If you're interested in Little Swan Lake -- a 250-acre lake located five miles west of Avon, Illinois -- you'll definitely want to check out this brand-new page of our office website, macombland.com:
http://www.remax-unified-macomb-il.com/display.php?cat=12
The page, which we launched yesterday, includes
* All of our current Little Swan Lake listings.
* A basic description of the lake and what it offers.
* A Little Swan Lake map, linked up to Google Maps.
* A downloadable PDF with current Little Swan Lake rules and regulations.
* A link to littleswanlake.net, which features news, community activities, photos, and the history of Little Swan Lake.
We're pretty excited about the page and hope visitors find the information useful. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any feedback (positive or negative).
Showing posts with label il. Show all posts
Showing posts with label il. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, January 20, 2008
More about the new radon law
Time to continue the discussion about radon from my last post.
Shortly before Christmas, I wrote about the new radon-related law set to take effect January 1, 2008. I lamented how I hadn't found a single article in the mainstream press about the law -- just a brief mention on one agent's blog.
But I should have dug deeper. Mere hours after my post went live, I got a message from Mr. Calvin Murphy of Allied Radon Services in Mt. Vernon, down in southern Illinois. He directed me to his blog, which has an impressive chronicle of how the new radon requirements went from bill to law as they wound through the state legislature last year, before finally being signed by the governor. Murphy's detail is more thorough than the stuff you find on most Congressional members' websites. Through Murphy's postings, I learned that the bill made it through both chambers of the statehouse without a single "nay" vote. That's the sort of bipartisanship you don't see much in Springfield, especially the way Illinois state politics have been this past year.
So the legislature obviously made itself clear regarding radon. What does the real estate community need to do? There are a couple things, required of anyone who sells "residential real property" (a housing structure with one to four units):
1.) A seller must give a buyer a special pamphlet/fact sheet called "Radon Testing Guidelines for Real Estate Transactions," published by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. This pamphlet/fact sheet explains how to test for radon and notes that the IEMA "strongly recommends ALL homebuyers have an indoor radon test performed prior to purchase or taking occupancy" of a property.
2.) A seller also must fill out a special radon disclosure form, indicating whether the property ever has been tested for radon. (This disclosure form looks a lot like the lead paint disclosure, a form that's already been in use in real estate for a number of years.)
I should probably pause here if (like I did, until I took a helpful continuing ed course a couple years ago) you need a quick chemistry lesson on radon.
Practically all soil on the planet has at least trace amounts of the element uranium, and when this decays, it gives off gas in the form of radon. Normally this isn't a problem, because the radon gas disperses into the atmosphere, where it's greatly outnumbered by other, benign elements. But when you put a manmade structure -- say, a house or office building -- over a spot with high radon levels, the gas no longer has a direct route to the atmosphere. The radon now has to travel through the building first, and depending on how well or poorly insulated this structure is, that could take a while. The longer the radon gas stays in the building, the more the humans who breathe that air are at risk.
The risks are real. The gas is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. (Smoking, of course, is still #1.) Researchers think radon probably kills, or helps kill, about 21,000 Americans a year.
You might reasonably conclude that if we know where the uranium is in the first place, we can expect to sleuth out that the radon should be in that same area, too. And that's true, to a certain extent. Researchers have developed extensive radon "maps," taking into account soil types, geology, and other factors. As this map shows, Illinois has a range of radon levels, with high levels throughout central and northern Illinois, average levels in Chicagoland and much of southern Illinois, and low levels at the southernmost tip of the state.
But of course these are simply averages. In McDonough County (where our RE/MAX office is located), 41% of the homes that were tested had high radon levels, according to a pamphlet I picked up at the local health department. Meanwhile, the town of Chillicothe (north of Peoria) is alleged to have high radon levels in nearly 100% of its homes. And then there stories any inspector will tell you about how he's seen a house on one side of the street test high for radon and a house across the street test low. There's that much variation.
At our monthly Lamoine Valley Board of Realtors meeting in December, we had two guest speakers: Randy Stufflebeem, owner and operator of B-Sure Home Inspection and Environmental, and Jere Paradis, owner and licensed radon mitigator for Midwest Radon Reduction. Stufflebeem talked about how to test for radon; Paradis focused on how to solve a radon problem once you've identified it. (Because it's an obvious conflict of interest for the same person to perform the test and mitigation on the same property, dividing up the tasks ensures a check-and-balance system that protects consumers from dishonest radon experts.)
