask, and he was telling me he is hearing from real estate companies throughout New England that the market has been set back significantly due to the weather, and seller agents are very frustrated.  The general consensus is that what now would normally be an early spring market has been pushed back about two months due to the weather. Actually, I don’t think we will even have a spring market this year.  The National Association of REALTORS® recently reported that the top 10 dates sellers listed their homes in 2014 all fell in April, May or June.    Only serious buyers are out there right now and only motivated sellers have their properties on the market ready to strike a deal.  But, as you can see from this week’s report, properties are starting to come back onto the market, both new and retreads.  You can also see that price changes are not happening. Why? Because the market seems to feel that the time has come and a rebound has begun.  For now I will say they are right, so as I said last week --- don’t be greedy.  Strike a fair deal and move on with your life. Of course that goes for both buyers and sellers. You are still going to find those sellers who are really not motivated and are just fishing or those sellers who are examples of the ‘endowment effect’. They think their property is special and worth a whole lot more than comparable property sales would suggest. I know buyers are frustrated and uncomfortable about getting into the market until all the goods are out on the shelves.  Sure they can find out which properties are off the market ‘taking a winter nap’, but many of them believe waking one of those properties to make an offer puts them at an unfair advantage, unless of course they don’t care and just want to buy it now. That is why I say it is so foolish for sellers to remove properties from the active market if the post script is that they are still available for sale. I believe the spring/summer market is not going to be an easy one to negotiate, both logistically and transaction wise.  I am combining the two markets together because I think the spring market will begin sometime in late April; the end of May is when the summer market normally starts to ramp up.  With tens of thousands of visitors here in June, July and August the roads will be jammed and renters are not going to be cooperative with real estate agents wanting to show properties for sale.  It’s going to be a difficult but prosperous year for real estate.  Let’s just hope we don’t get any tropical storms.

RADON ... It's a Gas!

It’s not as though we don’t already have enough to worry about with Global Warming, chemical and waste water contamination of our drinking water and all the other ecological mysteries that we think are threatening our demise. Do you remember when everyone was concerned about contracting cancer simply by sitting too close to an electric heater or using an electric blanket?  The big scare back in the 90’s was all about Electromagnetic Radiation or EMFs.  Even today there is no definitive answer to whether living next to a utility easement where there are high tension wires or step-up and step-down transformers within close proximity to a home will emit enough radiation to be harmful to your health. However, whether the danger is real or not the concern is there and it has stigmatized many properties perceived value.

Now there is RADON!

Once upon a time Radon was of no concern here on Martha’s Vineyard, but neither was smoking cigarettes. Some people still don’t care. The common belief was, it was only present in up-Island towns where the heaviest concentration of glacial rock existed. Today Radon is being found in every town on the Island and in some areas in quite high concentrations. 

Here is the point I want to make.
I think doing a Radon test should be the first thing any home buyer does before having a complete structural inspection performed. Repairing a fully depreciated roof or replacing a heating system is no big deal compared to finding Radon gas. Radon is a health hazard.

What is Radon?
It is a particulate gas that constantly emanates from disintegrating glacial rock formations or ledge rock, but there can be other sources. The EPA has set the ‘action’ level for Radon at 4 pCi/L (picocuries/liter). In Europe where they are less conservative the action level is 10 pCi/L.  To give this some perspective, since Radon is the #2 cause of lung cancer, the EPA guidelines state that a reading of 10-12 pCi/L is "equivalent to smoking one pack of cigarettes a day".  Am I getting your attention?

I have a section on my website http://www.splitrockre.com/environmental-radon.shtml explaining in more detail about Radon with links to resources. For further detail or if you want to schedule a consultation with a Radon Mitigation expert you can contact the company I use. http://www.blackdogin.com/

This is how the Structural Inspection process works.
As a buyer, before the Purchase and Sale Agreement is signed and you are in too deep, a Structural Inspection is performed.   The home inspector will usually recommend a Radon test as an ‘add-on’ or optional test. The test can be static or active and usually takes 24 hours and is best done in the colder months when a house is closed up.  The cost of the test is nominal, usually under $100.00 but it can run as high as $300.00. Compared to the cost of a complete structural inspection which usually averages $400.00 to $600.00 or even more depending on the size of the premises being inspected.  Finding a high level of Radon could possibly derail a home purchase more easily than most other findings in a Structural Inspection. 

Radon in the Water?
If it isn’t enough to find radon gas in the air, it can also be found in well water.  It is not as serious in well water but when it becomes airborne as spray that is when it can affect your health.  Well water systems can also be treated to neutralize the Radon by using high maintenance filtering systems.  If the initial Radon test shows high levels it is advisable to have a well water test done. Of course, if the property is on town water then you don’t have to worry.

My recommendation
Home buyers should investigate whether or not Radon is prevalent in the area they are thinking of purchasing a home.  Good sources for that information can be a structural inspector, an attorney or a well installer. As I said before, contract for a Radon test before having a full blown structural inspection performed.  If the levels are below the action level you are good to go. If the levels are within the margins, let’s say between 4 pCi/L and 12 pCi/L you can have a mitigation system installed for somewhere around $1500 to $3000.00 depending upon the complexity of the installation. If a mitigation system is installed and the after installation Radon levels are not well below 4pCi/L further ventilation work may need to be done.  Do a Radon test first and then you can worry about the rest. That is my advice.