Lombard... (home, shop, deal)

We did! The search is on... Luckily, our buyers are moving from their parent's home, and allowing us to rent until November. Hopefully, we find something we love by then!

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Rae4732

We did! The search is on... Luckily, our buyers are moving from their parent's home, and allowing us to rent until November. Hopefully, we find something we love by then!

I really like being able to help shoppers that know exactly where they stand financially -- having sold there is less uncertainity about your budget. If you spend the next weeks shopping you will likely see buyers that are perhaps concerned that they have not priced their homes appropriately -- that may let you get a good value.

If you don't find something to buy you can probably find something to rent with similar "motivated" landlord.

The insight you'll get from having the time to more carefully explore all your options should help you weigh all the pluses and minuses of everything that goes into such an important decision. There are real differences that drive the relative value of every neighborhood / town. The better informed folks are about the differences the more likely they will feel good about the compromises inherent in any purchase -- for those that understand the longer term values it is often wise to spend more time finding the right house.

Well, found a new listing that we love in GE, however it has a radon mitigation system.. which scares me. Any experiences with this? From what I have read, radon has been linked to a 50% in risk for lung cancer and leukemia...

[chet everett]

Radon mitigation systems are nothing to be frightened by -- it basically a hole drilled through the slab with a fan that draws air from the ground up and then exhausts it into the atomsphere.

I have done tons of research on these things and the data is highly sensationalized by the often unscrupulous folks that charge inflated prices to install these systems.

Though it is true that radon is assoicated with an increased risk of some diseases the data clearly shows this is far and away to workers in mines and similar industrial setting and not a concern for home owners. Of course with a mitigation system there is almost certainly lower radon concentrations than you find in even a typical office building where the concrete, stone and other building materials are giving off minute amounts of radon.

Really I have owned homes with radon mitigation systems and it is a complete non-issue.

Good Luck!

Thank you!

[ToriaT]

RAE, I totally agree with you about schools. The way some people obsess about them point by point...most of success is life is the person, regardless of what schools they went to. True we do not want to send our kids to bad schools but most of the schools in Dupage co. are good and some are excellent. Having said all that, I'm not a big fan of Lombard, and would look to move to Wheaton or Glen Ellyn instead. I like the towns better, the parks, and housing stock and they are prettier in my book.

[chicagohunter]

I will second what Chet said in that a house having a radon system should not alarm you. Many new homes in the area are being built with radon systems installed so having one doesn't necessarily indicate a problem with radon. Some may view a working radon system as a + (me) but people unfamiliar with what these systems do may view it as a negative – it is what it is. Radon exists everywhere so it is more a matter of how high is your radon level vs. does your house have radon. I prefer the peace of mind that comes from having an operational mitigation system in place to keep radon levels as low as possible regardless of whether or not you are under the threshold. Keep in mind, these levels fluctuate annually and year over year so just because you did a radon test during your home inspection and it was under 4 pCi/L doesn't mean you do not have a radon problem. You would have to test w/regular frequency to be sure you had average levels below this value or buy a monitor that does it for you. They sell them online for just over a hundred bucks that will also sound an alert if radon levels reach an unsafe level but to be honest I am not 100% sold on the accuracy of these devices. I have seen substantial deviations (+/- 2 pCi/L) between the standard charcoal test and one of these cheap electronic monitors. The other thing to look for is make sure the installation is correct and hopefully your home inspector will take care of this for you. General rule of thumb is that the mitigation system should vent through the roof above the eaves at least 10ft from any opening (door, window, etc.). Sometimes people try to vent them outside of the house via a shortcut and end up dispelling the air near an air intake for the home which just reintroduces the radon somewhere else. Also the inline fan that draws the air up and expels it (typically in an attic) needs to be running continuously as well so they usually install a pressure monitor on the PVC pipe so that you can tell at a glance that the fan is still working.

[Lookout Kid]

We have a radon mitigation system in our 1920's house in Glen Ellyn. We always viewed it as a positive thing, as it means you are basically assured of low radon levels--which is a hard thing to be sure about otherwise, and nearly half of the houses around here have "elevated" radon levels.

Recently we met a family who lived in our house for more than 30 years, including a woman in her 90s. They said that they all spent a LOT of time in the basement playing as kids, especially during the winer. And none of them have ever developed lung cancer, and they didn't have the radon system when they lived here. Many of our neighbors don't have the systems, and don't seem too worried about it, even though it's the same soil under the houses.

Well, the GE house was horrible (not bc of radon, too small and right next to 355).. the original home we LOVED in Lombard was re-activated, because the original deal fell through. We signed the contract last night... I'm only sad because there is a 24 hour kick out clause. I've never had one of these before on any home I've purchased. Our home has a contract and is set to close 9/30, so hopefully all goes well and nobody tries to kick us out of the home we have a contract on. We'll see!

[pvande55]

Great place if you love lilacs!