Stufflebeem said that when he tests for radon, he places an electronic monitoring device in the lowest livable space in the house. (Crawl spaces don't count, but a basement with the potential to be finished does.) This device remains in place for a period of time, usually at least 48 hours, and monitors the radon level over an hour-to-hour period. Some individual hours might see a spike in the radon level, but the inspector cares most about the 48-hour average. If that average is higher than the magic number of 4.0 picoCuries/liter, the inspector must recommend that the problem be treated. (Apparently, this 4.0 pCi/L has been documented by health researchers as the threshold level for a human's risk to radon gas.)
Fixing a radon problem is pretty simple, said Paradis. The homeowner simply installs a ventilation system (I think of it like a bathroom vent for your whole house) that sucks the air from the lower level and disperses it outside. The cost for a system like this in west-central Illinois is usually around $1,000, said Paradis. That covers the equipment and installation.
Stufflebeem and Paradis also noted something I found surprising: Radon can be found in water and rocks, too -- not just soil. Granite countertops can be sources of radon. Paradis even told a story about a school in his home state of Massachusetts that had radon pouring out of granite walls located inside the building.
Failing to address a radon problem -- or failing to know you have a problem in the first place -- doesn't mean you'll immediately drop dead of lung cancer. Like most health-related dangers, mere exposure to this one doesn't guarantee you'll get sick at all. But it does increase your risk. As the state government has tried to make clear with this new radon law, Illinois residents who ignore that risk may be gambling with their lives.
Shortly before Christmas, I wrote about the new radon-related law set to take effect January 1, 2008. I lamented how I hadn't found a single article in the mainstream press about the law -- just a brief mention on one agent's blog.
But I should have dug deeper. Mere hours after my post went live, I got a message from Mr. Calvin Murphy of Allied Radon Services in Mt. Vernon, down in southern Illinois. He directed me to his blog, which has an impressive chronicle of how the new radon requirements went from bill to law as they wound through the state legislature last year, before finally being signed by the governor. Murphy's detail is more thorough than the stuff you find on most Congressional members' websites. Through Murphy's postings, I learned that the bill made it through both chambers of the statehouse without a single "nay" vote. That's the sort of bipartisanship you don't see much in Springfield, especially the way Illinois state politics have been this past year.
So the legislature obviously made itself clear regarding radon. What does the real estate community need to do? There are a couple things, required of anyone who sells "residential real property" (a housing structure with one to four units):
1.) A seller must give a buyer a special pamphlet/fact sheet called "Radon Testing Guidelines for Real Estate Transactions," published by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. This pamphlet/fact sheet explains how to test for radon and notes that the IEMA "strongly recommends ALL homebuyers have an indoor radon test performed prior to purchase or taking occupancy" of a property.
2.) A seller also must fill out a special radon disclosure form, indicating whether the property ever has been tested for radon. (This disclosure form looks a lot like the lead paint disclosure, a form that's already been in use in real estate for a number of years.)
I should probably pause here if (like I did, until I took a helpful continuing ed course a couple years ago) you need a quick chemistry lesson on radon.
Practically all soil on the planet has at least trace amounts of the element uranium, and when this decays, it gives off gas in the form of radon. Normally this isn't a problem, because the radon gas disperses into the atmosphere, where it's greatly outnumbered by other, benign elements. But when you put a manmade structure -- say, a house or office building -- over a spot with high radon levels, the gas no longer has a direct route to the atmosphere. The radon now has to travel through the building first, and depending on how well or poorly insulated this structure is, that could take a while. The longer the radon gas stays in the building, the more the humans who breathe that air are at risk.
The risks are real. The gas is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. (Smoking, of course, is still #1.) Researchers think radon probably kills, or helps kill, about 21,000 Americans a year.
