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Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better. |
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All Dear Dot illustrations by Elissa Turnbull. |
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In September of 2025, Zillow, the U.S.’s largest real estate listing site, added a feature that allowed potential buyers to assess a home’s climate risk — the potential for wildfires, flooding, extreme heat, and more. But just months later, the feature was removed, a response to accusations that the data wasn’t always accurate and might harm sales, and that there was no way to challenge assessment. But assessing a property’s exposure to climate impacts remains important, something Dot addressed in this Dear Dot from the archives:
Dear Dot,
I’m a realtor curious about how climate change is going to impact where people will want to live. What are some climate change concerns people should be considering before committing to a next home/next location?
–Karen
Dear Karen,
When Mr. Dot and I were betrothed, we purchased a cottage on one of the Great Lakes. It was perched high above a thin strip of sand that sloped gently to the lake and faced west, allowing us to enjoy one of the top ten (reportedly by National Geographic) most beautiful sunsets in the world.
But what Mr. Dot and I learned fairly quickly was that, some summers, our beach was vast, offering plenty of space for cottage crowds and beach volleyball. Other summers, our beach shrunk, sometimes vanishing entirely, waves lapping at the foot of the wooden staircase that wound down the cliff from our cottage. It was those years that Mr. Dot and I wondered if our investment was likely to vanish, too.
Put another way: Climate change is coming for all of us and we’d be wise to consider how best to plan for those impacts.
So Dot took your question to Jim Miller, a Bluedot editor and economist, who’s studied both climate change and housing economics.
Jim urges your clients (indeed, all of us) to consider two things:
How do we assess that? Jim (and Dot) have plenty more to say. Keep reading. |
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We believe small changes can add up to big impact, and Bluedot wants to inspire and empower you to live more sustainably with our new membership program. As a member, you can receive not only a curated collection of some of our favorite planet-friendly products to help you green your home, but also connection to a community of like-minded people making impactful changes.
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