BlsdMama Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 We were called by a reality to see if we wanted to look at a house coming on the market. Location is awesome, in our price range, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, four acres, great outbuildings. We haven't yet called to see the inside. The catch? At the edge of the property is a cell tower. Truly, even if it was perfect, if there is something to the health issues, we would stop considering it. Any reliable articles, etc., or there to read on health effects? Opinions? Links welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) . Edited February 19, 2018 by ErinE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Does the tower have lights on it? I'd go see what it looks like at night. If my starry night was going to be dominated by the "eye of Sauron," it would bug me too much to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 A tower would not be a deal breaker. Like a pp said it depends on how the tower is located and accessed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto10blessings Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Is it actually on the property you are looking at or a property next door? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverwood Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 The company my husband works for does cell tower maintenance and buys property for the towers to be built on. They do have access to all towers and from everything I have heard do not have to notify the property owners because that part of land is actually owned by the tower company itself. All the ones my husband has been to are fenced in, and if they have to go around to the back of the house the company does ask that they explain to the homeowners what they are doing but it is not required. As far as health concerns, with my husband doing this for over 6 years and always being around or on cell towers, he hasn't had any health problems from it. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 My engineer husband says that cell towers are not the same as the big power line towers. You should be safe. There has been no concrete evidence whatsoever of cell tower issues related to health (well, except for falling off of one maybe). Too small. And if they are physically located on the property, you may receive rent income for their being there. Has the realtor said whether you might get some income from the cell tower? Some own the piece they are on and some rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I would not buy it. there was a thread on this or a very similar topic about a year or so ago. there have been some very interesting coincidental things that have not been concretely proven to be related to these types of towers. I personally admit that I do not know the different between radio towers and mobile phone towers. and here in Australia they often put all the things on the same tower. which adds to my confusion. There have been cases of a radio station having almost every single women who worked in the building developing breast cancer and a public person in Australia's son developing a very rare form of brain cancer and they lived right beside a tower. Also there is growing concern by brain surgeons that there is a lot of bran tumors developing right behind the ear of people who se mobile phones extensively. of course none of it has been PROVEN yet. Because nothing has been proven then I chose to act with caution, nothing has been disproven either. sorry no links as this forum will not allow me to link information or cut and paste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 It would be a deal breaker for me. Completely forgetting about whether or not there may be potential health issues -- those towers are eyesores! I wouldn't want to have to look at one on my property every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 the neighbors below us on the hill have a cell tower. I've never noticed anything. they've never mentioned anything - they do get rent for it being there. another perk is when we had a major area power outage (our street was out for a week. did I mention I live in the geographic center of our city?) the phone company brought in an enormo generator and they hooked their house up to it as well. eta: given the number of trees in the area, we don't notice it. (I'd have to really look for it, unless I was pretty darn close to where it is.) it's actually shorter than the trees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) . Edited February 19, 2018 by ErinE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I would ask if it would affect your homeowner insurance rates. Are you liable if some beer fueled teenagers decide to climb it some Friday night and fall off? I'm not sure it would be a deal breaker but I would have to evaluate it six ways from Sunday and know for sure what I would be getting into before considering the purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Cell towers and high tension power lines have different forms of radiation, so that makes no sense to compare them. I react to both, but they're totally different. Cell are radio, microwave, etc., and usually have multiple pads on them with different kinds of things being emitted. Gurus of this can look at the pads on the tower and tell precisely what is being emitted. High tension lines, by contrast, are usually just emf, which dissipates exponentially with distance. Even if you have very high voltage lines, you get back a reasonable way, and the danger is gone. So for instance there are moderately high tension lines at the bottom of our hill and very high tension lines on the hill opposite ours. Because our house is of sufficient distance, they present no danger or health issue for me. Cell towers, on the other hand, DO. I'm extremely sensitive in ways that aren't even worth going into. Let's just say it blows my mind what normal people can do, being around these