Comic Relief From Sumner

It would be a bit of a stretch to try to relate this directly to a housing bubble, but I found it amusing enough to at least warrant a mention here. It's a story about a subdivision that was intelligently placed directly underneath a high powered radio antenna.

Sumner homeowners living close to a radio station antenna have suffered through years of inconvenience because electronic interference disrupts their appliances.

Who knows how much longer it'll bother them, now that the city has indefinitely postponed making a deal with a religious music radio station.

Everyone acknowledges that KZIZ's nearby antenna complex is causing the interference. But the 120-foot-high structure and its underground component were installed long before the 103-home subdivision was built.

"It's a pain," said homeowner Mark Hawley, who lives in Creekside Estates. "We always wondered why the city allowed (the housing development) in the footprint of the antenna"
...
Still, the homes have increased in value, said Ness, a real estate agent.

He said he purchased his 2,400-square-foot home for nearly $200,000. He plans to move to the Kent area and expects to sell his Sumner home for much more than he paid.

Those poor, poor homeowners. Having to put up with years of intrusive electronic interference, and then selling their homes for a tidy profit. I really pity them. Wait, no I don't.

(Rob Tucker, Tacoma News Tribune, 01.30.2006)