Harney, syndicated real estate columnist, dies at 75

Kenneth Harney

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.

“‘The message here isn’t that you should avoid DIY,’ Mr. Harney wrote. ‘Rather you should take a sober look in advance at how your own technical and physical skills match up with what you have in mind. When the match doesn’t look all that favorable, call in a pro.’

“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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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.