John and Gaye Vickers

In honor of Keller Williams first Nationwide Red Day, The Southpark office in Charlotte, NC raised over $750 and TONS of food to donate to The Humane Society and The Second Harvest Food Bank! We are so grateful to be a part of a company that encourages us and promotes giving back to our community!

It wasn't until a colleague of ours, and a fellow blogger, even mentioned this shocking and scary idea- that it might be possible to contract lung cancer because we chose to update our house with granite counters.

As a real estate professional, I see that all new and updated homes have granite in the kitchens and in most baths, too. When I heard that there was a possibility that contrary to popular belief, this was a bad thing, I had to do some research of my own.

Let me first start by defining Radon for those of you like myself, who had nothing more than a loose definition in your mind. According to the EPA, "Radon is a cancer causing natural radioactive gas that you can't see, smell, or taste." It is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.

Radon is measured in terms of pico curies per Liter, and the EPA defines a problem to be anything greater than 4 pico curies/Liter. All of the material thus far is cold, hard facts not meant to frighten or scare anyone, but just to educate them about the basics.

As I got further into my research of this argument that the granite counter tops in our homes may be emitting radon, I found that like most controversies, there are two sides to every story. One side argues that yes indeed there is harmful radon in granite, and even goes as far as to suggest that there are higher levels in granite that contains reds, pinks, and purples. On the flip side of the argument you have granite advocates that insist that with any natural stone (granite included) there is going to be some radon due to it having come from the ground, but that the levels are so far below what the EPA has determined to be harmful, that the argument is null and void.

In many situations with real estate, I find that clients will ask questions outside of my expertise. I often tell clients that I am a professional Real Estate Broker, but I am not licensed to give advice or speak as though I were an expert on any subject other than Real Estate. I do, however, like to offer my clients my experience and a true experts opinions so that they have something to help them make their own informed decision.

With that being said, there are hundreds of do it yourself kits available online and in hardware stores that are easy to use and fairly inexpensive that will allow you to rule out whether or not there is radon in your home or one you are buying. I suggest that if this is a concern, you either do the test or hire someone to come and do one for you. I also would like to share with all of you who read my blurb two very helpful websites that I found while doing my research. They give, what I feel, is an objective view of both sides of the radon in granite argument.

For more Healthy Home Tips and general Real Estate information, please visit www.FindYourCharlotteHome.com

Selling your home is a very personal, emotional and in many cases a very hard thing for some people to do! Depending on the amount of time spent in a home or the reasons for having to sell it, may make it a very stressful decision. There are certain very important factors to remember, however, in order to sell your home no matter what the situation may be.

When listing your house, the MOST important thing is your home's price tag, or list price. You want to be careful at what price you put your house on the market. While everyone wants to walk away with the largest profit, you must be conscientious of the fact that if you list your home for too much, you are making a crucial mistake. A list price that is too high and not comparable to other homes listed in your area, will turn buyers off and you will not get the essential exposure that is critical in the first several weeks that your home is listed. If the price is too high, buyers and agents will be automatically turned off, and it will fall off the radar immediately. Even if you reduce your price a couple of weeks in, that original listing period is gone and you have lost out on the opportunity to sell quickly!

On the flip side, if you price your home UNDER market value, or too low, you take the chance of not only losing money, but getting in to a multiple offer situation in which things can get complicated and you run the risk of getting in to a bidding war and ultimately upsetting or driving away that potential buyer.

Besides, the price of your home, another extremely important factor, is whether or not your home will show well. Imagine if you were a buyer- you would want to walk in to a house that was immaculate looking and well taken care of. As a seller you must take the time to make sure that there is no clutter around your home and that it is thoroughly cleaned and stays clean. If possible, paint touch ups and freshly cleaned carpet will help, too! Despite how you may like your home arranged, some rearranging might be necessary in order to make the rooms look their biggest. Most agents would agree that some depersonalization will help too. If there are pictures of your family ALL over the home, a potential buyer may be distracted by them or they may feel like they can't see anyone but YOU in that home.

As if all of this weren't enough already to have to worry about, another very important thing to ask yourself is, "Is my house being marketed well enough?" If you are trying to sell your home yourself, the answer is more than likely, NO! As a FSBO, you do not have access to all of the marketing opportunities of a licensed real estate agent. As a matter of fact, 85% of homes originally listed by a FSBO, end up listing with an agent.

Word of mouth, home made flyers, a sign in the yard, and possibly one or two websites, is probably all the marketing that you will be able to get if you try to list yourself. A licensed agent will work hard to try to help you sell your home, and they will be much better prepared and have better tools and systems in place to do so.

A good agent is essential! Interview several agents and be prepared to allow them to SHOW you how they plan to SELL YOUR HOME. An experienced agent will be happy to share with you, their marketing plan and will help you price your home at fair market value. They will share with you how to improve the "showing appearance" of your home, and they will advise you on whether or not your bottom line is reasonable.

For more tips on how to be an effective SELLER, please visit www.charlottehomesourceonline.com!