Flower Mound Gas Plumes

0 comments

Posted on 19th March 2010 by admin in Your Property

I received an e-mail the other day from a Flower Mound homeowner when the following story, “Methane plume found in Flower Mound,” appeared in the Dallas Morning News. His question was, “What does this do to home $ale$ in our area ??? I automatically replied that it should “fire them up!”

I think that the better question would be, “What will it do to property values?” The short answer is, “I have no idea.” But let’s explore that idea a bit.

A specially equipped van was “sniffing” the air around natural gas facilities in Flower mound in early March and discovered “methane gas plumes” near the intersection of Scenic Drive and FM1171 measuring 40 parts per million (40 ppm). The Dallas Morning News ended the article with the ominous statement that, “State health officials are investigating a child leukemia cluster in Flower Mound.” You understand the implication.

Methane gas is the primary component of natural gas. When we think of natural gas, we automatically think of how it smells. But natural gas (and methane) has no smell. The smell you are thinking of is introduced into the gas ( it’s called Mercaptan) before it is shipped for our consumption.

I e-mailed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on Tuesday and asked them at what level did methane become dangerous. They said that they would get back to me on that. My cursory research did not indicate that Texas has established a maximum dangerous level but I’ll let you know what the e-mail said.

So I thought I’d approach this from another direction. At what levels are smoke and gas detectors set to go off? My research showed this. Methane has what is called a lower explosive limit (LEL) and an upper explosive limit (UEL). Between these two limits, light a match, and poof, St. Peter’s got your life on the big screen. The LEL is 50,000 ppm. Most smoke and gas detectors go off at about 20% of the LEL or 12,500 ppm. Many people can smell natural gas (with the added Mercaptan) at 10,000 ppm.

The van equipment would only register up to 40 ppm so we don’t actually know how high the ppm was or is for Flower Mound. As for the relationship of methane gas to leukemia, my cursory Internet research did not show a direct correlation. I’m not saying that there isn’t, but I did not find any web sites that would state that directly. I’d welcome any comments if someone knows more about this relationship.

So back to my original question. My opinion would be that, at this point in time, 40 ppm is not going to cause a run on Flower Mound homes and therefore not affect the value. If in time, this turns out to be a more dangerous situation, then there is a possibility that values would be affected. (How’s that for a fence-riding answer?) The effect on values may be similar to homes that are next to high voltage power lines—some buyers will take it into consideration and others don’t care. We will have to watch this situation and see how it smolders.

Smoking Two Cigarettes

0 comments

Posted on 11th March 2010 by admin in God Bless Texas

“Go in a westerly direction for the amount of time it takes to smoke two cigarettes while riding a medium-gated horse.” Thus was an early Texan land description that we know today as “metes and bounds.” (measurements and boundaries) The idea behind metes and bounds was to use physical landmarks to identify the extent of one’s property—155 feet to a large oak tree, then northwesterly 102 feet to a large boulder and so forth. You can quickly see that if the oak tree blows down you’re in trouble.

Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Prov. 22:28 Since Biblical times and before we have been concerned with boundaries. Hermes was the Greek “god of boundaries.” The termini or landmarks among the Romans were held very sacred, and were at last deified. One of Moses’ laws said Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Deut. 27:17

Property boundaries are still important today. It is the rare property that is sold in Texas today without a survey. Modern surveys, of course, do not rely on the “medium gated horse” but on GPS to identify and mark boundaries. Today’s surveys are, perhaps, as precise as they ever will be. That poses an interesting problem. Because of their precision, we are discovering the imprecision of older surveys.

We recently sold a home and upon obtaining a new survey (the existing one was 20 years old and did not show the more recently built pool), it was determined that the pool encroached upon the utility easement by 3 ½ inches. The satellite driven survey was more precise. This instantly became a problem for the title company, the buyer’s lender and the buyer. Technically, the utility company could rip out that corner of the pool if they ever needed access in that particular spot. Now 3 ½ inches is not much but it would put a hole in the pool. Remember it’s 3 1/2 inches all the way down to the bottom of the pool.

Fortunately, sometimes money cures things and, in this case, the title company, for a little extra money, would insure title. The buyer’s lender decided he wasn’t worried about it and the buyer then said no problem, so the transaction closed.

As a rule of thumb, existing surveys can be used if nothing has been added to the property (new fences, pools, driveways, etc.) during ownership. The current owner would have to sign an affidavit to that effect. If something has changed, the buyer will be required to get a new survey, the cost of which is negotiated in the contract.

Russian Colony Found on Moon

0 comments

Posted on 4th March 2010 by admin in Tom's Musings

Don’t you just love headlines—they capture and arrest our attention but what do they mean to us?

On February 25, the Dallas Morning News trumpeted the headline, “Federal report says that D-FW home prices were up last year.” The Dallas Business Journal proclaimed in an article on February 26 that “Existing single-family home sales in North Texas dropped 27 percent in the month of January.”

Just as you suspected, there is no proof yet of Russians on the moon, and the proof behind the above headlines is shaky in my opinion. Is there a hidden agenda? I have no idea but I would like to explore the stats behind the headlines and how they apply to you.

Homes prices up, that’s good news for us. Sales down, that bad news for us. Russians on the moon, well… According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Dallas area homes sale prices are up .43% as of the end of 2009 as compared to a year ago. What that is saying is that when I come out to list your $250,000 house for sale the conversation goes something like this.

“Congratulations, because we waited until January this year to sell your home as opposed to December 2008, the value is now $1,075 higher!” In December 2008, your home was only worth $248,925.” Now that’s accuracy!

Of course, there is no appraiser or REALTOR® that can figure the values that close. If we can get the market value of your home within 5%, we’re doing well. (And normally, we can.) The value of your home is dependent on the current market, but there are many factors around its value that are totally in your control. Is your home clean? Clean is cheap to do yet I could not begin to tell you home many homes I’m in that are not clean. Is your home in good condition? I’m not talking about age, but about repairs, paint, carpet, etc.—that “honey-do” list that you never quite get around to.

Sales drop 27%. In a normal market, if sales go down prices follow. My calculation of this stat, says that January 2010 homes sales were only off about 6% compared to January 2009. I have yet to source this 27% number. But like my Russian headline, 27% just sounds more ominous thus attracting attention. What if the first headline would have said something like this? “Your $125,000 home is worth $537.50 more in 2010 than in December of 2008.” Not much excitement in that is there?

Where am I going with all this? No matter what the headlines say, we as professionals can advise you in the purchase or sale of real estate with common sense solutions that work in the current market. Give us an opportunity to turn your Real Estate Challenges into Choices. Now as far as that Russian colony…