Radon gas mitigation? (Monument: real estate, how much, buying a house)

[Terytee]

Coloradans,

I'm in the process of buying my first house in the Stetson Hills area and found a great place that I love. I just finished the inspection; lo and behold, there are high levels of radon in the finished basement.

I will have to look into radon mitigation and hopefully, the seller will pick-up the costs or at least meet me half way. I've done some research on-line and have become familiar with some of the mitigation techniques.

I have a feeling I may end up splitting the costs with the seller or saying goodbye to the whole deal and I don't want to lose the place.

Does anyone on this forum have any experience with how much something like this costs here in town?? Have you had radon mitigation devices installed??

Would appreciate any info.

Tks
Terytee

[BenWolfe]

I have sold several properties with Radon and it typically costs between $800 and $1200 to mitigate. Radon is a health/safety issue and I have never had the Buyer and Seller split the bill. In my opinion I would demand that the seller pay the entire bill. I have never had a seller terminate the contract because they had to pay for radon mitigation.

[Terytee]

Tks for the info Ben, the seller was quite angry when he saw the inspection discrepancies. He swore up and down that there was nothing wrong with the place and wouldn't pay for anything else.

My realtor and I submitted the formal discrepancy findings to his realtor and we have to wait until Friday to hear what the end result will be.

[BenWolfe]

Some sellers can get overly emotional and make irrational decisions as a result. Radon is odorless and colorless so the seller was probably unaware of the problem. Good luck and I hope the seller agrees to your generous alternative resolution.

[StillLookingToo]

I sold 2 homes in Monument, both had radon and I paid to fix it both times. I believe that would be protocal, particulary in a slow market. I think the company name was Johnson. No big deal.

[Terytee]

I did hear back from the seller on the radon and inspection items. He agreed to pay for the radon mitigation system and everything else....whew!! What a load off my mind.

[azuree]

I have a friend who is a pathologist and he says that he does not believe that radon is really the problem it is made out to be. He says the studies where people developed problems were done on uranium miners (very high levels of radon) and the only ones who had lung problems were also smokers. Sounds like you are getting the mitigation paid for anyway, and it is probably a good idea for resale, but it may not really be that big of a health issue.

[BenWolfe]

Originally Posted by azuree

I have a friend who is a pathologist and he says that he does not believe that radon is really the problem it is made out to be. He says the studies where people developed problems were done on uranium miners (very high levels of radon) and the only ones who had lung problems were also smokers. Sounds like you are getting the mitigation paid for anyway, and it is probably a good idea for resale, but it may not really be that big of a health issue.

The US EPA maximum safe level of 4.0 pc/l is much lower than most other countries. Most other countries have a maximum safe level in the teens and twenties. I have never had a house test higher than 16 and most "high" tests are between 4 and 8. I too feel the health risk is overrated, but from a resale sand point I highly recommended testing before buying a house. It is also an easy and fairly inexpensive fix just in case the EPA is right?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by BenWolfe

but from a resale sand point I highly recommended testing before buying a house. It is also an easy and fairly inexpensive fix just in case the EPA is right?

Yes, I think it is pretty cheap. No more than $1000. The norm is that the seller pays (ours did). What's one grand on a $500K deal?

Same argument for termites.

[vudash]

Good info here.

I've been following the Radon concern issue for several years. It seems to be a growing "problem" in the real estate arena across the country.

It is like the mold "problem" of a decade ago. Sure, it's nice to be aware of the situation but mold and radon have been around alot longer than tract housing, and within reason it's hard to believe that total mitigation of either problem is going to extend the population's life span even minutely.

Better to quit smoking or buy a house above the blanket of smog.

However, It is a game that we've got to p(l)ay. And mitigation solutions don't seem to be all THAT involved or expensive and...hey, it creates jobs!