Hi Deb Federico, Realtor with the Bean Group here and I wanted to reach out to you today and give you some tips before and after you start your home search.  Recently I’ve been asked to list a home in my hometown of Hudson, NH and in my research found an old letter to the previous owner identifying this property as one with buried asbestos. My sellers were not aware of the asbestos or the letter when they purchased the property and now they are in the middle of figuring out how best to deal with it. So here are some tips to mitigate the risk:

1. Do your due diligence. If you are relocating to a new town, head over to their planning or zoning department.  Ask them about the towns history.  Let them know that you are thinking of moving there. Ask if there is anything you should be aware of?

2. Check out the website of the states environmental department.  For New Hampshire it is des.nh.gov 

3. Hire a local Realtor.  Someone who knows the area well.  Make certain to have the property fully inspected by a licensed home inspector.

4. Use the time built into the purchase and sales agreement to research the property.  You can look at information from the deed, plot or plat maps, documents from the homeowners association (if there is one) and files at the town.

I hope this has been helpful. If you need a local Realtor in the Southern New Hampshire area give me a call. Thank you.