You might reasonably conclude that if we know where the uranium is in the first place, we can expect to sleuth out that the radon should be in that same area, too. And that's true, to a certain extent. Researchers have developed extensive radon "maps," taking into account soil types, geology, and other factors. As this map shows, Illinois has a range of radon levels, with high levels throughout central and northern Illinois, average levels in Chicagoland and much of southern Illinois, and low levels at the southernmost tip of the state.
But of course these are simply averages. In McDonough County (where our RE/MAX office is located), 41% of the homes that were tested had high radon levels, according to a pamphlet I picked up at the local health department. Meanwhile, the town of Chillicothe (north of Peoria) is alleged to have high radon levels in nearly 100% of its homes. And then there stories any inspector will tell you about how he's seen a house on one side of the street test high for radon and a house across the street test low. There's that much variation.
At our monthly Lamoine Valley Board of Realtors meeting in December, we had two guest speakers: Randy Stufflebeem, owner and operator of B-Sure Home Inspection and Environmental, and Jere Paradis, owner and licensed radon mitigator for Midwest Radon Reduction. Stufflebeem talked about how to test for radon; Paradis focused on how to solve a radon problem once you've identified it. (Because it's an obvious conflict of interest for the same person to perform the test and mitigation on the same property, dividing up the tasks ensures a check-and-balance system that protects consumers from dishonest radon experts.)
Stufflebeem said that when he tests for radon, he places an electronic monitoring device in the lowest livable space in the house. (Crawl spaces don't count, but a basement with the potential to be finished does.) This device remains in place for a period of time, usually at least 48 hours, and monitors the radon level over an hour-to-hour period. Some individual hours might see a spike in the radon level, but the inspector cares most about the 48-hour average. If that average is higher than the magic number of 4.0 picoCuries/liter, the inspector must recommend that the problem be treated. (Apparently, this 4.0 pCi/L has been documented by health researchers as the threshold level for a human's risk to radon gas.)
Fixing a radon problem is pretty simple, said Paradis. The homeowner simply installs a ventilation system (I think of it like a bathroom vent for your whole house) that sucks the air from the lower level and disperses it outside. The cost for a system like this in west-central Illinois is usually around $1,000, said Paradis. That covers the equipment and installation.
Stufflebeem and Paradis also noted something I found surprising: Radon can be found in water and rocks, too -- not just soil. Granite countertops can be sources of radon. Paradis even told a story about a school in his home state of Massachusetts that had radon pouring out of granite walls located inside the building.
Failing to address a radon problem -- or failing to know you have a problem in the first place -- doesn't mean you'll immediately drop dead of lung cancer. Like most health-related dangers, mere exposure to this one doesn't guarantee you'll get sick at all. But it does increase your risk. As the state government has tried to make clear with this new radon law, Illinois residents who ignore that risk may be gambling with their lives.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
New radon law starts Jan. 1
Radon is about to be a much bigger deal in the world of real estate in Illinois.
Starting January 1, anyone who sells "residential real property" (defined as a housing structure with one to four units) in Illinois must give a prospective buyer two radon-related documents: (1) a disclosure form, in which the seller explains whether he/she is aware of high radon levels in the home and (2) a pamphlet that explains how to test for radon.
That's pretty important stuff -- certainly the most serious new policy I've seen at the statewide level since I became a real estate agent in 2004. Strangely, though, I've found no mention of it in the mainstream press. There was a press release sent out to agents last month by the Illinois Association of Realtors, and I spotted some information about it on a blog of a real estate agent in the Chicagoland area. But that's about it. Even the Google News archive, generally excellent at sniffing out a story, fails to turn up anything. Of course, when even Google can't find a story, you're probably correct in assuming nobody has written one.
So I'll try to fill in the gaps.
Tomorrow our local board of real estate agents, the Lamoine Valley Board of Realtors, is holding its monthly meeting, and the guest speakers will be talking exclusively about radon. I'll report back with what I learn.
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a link to an excellent slideshow (http://www.radalink.com/illinois/presentation.htm) that gives an overview of the new radon law. Created by a company that specializes in radon testing, the slideshow even includes audio accompaniment.
Starting January 1, anyone who sells "residential real property" (defined as a housing structure with one to four units) in Illinois must give a prospective buyer two radon-related documents: (1) a disclosure form, in which the seller explains whether he/she is aware of high radon levels in the home and (2) a pamphlet that explains how to test for radon.
