Greater Hartford Real Estate Blog

I ran into a neighbor the other day and our conversation went along the lines of this:

Neighbor: Hey, I have a real estate question for you. Now, I’m not looking to sell my home, but I’ve heard that having a lot of books is bad. Is that true?

[Side note: many of my neighbors and friends preface their real estate questions with "I'm not looking to sell my home" whenever they ask me a question. Really folks, I am not some idiotic, blood sucking agent. I don't mind giving advice or my opinion without forcing you to sign your home away. See this blog? I just like talking about real estate, no strings attached. Back to the story...]

Amy: A lot of books are bad? You’ll have to expand a little more. Reading is generally a good thing.

Neighbor: Well, I have this friend and an agent told them that having a lot of books is generally frowned upon.

Amy: Uh, are the books of an unacceptable nature or something along those lines? Is their house entirely cluttered with books?

Neighbor: I’m not sure. It’s just that my wife and I are thinking about turning one of our bedrooms into a library. You know how these [West End] houses are, they have 5 bedrooms. We’d like to fill one of them with bookshelves and books. But then my wife heard that having a lot of books is not good.

Amy: Ah, okay. Now I understand. Here’s the deal, if you’re selling your house, it’s best to declutter as much as possible. You want buyers to focus on your house, not your stuff. The agent was probably telling your friend that a lot of books are bad because they may become a distraction to a buyer or they’ve lost the purpose of a room that they should be displaying in another way.

Neighbor: So making a library room in our house would be okay?

Amy: Yes, you’re perfectly fine making one of your bedrooms into a library. It’s your house. You live there. Enjoy it and use it however you want. If you decide you eventually want to sell your house, you may need to pack up your books and return the room to its original purpose. But for now, live in your house however you like and use the space in a way that fits your lifestyle. Make sense?

Neighbor: Great, thanks for the advice.

Amy: You’re welcome. Enjoy the day.

I am a fan of staging, but if you’re living in your house with no intention of selling, live in your house. Heck, I have an extra bedroom in my house that’s used as my closet because our master bedroom has inadequate closet space. Would I leave it that way if I were selling my house? Heck no! But I live in my house and that’s its highest and best use right now.

Don’t become paralyzed by HGTV perfection. Enjoy your home and live in it in a way that suits your lifestyle!

Few words are spoken with as much disdain as ‘McMansion.’ I’ll admit to criticizing a property with the term on occasion, though I’m not one of those people who could wax poetic about the evils they represent.

In fact, I recently discovered that I had trouble even defining the term while I was talking with a local builder/developer about a project in which he may participate. After mentioning the main value drivers in the finished home, like location, quality, location, price point, and location, I suggested that he make sure to differentiate the property from a McMansion.

And that’s when I began to really think about the term. Wikipedia has an extensive page outlining all the characteristics (evils) of McMansions. It’s actually amusing that the tone of the entire piece is so negative, all the way down to the final sentence and its snarky footnote. Articles and photo galleries have also taken McMansions to task.

It seems to me that ‘McMansion’ is just another way to say ‘new construction.’ Properties that wear the scarlet ‘Mc’ are purchased by folks who are interested in homes that have modern features and amenities. The 1,700 square foot, 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath colonial just isn’t big enough for some people. And when choosing between 3,000 square foot homes, why not pick something brand new instead of something 100 years old if the prices are comparable?

A high percentage of new homes meet at least some criteria laid out in the various definitions of McMansions. Doesn’t that suggest that they are their own unique style?

Would the West End of Hartford have been considered McMansions during the early 1900’s if the term existed?  It’s full of starter castles that were built in former farmland at the edge of town with few mature trees.

Perhaps we’re seeing another example of our collective preference for historical artistic styles over current artistic styles. Maybe one day there will be a judgment-neutral term describing this style of architecture and even associations celebrating the structures.

The good news for McMansion-haters is that there’s a good chance public sentiment (and their preferred architecture) is currently changing due to reflect the rising energy prices.

I’m very interested to hear what others think…

Whenever my clients have a home inspection performed, I always recommend that they also have a radon test performed.

Radon is an odorless and tasteless gas that is released when uranium decays in soil and rocks. It is just about everywhere, at varying concentration levels. It can enter a home through cracks in the walls and floor of your foundation and collect indoors. It can also be released by building materials or well water. If people are repeatedly exposed to high levels of radon, it can lead to lung cancer. Radon is actually the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US and every year between 15,000 to 22,000 people die from lung cancer associated with radon. Scary stuff.

For some reason when I purchased my home, my agent never suggested a radon test, nor did the home inspector. Huh. So this past week I called up one of the inspection companies that I frequently recommend and asked that they perform a radon test on my own home.

Right now I have a continuous monitoring machine running in my basement, actively taking samples of the air every 5 minutes. After 48 hours, the inspector will come back and immediately give me the results.

The inspector could have alternatively performed a passive radon test with a charcoal canister. The cannister tests are somewhat less reliable and need to be shipped off to a lab for analysis. Also, these types of tests do not indicate if a homeowner left windows or doors open, interfering with the test results.

A continuous monitoring test alerts an inspector to interference. Not really an issue in my case for testing, but something to think about if you’re a homebuyer requesting one of these tests.

Tomorrow when the inspector drops by to pick up the machine and give me my results, I’ll be hoping they are below 4.0 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Anything below 4.0 is deemed “safe” by the EPA. Anything 4.0 and over needs to be retested and, potentially, a radon mitigation system may need to be installed.

Keep your fingers crossed for a sub 4.0 reading, please…

UPDATE: Our radon test results came back at 2.1pCi/L, so no issues for the time being. Also, thanks to a loyal reader for a link to the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s list of radon mitigation professionals. The document also contains some good information on how radon mitigation systems work and a range of installation costs.