1031 Exchange Qualified Intermediary : April 2008

I'm a native Southern Californian.  I was born and raised in Los Angeles County, lived in Orange County for a period of time, and even worked in Riverside County, and then moved to San Diego County.  I've lived, went to school and worked in and through out most of Southern California all of my life.

You tend to learn a lot about Southern California when you've grown up there - it's good sides as well as its bad sides.  There are pros and cons with any geographic area.  Los Angeles was of course known for its SMOG.  So, imagine my curiousity when I heard the term VOG. 

SMOG, YES;   FOG, YES;   but VOG???

I've not only heard of SMOG, but I grew up in SMOG.  Los Angeles had one of the worst records for SMOG contaminates for years.  You can get used to SMOG because you have no choice.  And, of course there is the occassional FOG, especially around our Central California Branch Office. 

But, I had never even heard of VOG until two weeks ago.  We opened our new Hawaii Branch Office on the Big Island of Hawaii under the leadership of Mellanese Lofton, Esq.  We had her on our radio show to talk about the differences in buying and selling Hawaiian real estate and she told us that you have to disclose VOG when selling real property on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Sam and I (co-hosts) both said "VOG?" at the same time.  What in the world is VOG we asked? 

VOG (Volcanic FOG)

Mellanese went on to describe VOG.  It is like Volcanic FOG.  Active Volcanoes emit volcanic ash and other contaminates that can be extremely harmful to breath and often results in a variety of serious health issues for local residents and visitors to the Big Island of Hawaii.  So, it is now a required disclosure when selling Hawaii real property. 

I found some really interesting information at http://volcano.wr.usgs.gov/kilaueastatus.php.  You learn new information every day!