Kenneth R. Harney, the author for four decades of the syndicated real estate column “The Nation’s Housing,” which explored issues faced by homeowners and home buyers, died May 23.
Bart Barnes of the Washington Post writes, “Distributed weekly to 90 newspapers around the country by The Washington Post Writers Group, Mr. Harney’s column was focused on unglamorous but vital issues concerning the intricacies of buying and selling property. He wrote about such topics as whether do-it-yourself home improvements were likely to increase the market value of a house, plus the perils of such undertakings where, he warned, it was easy for something to go expensively wrong.
“One homeowner, Mr. Harney reported in January, ‘inadvertently connected the plumbing from a new bathroom to the home’s sump pump discharge in the basement,’ causing raw sewage to flow into the yard.
“He weighed such questions as the cost of energy-efficient ‘green’ improvements to a home and how they might affect the selling price.”
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