That's pretty important stuff -- certainly the most serious new policy I've seen at the statewide level since I became a real estate agent in 2004. Strangely, though, I've found no mention of it in the mainstream press. There was a press release sent out to agents last month by the Illinois Association of Realtors, and I spotted some information about it on a blog of a real estate agent in the Chicagoland area. But that's about it. Even the Google News archive, generally excellent at sniffing out a story, fails to turn up anything. Of course, when even Google can't find a story, you're probably correct in assuming nobody has written one.
So I'll try to fill in the gaps.
Tomorrow our local board of real estate agents, the Lamoine Valley Board of Realtors, is holding its monthly meeting, and the guest speakers will be talking exclusively about radon. I'll report back with what I learn.
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a link to an excellent slideshow (http://www.radalink.com/illinois/presentation.htm) that gives an overview of the new radon law. Created by a company that specializes in radon testing, the slideshow even includes audio accompaniment.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Good real estate websites, part 2
In an earlier post, I mentioned some of the best real estate sites to visit if you're looking to find a house. What about the "for sale by owner" sites? Aren't they good, too?
Sure, and I encourage you to visit them.
But right now, the for sale by owner (FSBO) market is fragmented. There isn't one site where you can view all FSBO listings in a given city or ZIP code. (Not a surprise, really. Each FSBO website is run by a different company, and each one wants to make money off folks looking to sell their homes.)
I recommend starting with realtor.com if you're the sort of person who wants to visit one site and view as much real estate as possible. But if you're an inquisitive and thorough sort, you'll want to get a complete picture of everything by also visiting some FSBO sites.
There are some cities where FSBOs have a huge market share -- sometimes as much as 30% of all the houses for sale. That's not the case in west-central Illinois, and on most of the sites listed below, you'll be lucky to find one or two houses for sale in a given town.
One final note: I ran my estimates (included below) on what it would cost to run ads in west-central Illinois. These numbers may not hold true for bigger markets in more metropolitan areas of the U.S.
To the list!
Good FSBO sites:
forsalebyowner.com -- Definitely seems to be the most popular of the FSBO sites, and my Alexa toolbar ranks it 9,113 -- meaning that, at this moment in time, Alexa considers it the 9,113th most popular site on the Internet. (Alexa ranks yahoo.com #1, msn.com #2, and google.com #3.) Rankings aren't a flawless science, but I do think they matter; if you're going to sell your house on your own, you want it to be posted on a website people actually visit.
If you want to sell your house, paying $199 at forsalebyowner.com lets you post it on their site indefinitely; if you pay $249, they'll also give you a yard sign. They also offer an intriguing feature: For $349, they'll include the aforementioned stuff, plus allow you unlimited access to their toll-free real estate consultation line. (I'm not sure how great the advice on their consultation line actually is, but then again, I imagine some people would tell you that they've received rotten advice from real estate agents hired for a lot more than $349.) For $599, forsalebyowner.com will post your house on yahoo.com and some other websites, too.
owners.com -- Ranked 30,701 by Alexa. $49.95 lets you post your house on their site until it sells. $79.95 does the same thing, plus a yard sign. $179.95 is everything plus a virtual tour. They also offer a separate package: $377 lets you post your house in the local multiple listing service (MLS) -- the database of properties overseen by real estate agents in that area. (I like this idea of MLS a la carte, but it's been highly controversial in some parts of the U.S., and lawsuits have been filed because of it. I plan to write more about all this in a future post.)
homesbyowner.com -- Ranked 49,529 by Alexa. This site will give you a free (!) listing and one photo. $79.99 will give you a yard sign and allow you to post up to five photos. $129.99 allows you up to 20 photos and a virtual tour.
fsbo.com -- Ranked 58,620 by Alexa. $69.95 posts your house on their site for nine months, and for $10 more, they'll throw in a yard sign. Or, for $499, they'll post your house in the local MLS.
byowner.com -- Ranked 141,414 by Alexa. $249 to list your house (with six photos) until it sells. $49 extra for yard signs.
