Should I Be Worried About The Toxic Waste Sites in Orlando, Florida

Unfortunately, there are six known toxic waste sites in the Orlando metropolitan area.  The good news is that most have been cleaned up to meet the remediation standards of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  You can see the superfund sites in orlando fllocations of the toxic waste sites for yourself using our MoveMap.  In this blog post we’ll discuss three of these, telling you why it’s a designated Superfund site and what its cleanup status is.

According to the EPA, the City Industries site is a one acre former hazardous waste recycling compound located at 3920 Forsyth Rd Orlando, FL 32792.  The site was abandoned years ago, but when operational, City Industries Inc. handled and disposed of a variety of waste chemicals some of the chemicals were disposed of improperly, leading to on-site soil and groundwater contamination with volatile organic compounds.  In 1983, the state of Florida actually ordered City Industries to cease operation, at which point the compound was abandoned.  Around 1,200 barrels of hazardous waste and thousands of gallons of sludge (in holding tanks) were simply left on the site.  The property was added to the National Priority List (NPL) in 1989, making it eligible for cleanup.  After being added to the list, the EPA treated over 1,600 tons of contaminated soil and built a ground water pump and treatment system.  The site has been reclaimed and the area is now used for commercial and retail space.

The Chevron Chemical Co site located at 3100 Orange Blossom Tr. Orlando, FL 32804 consists of around 4 acres of industrial property where groundwater and soil contamination has occurred.  A variety of activities took place at the Chevron center and the EPA identified several contaminants of concern which include pesticides, volatile organic compounds (such as xylene) and metals. Fortunately, the EPA took action to clean up the site they state that the level of contamination at the property does not pose a threat to people living nearby.  In 1991 & 1992 the Chevron demolished all buildings on the property.  They also removed around 18,000 tons of soil which was contaminated with pesticides and treated ground water during the excavation.  Ground water monitoring wells were also installed to keep tabs on the contamination. Monitoring and cleanup operations are ongoing.

General Dynamics is situated in Longwood at 1333 North US Highway 17/92 Longwood, FL 32750.  Circuit boards and other electronics were manufactured on the property from the mid ‘60s to the early ‘80s.  Currently, the site is unoccupied and has been placed on the National Priority List due to soil and groundwater contamination.  From an environmental perspective, the area is fairly complicated since another manufacturing facility called Sprague Electric Company has also contributed to groundwater and soil contamination in the region.  The EPA believes the groundwater plumes from the two sites may have merged.  Fortunately, they do not believe the site currently represents a threat to people living and working nearby. However, the activities performed on the property have damaged the environment.  The surficial and part of the Floridan (deeper) aquifers have been contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and this groundwater contamination could threaten the City of Winter Spring’s public water supply if not dealt with.  The plume has not become an issue yet and Winter Springs routinely checks its water supply for contamination. In terms of cleanup progress, the Sprague Site has been worked on and monitored for years, but the site investigation and cleanup efforts for General Dynamics are just getting underway.

While sites containing hazardous chemicals are scary and undesirable to live near they are also a part of our modern society, whether we like it or not.  The best thing we can do to protect our families and allay our fears is simply to educate ourselves.  If you’re concerned about Superfund, AKA toxic waste, sites in your area, we encourage you to take a look at our MoveMap and see if there are any sites located near your home.   After that, you can check out the EPA’s website which contains detailed information on all Superfund sites and contaminants present at each of them.

Simple Improvements to Help Sell Your Home – DIY Addition

Most homeowners today have at least some experience with DIY projects around the house.  There are a lot of little things that happen around the house, inside or outside, and if you had to call a handy man every time a light bulb or air filter improvements to help sell a homeneeded to be changed you would be spending a lot of extra money that you could save if you did it yourself.  If you are a homeowner and don’t feel comfortable doing any project at all I would strongly reconsidering the attempt of a DIY project especially if you are making the improvements to sell your home.  There are many simple improvements that can be completed before you sell your home.  The following information will get you started on the most impacting items, there is a huge amount to consider when you are making these upgrades but you have to make sure you don’t get carried away and don’t bite off more than you can chew!

First things first would be to consider new paint.  Even if you just painted within the last couple of years it would be smart to consider a quick re-coat on the exterior and interior walls. After you finish there will be a huge improvement.  Another aspect to painting is the finish and color choice.  When you are painting main living areas and other bedrooms it is important (when selling) to have colors that are not out of the ordinary.  The kid’s bedrooms that are ninja turtle green and princess pink are not always going to have the same appeal to the potential buyers.  The idea behind the color choice is allowing the buyer to see a “clean slate”, this doesn’t mean you have to paint everything plain white but rather natural colors are ideal.  Additionally, the finish choice of the paint should be taken into consideration depending on the rooms the scale for finish typically includes flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss and gloss and goes from most fragile and reflects no light to most durable and reflects a lot of light.  Which brings me to the next DIY project, interior lighting.

Without getting into the physics behind how electrons move in a wire and how light particles flow through a room, we will keep this simple.  Lighting in a house is very important, in fact most of the time you can tell when a house was built by the kind of lighting and how much was installed.  I would recommend before completing any electrical work it is important to have the breaker shut off to whatever you are working on.

