"I want to cause a sea-change in the mentality of the US. I want people to see that mortgage debt is destructive, with no benefits at all, except for bankers. Mortgage debt just drives up prices and enslaves workers to their bosses. If we all paid cash for houses, or rented, we would be more prosperous, more free, and happier."

The Great Repression, by Niall Ferguson (February 28, 2009). Ferguson on the only real solution to the financial crisis, one that the Obama team will come around to when all else has failed.

Depression in the East Points the Way for the Rest of the World, by Larry Elliott (The Guardian [UK], February 26, 2009)

What Is Your Home Worth? Both Less and More than You Think,  by Sharon Astyk (December 16, 2008)

A Word of Advice in a Real Estate Slump: Rent by David Leonhardt (New York Times, April 11, 2007)

Crisis Looms in Mortgage Markets by Gretchen Morgenson, March 11, 2007.

Un-Real Estate by James Grant, April 2005

Housing bubble in New England  (Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Studies, Jan. 5, 2003)

"These are perilous times for asset markets ...." (Ian Campbell, UPI, Jan. 30, 2004)

"House of Cards: US, UK Home Prices to Decline Dramatically in Next Few Years."
See The Economist's survey of May 29, 2003

Healthy Homes

    First of all, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has some excellent resources on healthy homes. See their website at www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca for the copyright notices. I've included several pages from their site below:

    Healthy Housing Fact Sheets offers a room-by-room plan to make your house healthier for both you and the environment.

    Moisture and Air: Problems and Remedies is a well-illustrated booklet published by the CMHC with thirteen chapters. (Note that chapters 1-3 overlap, as do 12-13. For copyright reasons, I was unable to alter this. Copyright 2000-2002: CMHC)

    Attic Venting, Attic Moisture, Ice Dams

    Fighting Mold

    What You Can Do around Your House to Alleviate Asthma

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This link will take you to the US EPA's Indoor Air Quality site, specifically the section on mold resources: http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldresources.html.

    For more general indoor air quality resources and advice (on indoor air pollution in homes), check out the wide variety of publications at www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/index.html#homes. See their publication on cleaning air ducts and James Dulley's column, "To Clean Air Ducts, or Not To?"

    And the same Indoor Air Quality site offers A Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon.

    For information on hazardous waste sites, superfund sites, and toxic air emissions near your potential home or home site, see the colorful EPA maps at http://maps.epa.gov/EnviroMapper.

    For information on your watershed and the aquifer that supplies your groundwater, see http://www.epa.gov/surf2.

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    Two excellent links for lead paint issues (Adobe files):

        1. www.epa.gov/lead/leadpbed.htm (several brochures)

        2. HUD's Lead Paint Safety: A Field Guide for Painting, Home Maintenance, and Renovation Work (84 pages, prints much larger than screen view), at http://www.hud.gov/lea/LBPguide.pdf . This was written and illustrated by Dennis Livingston, whose nationally renowned print book Maintaining a Lead-Safe House can be obtained directly from him at Community Resources in Baltimore by calling (410) 727-7837. It is also available in Spanish.

        See also MassHousing's Get the Lead Out Program (zero-interest loans to qualified home owners for lead remediation), at http://www.mhfa.com (click on Home Ownership).

        Note that even low lead levels that were until 2003 thought to be safe, have been found to lower IQ and cause endocrine disruption. See the LA Times article of April 17, 2003: "Safe" Lead Paint Lowers IQ in Children, Study Finds.

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A well-documented article that gives a good overview of mold issues: Is Indoor Mold Contamination a Threat to Health?

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Pressure-treated wood (treated with chromated copper arsenic) is used in decks, raised garden beds, gazebos, and children's play structures. Even older decks made of pressure-treated wood need to be sealed regularly to prevent children from picking up the chemical on their hands and ingesting it.  The EPA and lumber manufacturers are discussing (February 2002) a voluntary phase-out of pressure-treated wood products (article on phase-out). Check out a list of resources on this issue.

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For information on the health effects of wood smoke, see www.burningissues.org.

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