My goal is to help reduce your stress buying a home. Over the four and a half decades in which I have been guiding buyers through the technical aspects of their new homes, I have observed two distinct trends: Increasing complexity of the subject matter, particularly in the area of environmental concerns; A growing compulsion […]

What matters? Picking the right house What matters most is that you find a home that your family can peacefully enjoy. The most important thing is that you like the house. Don’t lose that idea in all the noise of the process. Mastering new territory Maybe you will have to come to grips with having […]

No other category of issues has reduced the fun of buying a new home like environmental concerns. It seems that every few years another environmental issue comes to light AND the list of “known concerns” persist. There are at least two lessons to learn from this: New frightening issues normally fade with time into more […]

Where is it? Asbestos, once considered a miracle product given its extreme resistance to high temperatures and decay, gradually found its way into thousands of products. Luckily, only a few of these products are regularly found in homes in a form that could easily make harmful dust. The most common asbestos problem in homes is […]

What is the problem? It was standard procedure in the New York / Connecticut area during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s to bury home heating oil tanks. Over time steel tanks rust through and leak harmful fluid into the ground. Oil spills are unacceptable and expensive to clean up. Whomever owns the spill when it […]