things without effect, lol. No one else in my house is hypersensitive to them the way I am, but given the actual things I can feel and the differences I can tell with distance, I wouldn't allow my own family to live or be for any length of time closer than 1/2 mile to a cell tower. Btw, I have a cell phone, but I always keep it in airplane mode except when I'm using it, and I never put it to my head. I also don't do wifi. Don't even ask about wifi, lol. Most people are around wifi with NO EFFECT. That's radio waves too. Our bodies have an amazing ability to filter out all these inputs, whether it's from radiation or chemicals or... Some are going to get sick or get cancer or realize they're hypersensitive, and some won't. It's just how it is, far as I can tell. Also, from what I've been told, when towers are further apart, they just up the power. That 1/2 mile is just my rule of thumb because it seems to work for me. If you have kids with sensory problems, kids who are on the spectrum, kids with vestibular issues, etc., I wouldn't go near the cell tower. I was told by my OT that my reaction to the towers (and it's all kinds, including tv and radio too) is a vestibular/neurological issue, a sound sensitivity of sorts even though you don't hear the sound. So again, if you have kids in that camp, that would be another good reason not to be too near that constantly. I've often wondered how many women with constant/chronic health problems are actually suffering from technology intrusion, with the increase in wifi, cell towers, etc. etc. Women start saying they're constantly depressed or headachy or... and I don't think they ever stop and ask if it's something environmental like that. Obviously it becomes a really hard problem to solve if it's your house there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 No, it's ugly to look at and may affect the resale of the house, which you know about since you're hesitating yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Who owns it? Does it sell with your property? They bring in some pretty decent money. My mom and dad have one on their acreage and they get approx $25k per year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 It would be a deal breaker for me... We didn't purchase a perfect for us home that had one beside it. Anything listed in the Disclosure on a home or property is always something to seriously consider before purchasing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I would be more interested in finding out what sort of income it would bring for the property. Companies don't just get to put their towers up for free. :) We have several towers on the building where I work, which is the tallest in the small town. The towers bring in enough income to provide for the day to day running of the building--while I don't know exactly what that means, I assume it pays for the electricity and general building maintenance, which is significant for a 5 story building that houses 100 employees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I would ask if it would affect your homeowner insurance rates. Are you liable if some beer fueled teenagers decide to climb it some Friday night and fall off? I'm not sure it would be a deal breaker but I would have to evaluate it six ways from Sunday and know for sure what I would be getting into before considering the purchase. I don't know what cell towers are like where you are, but here it's a metal octangular pole with a few doohickey's sticking out (not that far) only at the top. they'd have to be pretty darn creative and good at gymnastics to even start climbing it. electrical wood power poles are far, far, easier to climb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Is the tower on the property or just adjoining? My bil owns property that has a hill. A cell company put up a tower years ago (with his permission) and he makes a good monthly income from that. If it's on the property I'd ask about the lease agreement. If it's not on the property I'd evaluate it based on the eye-sore and nuisance aspects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indian summer Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I would have someone measure the microwave radiation within the house and around the property. If it tests high inside the house, I would not buy it. If it tests low inside and high outside, I'd ask myself how much time I intend to spend outdoors and make my decision accordingly. Microwave radiation causes me real physical pain in my head, even if I didn't know I was around it. I cannot even use cell phones and I live as remotely as I can. Why do I feel it and others don't? I don't know. But I don't believe it's safe for anyone, whether they feel it or not. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 We didn't find out about the right of way until after we bought the property, which is why I'm cautioning the OP. It should be on the deed, filed with the town/coutny or state depending on where you live. Go and get a copy of the most recent one. One should ALWAYS look at a copy of the deed before buying a house. Homeowners don't always have a good idea of where their property lines actually are, who has utlity right-of-ways, neighbors with right-of-ways, neighbors with water rights (out of your well with no compensation for electricity or maintenance), who owns the mineral rights, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acadie Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 That would be a deal breaker for me. I think we'll know much more in 20-30 years about the health effects, and that there will be changes for safety and health once we have more information. I wouldn't want my family to be guinea pigs. