As a real estate salesman, I have worked with many buyers and sellers over the years. And one trend I have noted is the increasing concern that many buyers have over what has come to be called “environmental hazards.”
I have also watched as numerous businesses have popped up to “service” these concerns, including inspectors, consultants, repair services (often called “remediators”), and of course, the inevitable legal counselors, the branch of the legal community that blossoms when a threat of any type is perceived.
In my career, I was first intimidated by the threat of asbestos. It turned out that the vast majority of roofs, siding and insulation in every building I entered was either made of asbestos, or at least covered in it, and buyers were so scared they refused to even make offers on homes so infected.
That was then. Today, the presence of asbestos barely merits a mention, and the imminent deadly threat has apparently faded.
Soon to follow was radon, an odorless, invisible and toxic gas that seemed to prefer basements to attics. Further research revealed that radon gas poured forth from subterranean granite, and further that most of the Atlanta area sits on a huge vein of granite (apparently part of Stone Mountain). Oh my!
Finally, it was revealed that the best treatment for radon gas was to put a fan in the window and blow it outdoors from time to time.
Next, came the lead-based paint scare. But this time, the federal government got involved, and introduced the threat of massive fines for failure to comply with the complex and over-reaching regulations. We were told that only homes built prior to 1978 might be affected, but my community is full of homes built in the 1940s and earlier.
I was so worried that I obtained training in lead hazards and began teaching the EPA Certified Renovator training course in Georgia.
But I soon found that few contractors were interested in totally modifying the way they work, and that even fewer consumers wanted to pay for the additional work that was required.
After a couple years, the public perception was that the issue had been resolved, or at least it was no longer front page news.
And now we have come to the threat-du-jour: mold and mildew.
This omnipresent fungus, we were told, is prone to grow anywhere, anytime, and if it turns black, it becomes toxic and can never be removed. And to prove how lethal it is, it can never be cleaned, only “remediated.”
Now we learn from the CDC that most occurrences of mold are harmless to most humans, and deserve no more concern than a bucket of warm water and a half cup of bleach plus a stiff scrub brush.
Even so, mold growth is the No. 1 bogus reason used by tenants to justify moving out and not paying rent. Amazingly, some judges in local magistrate courts allow this charade to continue.
Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that all environmental hazards are harmless scams perpetrated by opportunists seeking a new market.
Instead, I am merely suggesting that the real estate community has a tendency to over-react to “environmental hazards” as they appear, fueled by advocates of that particular industry.
So, will we learn a lesson from all this and learn to take the next threat with a grain of salt until the case is settled?
Probably not.
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