John Watkins of Nashville Home Inspections performs radon tests on many of the homes he inspects and offers the opportunity to all buyers to have the homes undergo the tests. When he sends the results, he provides the following information:

“The Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.” His epistle also describes radon as “the natural breakdown of uranium in the soil.”

In his tests, he places electronic monitors at the lowest level of living space in the homes and leaves them there for a minimum of 48 hours in order to monitor the radon levels. The EPA, he notes, advises that radon gas levels of 3.99pci/L and below are acceptable, and anything over that should have a remediation system installed.

The abbreviation refers to picocuries per liter, named for Madame Curie and her little known husband Pierre. One curie is equivalent to a gram of radium.

In most cases, the remediation systems have a price tag of around $1,200, a small price to pay to rid a home of the second-leading cause of cancer.

Radon inspections can be administered without a home going on the market, as can any inspection, of course, yet rarely are.

It is not unusual for home inspections to uncover alarming, even catastrophic conditions that exist in homes that are under the scrutiny of home inspectors. When these circumstances are exposed, most buyers feel the sellers were aware of the issues and were trying to hide them.

That is rarely the case. Usually, the sellers are dismayed and horrified to know that they have been living in peril.

Home owners and renters alike would be wise to have their homes inspected routinely. A person could be living on a mold-ridden radon pit with gas leaks and exposed electrical wiring around a termite infested, compromised floor system.

Then there is asbestos, the cause of asbestosis and also linked to mesothelioma.

Asbestos is often found in the shingles that cover homes and in the tape that covers the ductwork for the HVAC systems in older homes. It is important to have industrial hygienists remove these materials as they care dangerous when airborne.

Another cause for concern for those moving to Nashville is the fear of flooding. Call the 2010 flood a 500-year flood all you want, but Realtors should not waste their collective breath trying to convince anyone relocating to the area that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The same goes for tornadoes. Now with all of the Doppler technology and the ability to determine that funnels are swirling within clouds and the exact time the twister will hit Pegram, Newsome Station, Bellevue, West Meade, and on down the line, people are scared. Yet no one has a decent tornado/flood remediation system.

So, check for radon and hope for the best.

Sale of the Week

This week’s sale is located at West End Close or West End Too Close as Richard Bryan of Fridrich and Clark calls the development.

These are the condos and townhomes situated adjacent to the sidewalk at West End Avenue and Craighead, a couple of blocks west of I-440. The development’s scored national acclaim when Kid Rock became one of the first residents there and has become quite popular over the years.

110 West End Close was listed by one of Bryan’s colleagues, Jenny Garth Lovvorn, who has had an enormously successful career over the past 15 years with Fridrich and Clark.

She described her listing as a “gorgeous, renovated brownstone in a gated community’ and noted that the home included “elevator access to all three floors including the rooftop terrace and a private two-car garage.”

The elevators and the rooftop terraces have been widely appreciated by the owners.

The seller bought the home in 2008 for $805,000 and sold it last week for $1,020,000 to a buyer was represented by the highly regarded Charlotte Ann Edwards of Parks, the firm formerly known as Parks Properties.

Interestingly, Charlotte Ann, aka C.A., has a daughter in the real estate business, Annie Brackman, who is also with Parks and has been at it for several years, following her mother’s successful path.

Jennie Lovvorn’s mother is the legendary Realtor Janice Lovvorn, who is also with Fridrich and Clark.

And while we are at it, the aforementioned Richard Bryan is the son of the venerable Vernice Bryan, who also hangs her hat at Fridrich and Clark.

As real estate guru Sly Stone once sang, “It’s a family affair.”

Richard Courtney is affiliated with Christianson, Patterson, and Associates and can be reached at [email protected].