And then there are the folks who go the FSBO route and never do anything more than stick a sign in the front yard. Obviously, you won't find those houses on any websites, and often the only way to stumble onto them is by driving up and down streets in a given town. But maybe Google's team of experts can come up with a infrared-like map that can detect all yard signs (both the FSBO and real estate agent kind) from low-earth orbit, then post the results on an easy-to-navigate Google site. Why not?
Sure, and I encourage you to visit them.
But right now, the for sale by owner (FSBO) market is fragmented. There isn't one site where you can view all FSBO listings in a given city or ZIP code. (Not a surprise, really. Each FSBO website is run by a different company, and each one wants to make money off folks looking to sell their homes.)
I recommend starting with realtor.com if you're the sort of person who wants to visit one site and view as much real estate as possible. But if you're an inquisitive and thorough sort, you'll want to get a complete picture of everything by also visiting some FSBO sites.
There are some cities where FSBOs have a huge market share -- sometimes as much as 30% of all the houses for sale. That's not the case in west-central Illinois, and on most of the sites listed below, you'll be lucky to find one or two houses for sale in a given town.
One final note: I ran my estimates (included below) on what it would cost to run ads in west-central Illinois. These numbers may not hold true for bigger markets in more metropolitan areas of the U.S.
To the list!
Good FSBO sites:
forsalebyowner.com -- Definitely seems to be the most popular of the FSBO sites, and my Alexa toolbar ranks it 9,113 -- meaning that, at this moment in time, Alexa considers it the 9,113th most popular site on the Internet. (Alexa ranks yahoo.com #1, msn.com #2, and google.com #3.) Rankings aren't a flawless science, but I do think they matter; if you're going to sell your house on your own, you want it to be posted on a website people actually visit.
If you want to sell your house, paying $199 at forsalebyowner.com lets you post it on their site indefinitely; if you pay $249, they'll also give you a yard sign. They also offer an intriguing feature: For $349, they'll include the aforementioned stuff, plus allow you unlimited access to their toll-free real estate consultation line. (I'm not sure how great the advice on their consultation line actually is, but then again, I imagine some people would tell you that they've received rotten advice from real estate agents hired for a lot more than $349.) For $599, forsalebyowner.com will post your house on yahoo.com and some other websites, too.
owners.com -- Ranked 30,701 by Alexa. $49.95 lets you post your house on their site until it sells. $79.95 does the same thing, plus a yard sign. $179.95 is everything plus a virtual tour. They also offer a separate package: $377 lets you post your house in the local multiple listing service (MLS) -- the database of properties overseen by real estate agents in that area. (I like this idea of MLS a la carte, but it's been highly controversial in some parts of the U.S., and lawsuits have been filed because of it. I plan to write more about all this in a future post.)
homesbyowner.com -- Ranked 49,529 by Alexa. This site will give you a free (!) listing and one photo. $79.99 will give you a yard sign and allow you to post up to five photos. $129.99 allows you up to 20 photos and a virtual tour.
fsbo.com -- Ranked 58,620 by Alexa. $69.95 posts your house on their site for nine months, and for $10 more, they'll throw in a yard sign. Or, for $499, they'll post your house in the local MLS.
byowner.com -- Ranked 141,414 by Alexa. $249 to list your house (with six photos) until it sells. $49 extra for yard signs.
And then there are the folks who go the FSBO route and never do anything more than stick a sign in the front yard. Obviously, you won't find those houses on any websites, and often the only way to stumble onto them is by driving up and down streets in a given town. But maybe Google's team of experts can come up with a infrared-like map that can detect all yard signs (both the FSBO and real estate agent kind) from low-earth orbit, then post the results on an easy-to-navigate Google site. Why not?
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Good real estate websites, part 1
What's the best website to use when trying to find a house? I'm asked that quite a bit, and my answer's simple: realtor.com.
What makes realtor.com so great is that it's an all-in-one site, meaning that it has all houses for sale by all agents in a given market -- and every house has at least one photo. Right now there's nobody else doing this (though many companies are trying to join the game).
Real estate agents don't have to pay to post their listings to realtor.com -- it's completely free. That means you can go to realtor.com and search an entire town and see literally everything for sale through agents there. When you do, you'll find that some houses have special headlines and multiple photos; these are listed by agents who've paid realtor.com advertising fees to dress up things a bit.