There are many fixtures or even bulbs that could be replaced very easily to improve the aesthetics of your home.  Many bulb types and power requirements all have a new and improved bulbs and a “cleaner” whiter light.  Moving onto the fixtures I would concentrate on the main living areas, kitchen and bathrooms.  Many times surface mounted fixtures and ceiling fan light kits are very easy to upgrade with one mounting bracket and just a couple of wires.  Again these updates can be very cost effective, allow a new look, offer a higher quality and better distribution of light.

The last item I would ask you to consider is the flooring. When trying to sell your home the most beneficial type of flooring to replace is linoleum or carpet, the nice thing is that these types of floors are SUPER easy to remove.  The carpet will consist of padding and tack strips (that holds the carpet to the edge).  The linoleum is usually just stuck down and can be peeled up to be thrown away.  The options I would recommend as a DIY project would be wood floors, tile, or believe it or not more linoleum. They make really nice and high quality linoleum these days and if it is a small laundry room it may be a good application. Installing wood floors may scare you but they make new laminate wood floor systems that are very easy to to put in, its just a matter of snapping the boards together!  Some may say that if it’s not “real” wood then it’s not worth it, but actually this new engineered wood holds up better than real hardwood.  When it comes to not being sensitive to water, scratch resistant, low maintenance and cost effective the laminate wood flooring is the best choice.  My thought is that the people who love the “real” hardwood floors have never cleaned, sanded and refinished them before or money is not a concern and they have no issue forking out tons of money for upkeep and maintenance.

I say for the average homeowner there may be a lot we can’t do but keep in mind we aren’t replacing a roof, windows or pouring a new driveway.  A little paint, an eye for good lighting, and a day of snapping in some new flooring goes a long way when trying to sell your home.

If you happen to be in the market for a new home make sure to check out the MoveMap on MoversAtlas.com to research potential homes, neighborhoods, and their surrounding communities so you can make the best choice when making your home buying decision!

5 Common Myths(and Truths) About Selling Your Home

Pretty much anyone you talk to has had one experience or another with selling a home and for every one of these experiences there is a different story and different advice on the best way to sell your home. Unfortunately not every one is real Common myths about selling a homeestate expert and there are a lot of myths being spread around about selling a home. We are here to debunk 5 of the most common myths people hear about selling a home.

Myth 1: If your home sells quickly, you’ve under priced it

If your home sells quickly, it is an indication that you’ve priced it correctly.  While setting the price of your home high and gradually lowering it over time can be tempting; generally, it is a bad idea.  Setting an unrealistic price will scare off qualified buyers and cause your house to sit on the market longer.  There is only a limited amount of time your home’s listing will be considered ‘new’; after that time has expired buyers’ sense of urgency is significantly diminished, and the whole process slows down.  A good real estate agent will offer you a comparable market analysis to delineate your home’s true market value and help you to price it appropriately.

Myth 2: Making improvements to your home will increase its sale price

Making improvements to your home can either benefit you or hurt you depending on the circumstances.  First of all, don’t go too crazy with the work you do.  While making relatively inexpensive improvements such as a new coat of paint on the interior or replanting the flower bed in your front yard are universally recommended and will help you sell your home; more expensive improvements may not actually pay off.  For instance, completely refurbishing your kitchen or adding a swimming pool may actually cost you money.  Although the improvements may increase the value of the home by $10,000, if they cost $20,000, they’re not worth it.  Investment/price discrepancies like this are especially likely to happen if there are not any comparable properties in the area which buyers can use as a baseline to establish a reasonable home value.

Another word of advice with improvements is to keep it simple and neutral.  Remember that when selling a home, you’re trying to appeal to the widest cross section of potential buyers possible.  So while it’s true that at least a few buyers might like candy apple red walls with bright yellow molding, many more people will be satisfied with beige walls and white molding.  Overall, buyers are looking for a home that is move-in ready – in other words – a home that is in good repair, with a clean and neutral look.

Myth 3: Successful sellers don’t negotiate

You shouldn’t view the buyer as your adversary.  After all, if you argue with every single potential buyer you meet, you’ll never sell your home.  Real estate agents recommend that sellers set their home at a reasonable price and approach the process with a positive attitude.  Being willing to make minor compromises can be the difference between selling your home today, and having it sit on the market for another six months.

Myth 4:  Buyers are able to clearly see potential in homes that need a little work

Most buyers actually have difficulty seeing the potential in homes that need improvements.  This is why many real estate agents recommend that sellers make minor enhancements to their home (such as a fresh coat of paint) before putting it on the market.  Most buyers are looking for a home that is ‘move-in-ready’ and making minor repairs/updates can really help speed up the sale of your house.

Myth 5: Advertising is a great way to sell your house

Advertising is used to generate interest in a home, not make it sell.  Throwing money at ads for a poorly maintained house will not magically cause it sell.  Rather than spend money on advertising, you are far better off researching the correct price for your home and spending your money on any minor repairs/improvements that are necessary.  When used in moderation, advertising is a great thing, but you should understand that it will not be the determining factor in the sale of your home; it will only generate interest in it.  The home’s condition and price are what the buyer will use to determine whether or not he actually wishes to make the purchase.

That concludes our list of 5 common myths and truths about selling your home and we hope you were able to get some good insight into the home selling process. If you have some myths of your own that we didn’t cover please add them to the comments!

If you are currently in the market for a new home make sure and check out the MoversAtlas.com MoveMap which provides in depth information on real estate, neighborhoods, and their surrounding communities!