Monthly Archives: April 2010

It’s been a long while since I’ve discussed radon gas here on Kansas City Real Estate & Investing.  But it’s no less an issue.  A misunderstood issue.   An issue surrounded in misinformation, wife’s tales and so on.  But it’s really cut and dry.  Radon gas is dangerous.  How dangerous over what period of time is where all the confusion comes in.

Did you know that radon gas is the #1 cause of lung cancer among non-smokers?

Did you know if you are a smoker radon gas is unbelievably more dangerous to you than a non-smoker?

I suggest taking a minute and making the jump to www.epa.gov/radon for the government’s take on radon gas.

Listen, I don’t want to scare you.  You’re not going to get lung cancer because you drank a few beers at your buddy’s house and his house has high radon levels.  No.  It’s long term exposure that gets you.

For an interesting read about radon gas you can visit this website:

http://www.radontestkits.com/radon_history.html

Again, not trying to scare anyone.  But radon gas is real here in the Kansas City area.  A few weeks ago a buyer I was working with tested the house during inspections and the average level was 32.0!  (Government recommended maximum level is 4.0.)  Last night we got another reading from another house by another buyer and it was 4.8.  Both houses can have a radon mitigation system installed for about $750 that will remediate the problem for the next 15 years.  It’s a simple, relatively inexpensive fix.  The test costs about $105.

As many of you know first time home buyers are driving our current real estate market here in Kansas City.  First timers are buying homes which allow for move-ups with many other homeowners.  And all of this is artificially stimulated by our federal government’s home buyer’s tax credit plan started by the Bush administration and continued by Obama.  I’m not going to get political here, just give an opinion.

I have four pending home sales right now.  February and March have been busy as well.  I fully expect the bottom to fall out for 60-90 days post April 30.  Sure, we’ll have closings in May and June left over from April’s activity.  But new sales?  I expect a sharp drop.

If you are a home buyer you need to be in a hurry.  10% of a home’s value up to $8,000 returned to you post closing is nothing to sneeze at.  If you are a home seller you need to make sure your home is priced correctly…today!  You have 9 days to find a suitable buyer before what I believe will be a cooling off period for home buyers.

Yes.  People will still move, lose  jobs, get promotions and invest in real estate.  It will just be at a slower pace in May, June and July.  That’s my $0.02.

Every buyer, every seller and every agent has their own style when it comes to negotiating an offer to buy or sell real estate.  There are books written on the subject.  Radio shows.  Even infomercials.   But when it comes to the negotiation process I think there are two things to keep in mind;

1. You get better at negotiating the more you do it.  So in many (or most?) cases it is good to go with your real estate agent’s instincts.
2. The more the other side will tell you their motivations, the more leverage you can produce.

NOTE: There is a huge difference when negotiating a primary residence versus an investment property.  Huge.  So the techniques for one don’t necessarily translate to the other.

Therefore my advice is to be more concerned with what the other party is trying to accomplish.  People always think it’s the sales price.  Well, not necessarily.  Why do they want that sales price?

Your thoughts on negotiating are welcome.