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I would have someone measure the microwave radiation within the house and around the property. If it tests high inside the house, I would not buy it. If it tests low inside and high outside, I'd ask myself how much time I intend to spend outdoors and make my decision accordingly. Microwave radiation causes me real physical pain in my head, even if I didn't know I was around it. I cannot even use cell phones and I live as remotely as I can. Why do I feel it and others don't? I don't know. But I don't believe it's safe for anyone, whether they feel it or not. Just my 2 cents. Here's the problem with that. I'm just as hypersensitive as you are, but my understanding is the tower stuff is an auditory sensitivity, a vestibular issue. If that's the case, it *doesn't* cause the same symptoms in NT (neurotypical) people. With microwave radiation, last I knew they basically just looked at heating of the tissue to determine danger. Once you start talking about more difficult things like whether it causes cancer, birth defects, etc, that's harder to pin down or get anyone to confess to. Btw, the power company that owned the high tension lines over our house high-balled us years ago when we asked them to let us PAY to make the changes necessary to lower our emf exposure in our house. (There were some configuration changes they could have made, etc. that would have dropped the levels and made it safer for me to live there.) They gave us an astronomical number, basically implying they didn't want to, so we gave up, sold, and moved elsewhere. Just this past year that company went through and made those changes we had asked for with ALL the lines up and down where we live. Chew on that one. They just very quietly, without admitting any fault, without drawing any attention to trial lawyers, went ahead and lowered the emf exposure of every house along the lines, moving them away, stacking the lines instead of leaving them horizontally, etc. No small irony and NOT an accident. They KNOW there are issues with these things, and they are NOT going to admit it. I take the position that our bodies were created with mechanisms (liver, etc.) to handle a lot of these exposures that G*d in his providence knew would occur. I choose not to live in fear. However I also know that there's a segment of the population unusually sensitive and another segment of the population genetically predisposed. At the bare minimum, I would be cautious with anyone who's more likely to be susceptible. I agree it's not good for ANYONE, but I think it's more helpful to think in terms of who's least likely to get away with it. These companies do research safety, but they're not likely to disclose very much. When my dh was doing his research to help me, the major power company here connected him with their research department, and it turned out they had a large budget to research health effects, all with no admission than anything they were doing could possibly cause symptoms. ;) Btw, this gets really weird, but there came a point for me a few years ago where I realized it REALLY MATTERED to know *why* I was having the symptoms. See, if it's a vestibular issue and auditory sensitivity as the OT claims, then it's an annoyance. If it's a radiation issue, then that's cell damage, meaning I'm shortening my life every time I get exposed. Those are two radically different scenarios, kwim? I DON'T disagree that radiation exposure causes cell damage, that it's not wise for a girl to carry a cell phone in her pocket, etc. There's all kinds of evidence that cell phone wearing on the body is heating tissue and causing damage resulting in tumors, higher fracture rates in hips where the phone is worn, etc. I have NO disagreement there. I'm just saying beyond that, on the larger level, once I get it off my person, the question is whether I'm still experiencing that kind of tissue exposure or whether it's something else. I think, based on my own experience, that there's more going on. There's no other way to explain that whole groups of people are entirely without those symptoms or that I can get those symptoms to CHANGE by doing the things that would fit the alternate explanation. So just because there is microwave/radiation involved doesn't mean it's the SOLE cause of a sensitive person's symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 Looking at this house on Saturday......... Still really on the fence. I can't find any evidence to support cell tower health problems per se... Cell phone useage, yes, mixed, but not from the tower itself. :( Really on the fence. Otherwise an interesting property. My biggest worry, other than death or illness, lol, is that we will find out in five years it causes incredible issues and we can't sell the house either.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Hi Kelly, This is just my opinion but I would not buy that house. There "are" health issues that may arise over time. Also, it just looks yucky. When you, friends, family, etc. drive up and look at this "thing" it will be unsightly. We are also house hunting and 1-2 years ago I saw this great house. It had so many features we are looking for and more. However, we didn't consider it b/c it was not in the best area and there were power lines running through the back! Major YUCK! If that house was in a better real estate "zone" and did not have the power lines, we might be in that house today. If you are going to move from that house in the future, think ahead if it will be an easy/hard sell. It will probably be a hard sale due to the reasons listed above. How long has it been on the market? And, your realtor should be up front and give the "real length of time". There was one house around the corner from us that is one of the smallest in our subdivision and on a corner. I asked (not our realtor) the neighbor who is a realtor how long the house was on the market and he said 6 months or whatever it was, but I knew better b/c we've been here for 23 years and I KNOW this neighborhood. It's been on and off of the market for 3-4 years! Realtors need to be up front and do their research. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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