Other good real estate sites:
homes.com -- Like realtor.com, they list everything on the market. The catch: Apparently, only agents who've paid to advertise with homes.com get photos on their listings. (All other listings have boxes with the words "photo not available."
Yahoo real estate -- Uses the same data as homes.com.
zillow.com -- Started allowing agents to post their listings, but only a few have done so at this point.
macomb.com/realestate -- This is actually a directory of real estate offices based in Macomb, Illinois, and operated by Infobahn Outfitters, a local Internet service company. Infobahn created and services our own office's website, so I'm a little biased, but what I like is how Infobahn doesn't discriminate. They list nearly every real estate office in the area -- as long as that office has an email address. This page also ranks highly in any Google search of "real estate Macomb IL." Many clients have told me how much they appreciate this page, especially if they're from outside the area and want a quick overview of the offices that serve the Macomb market.
historicproperties.com -- A specialty site for really old houses. I've been surprised to learn recently that there are many buyers out there looking for highly specific types of structures (e.g., 1890 Victorians), and that they're willing to move a considerable distance -- sometimes hundreds of miles -- to buy and live in them. The folks who run this site really seem to know what they're doing.
What makes realtor.com so great is that it's an all-in-one site, meaning that it has all houses for sale by all agents in a given market -- and every house has at least one photo. Right now there's nobody else doing this (though many companies are trying to join the game).
Real estate agents don't have to pay to post their listings to realtor.com -- it's completely free. That means you can go to realtor.com and search an entire town and see literally everything for sale through agents there. When you do, you'll find that some houses have special headlines and multiple photos; these are listed by agents who've paid realtor.com advertising fees to dress up things a bit.
Other good real estate sites:
homes.com -- Like realtor.com, they list everything on the market. The catch: Apparently, only agents who've paid to advertise with homes.com get photos on their listings. (All other listings have boxes with the words "photo not available."
Yahoo real estate -- Uses the same data as homes.com.
zillow.com -- Started allowing agents to post their listings, but only a few have done so at this point.
macomb.com/realestate -- This is actually a directory of real estate offices based in Macomb, Illinois, and operated by Infobahn Outfitters, a local Internet service company. Infobahn created and services our own office's website, so I'm a little biased, but what I like is how Infobahn doesn't discriminate. They list nearly every real estate office in the area -- as long as that office has an email address. This page also ranks highly in any Google search of "real estate Macomb IL." Many clients have told me how much they appreciate this page, especially if they're from outside the area and want a quick overview of the offices that serve the Macomb market.
historicproperties.com -- A specialty site for really old houses. I've been surprised to learn recently that there are many buyers out there looking for highly specific types of structures (e.g., 1890 Victorians), and that they're willing to move a considerable distance -- sometimes hundreds of miles -- to buy and live in them. The folks who run this site really seem to know what they're doing.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Chapter 1
Is is really possible to write a blog about real estate in a small town in west-central Illinois? I'm about to find out, I guess.
What will be posted here? Real estate stuff, of course, but in a way that's specific to our market. You can find marketwide, macro-themed real estate stories (no doubt about how the real estate market has hit the skids) in The Wall Street Journal or some other national publication.
But for info about some other important things -- like the housing shortage in our area, Macomb's multi-family zoning imbroglio, or $5,000/acre patches of black dirt -- this is the place.
This site's designed to be interactive, so please feel free to leave me feedback.
Cheers,
Nick
Our office website:
RE/MAX Unified Brokers
Real Estate Blogs Directory - Directory of real estate blogs and blogs of industries affiliated with and serving the real estate industry.
Technorati Profile
What will be posted here? Real estate stuff, of course, but in a way that's specific to our market. You can find marketwide, macro-themed real estate stories (no doubt about how the real estate market has hit the skids) in The Wall Street Journal or some other national publication.
But for info about some other important things -- like the housing shortage in our area, Macomb's multi-family zoning imbroglio, or $5,000/acre patches of black dirt -- this is the place.
This site's designed to be interactive, so please feel free to leave me feedback.
Cheers,
Nick
Our office website:
RE/MAX Unified Brokers
Real Estate Blogs Directory - Directory of real estate blogs and blogs of industries affiliated with and serving the real estate industry.
Technorati Profile
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