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Radon found on inspection

Dingus

Dingus

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2013
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I'm buying a house in Ames. I had a radon test done as part of the inspection, which came back as 4.3. 4.0 is the level where mitigation is recommended. My realtor is telling me that because it's 'borderline', we can't ask the seller to install/pay for mitigation.

Everything I hear (online and from friends) is that this is not the case and seller almost always pays for it. Anyone have any experience with this, or know if it is correct? Unless bringing it up gives the seller a chance to back out I don't see the harm in requesting it done.
 
I just closed on a new construction home in West Des Moines on Thursday. The Radon test came back high and of course, I wanted a mitigation system installed. The home was already plumbed for a mitigation system, which is half of the cost. Both the real estate agent and the person that installed the system said that was really all that I could expect and I went ahead and paid for the system to be installed. It gave me the opportunity to choose whom I wanted to do the job, rather than the builder. By the way, you can count on it being around $1500.
 
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I'm assuming they took the radon test in the basement, is it finished? Technically, if the basement is not finished, they should not take the test there since it is not space you live in daily. It should be taken on the lowest finished level of the home. Also, to get a true radon number, you would need to do monitoring over a 3-6 month period. This is information from people I work with who do this on a daily basis.

You need to look at what the seller put in their disclosure regarding paying for radon mitigation. When I sold my house in March, I stated in the seller disclosure I would only pay 1/2 if the buyer wanted mitigation. The buyer of my house didn't have a radon test so it wasn't an issue for me.
 
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Knowing the market, you'll probably have to help pay for some of it. My only recommendation is get it done because the person you sell the house to may want it done.
 
brianhos said:
Is there a house in Iowa that does not have radon?
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Okay clever man, yes all do. It's the levels that cause alarm and initiate fixing/requirements.

Seller will need to now disclose, and will/should pay for it. If you're feeling nice you may want to offer to pay for some.
 
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Dingus said:
I'm buying a house in Ames. I had a radon test done as part of the inspection, which came back as 4.3. 4.0 is the level where mitigation is recommended. My realtor is telling me that because it's 'borderline', we can't ask the seller to install/pay for mitigation.

Everything I hear (online and from friends) is that this is not the case and seller almost always pays for it. Anyone have any experience with this, or know if it is correct? Unless bringing it up gives the seller a chance to back out I don't see the harm in requesting it done.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your realtor, who doesn't get paid until the papers are signed, is concerned about this putting his commission in jeopardy.
 
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I agreed to pay half of the system on the house I was buying, but the seller had to pay for the test. Ours came back at 5.6, after mitigation the reading was <0.1. Wife and I sleep in the basement bedroom, so it was a big deal to us. If we weren't going to use the basement on a regular basis, I wouldn't have worried about it too much.
 
The test on our home came back barely high, similar to this, and we asked for the mitigation and the seller did it. Like someone else said, now that it's high they have to disclose it to future buyers.
 
Dingus said:
I'm buying a house in Ames. I had a radon test done as part of the inspection, which came back as 4.3. 4.0 is the level where mitigation is recommended. My realtor is telling me that because it's 'borderline', we can't ask the seller to install/pay for mitigation.

Everything I hear (online and from friends) is that this is not the case and seller almost always pays for it. Anyone have any experience with this, or know if it is correct? Unless bringing it up gives the seller a chance to back out I don't see the harm in requesting it done.
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Have them mitigate or walk. My old house was at that level and I paid for mitigation. I don't recall if I technically had to but I felt obligated and it certainly makes it more marketable.
 
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Thanks for the responses. The basement is partially finished, and we plan on converting the unfinished part into a guest room which will likely become my oldest kid's room at some point. Hence the interest. The seller checked the 'unknown' or whatever box for radon.

My wife found a law in Illinois where if this is brought up, the seller has to mitigate or can use it as an excuse to walk. If this isn't the case in Iowa I don't see why I wouldn't request it done. If they decline or offer to split I'll go from there. I like the place so would rather not walk over it, however.
 
Dingus said:
Thanks for the responses. The basement is partially finished, and we plan on converting the unfinished part into a guest room which will likely become my oldest kid's room at some point. Hence the interest. The seller checked the 'unknown' or whatever box for radon.

My wife found a law in Illinois where if this is brought up, the seller has to mitigate or can use it as an excuse to walk. If this isn't the case in Iowa I don't see why I wouldn't request it done. If they decline or offer to split I'll go from there. I like the place so would rather not walk over it, however.
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Don't tell this to your agent. They are suppose to "work for you" but honestly we all know they are just looking for a quick payout. (and yours is being a bit overt about it by saying not to request it)
 
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radon levels are high in most of ames. my wife sold her house in ames. in the buyer's offer he requested that my wife would pay for radon mitigation if it was found at a high level. my wife was not really interested in that request and wanted to reject the offer based on that clause. he relator told her she should sign it because radon was very uncommon in ames. anyway, the house had been closed up for a few weeks when the quick test was performed and of course it was high. my wife was upset since it was about $3k for the mitigation. she persisted and made her real estate agent pay for it since he said it was uncommon and we learned the opposite that it was very common. he had been an agent long enough he should have known better.
 
I guess I've always thought it was commonplace for the seller to install it. We are closing on a house in two weeks and the sellers had the home inspected and the radon mitigation system installed before we even looked at it.
 
Depending on the price of the house, the seller may not care. The market in Ames is so absurd right now that they may feel confident they can find another buyer. Can you find another house you like?

It certainly doesn't hurt to ask - all part of the negotiations- but if that house is sub-$250k, you might not have a lot of leverage.

Edit: if it's over $500k then absolutely demand it. Not an expert by any stretch, but that seems to be where the market is right now based on what Ove seen.
 
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