Power lines, law, human nature and real estate

An interesting aspect of being a real estate agent is that you get to learn about a variety of subjects such as law, environmental issues, construction, mortgage finance, human behavior, negotiation techniques, legislation, and much more. And the successful agents know that having a team or network of professionals is important to providing the level of service that consumers expect.

I answer questions on the Trulia.com site and responded to one today regarding electrical sub-stations and if there were health risks. It was interesting that no one else dared answer this one but I gave an answer that included a link to the Health Physics Association that examines radiation safety. And the effort was appreciated by the person who asked the question.

Having shown dozens of homes over the years near power lines and sub-stations, I gave my own personal observation based on Doug Science, not found using “The Google”.

Sub-stations hum 24 hours a day, and I like to open my windows so that humming would drive me crazy! Can you imagine coming home every day thinking this over and over again? I can’t either so I suggested that he move on to another location.

Consumers often over think issues and can become obsessed that everything must have a logical answer. The Washington Post had an article yesterday about a couple who has spent three years analyzing home prices and made five low offers in that time (all rejected) and lovingly spend hours crunching the data all viewed on huge monitors. When they move into that perfect house at that outrageous price with FiOS and a garage, they will probably wake up one morning, open the curtains, and wonder if that electrical sub-station is a health risk.