“Environmental hazards can cause health problems and hurt home values. When in doubt, order a Neighborhood Environmental Report before you buy.”
Business Week, excerpt from Is Your Town Toxic?
— October 4, 2007

We are pleased to announce that we are EDR Certified providers of the Neighborhood Environmental Report. Stories about this report's benefits have been appearing on MSNBC and in Consumer Reports, The Wall Street Journal, Smart Money Magazine, Forbes, Business Week, and The Oprah Magazine. The report provides an informative and easy-to-understand snapshot of known environmental concerns or hazards on the home’s property and the surrounding area that may threaten a family’s health or the value of their investment. Some of the areas investigated by the report are known leaking underground oil tanks, hazardous waste sites, and contamination from nearby industrial sites, farms, and accidental toxic spills. The report is generated from the largest collection of local, state and federal hazard records in the U.S. by Enviromental Data Resources, the country’s most trusted source of environmental risk information.  

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The Facts
The most recent federal and state statistics have identified more than 75,000 hazardous waste sites throughout the United States.

Statistics show 551,368 identified leaking underground storage tanks and more than 1,000,000 specific locations at which discharges of hazardous substances have been reported.

What You Might Find
Contaminants from current or former industrial activity and landfills, or oil from leaking underground storage tanks can seep into soil and groundwater and cause problems and health concerns.

Often, housing developments are built on land that was once used for industrial or agricultural purposes. It’s important to take steps to avoid the risks associated with you, your children, and your pets breathing in dust and vapors as well as playing and digging in dirt that can hold contaminants for years.

Even beyond your own yard, there can be potential dangers –in nearby areas that may once have been used for military or industrial purposes and still hold toxins that may make it unsafe for children to play. Sometimes chemicals in the ground can travel through the soil as a vapor, contaminating indoor air.

Besides compromising your health, unchecked environmental hazards can drive down property values and stigmatize neighborhoods, especially if stories make headlines in the local news. In extreme cases, home buyers may even be responsible for the cleanup, which can cost thousands of dollars.

What About When You’re Selling a Home?
Being able to present your home with a “clean” record is a valuable selling feature. In fact, CT now requires that realtors and sellers inform potential buyers of the availabilty of environmental information. Providing environmental information with the details of your home can meet disclosure requirments and protect against liability. It can also add value when you have your next open house.

Interested home buyers will take notice that your home has been checked for potential risks and having this information available to them could provide an edge over other properties they are considering that may not have this information.

Even if an issue is present, in some cases, it is easily solvable. And, buyers will appreciate having the information necessary to take the appropriate steps to protect their family ahead of time.

In addition, providing an environmental report on your home and disclosing any issues up front could also afford you some liability protection should a problem arise after the sale is completed.

Will a Report Stop You from Buying Your Dream Home?
The good news is that in the majority of cases, the property and neighborhood around it is clean of known and reported hazards. When an issue of concern is revealed, sometimes it may require something as simple as installing a water filter or a ventilation system. We can carefully walk you through the report’s findings and direct you to whatever resources you may need.

The Choice is Yours
Environmental hazards can affect your health and lower the value of your home. Protect your family and investment with an EDR Environmental Neighborhood Report.