The bill would also require the seller to furnish the buyer with an estimate of what it would cost to remediate any radon contamination present in the home. Homeowners would have to use a testing kit approved by the director of the County Department of Environmental Protection. That test would have to be conducted less than one year before the home's sale contract is signed.
Radon seems to be a contentious issue. At least one realtor I know thinks the risk is exaggerated and only ends up derailing real estate transactions. Bethesda has a very high level of radon compared to other parts of the state. When we were putting our life savings into buying a home that was something we said no to during inspection. I later did my own short and long term tests and based on those results decided to have a system installed. Shifting the testing to the buyer would help first-time homeowners who may not have the cash to spare. It would ultimately make homes that test low or already have mitigation systems sell before ones with issues.
ReplyDeleteThey require this in many states (Connecticut, for example). Standard part of selling a home is showing results of a Radon test. Radon can cause cancer, they say, so I guess it makes sense to want to know about it and mitigate it if necessary. A basement exhaust fan usually does the trick.
ReplyDeleteDyer, can you be more specific and say "Single-Family Home." I don't believe this is relevant to condo owners or apartment renters.
ReplyDeleteIt is relevant to townhouses, and certainly condos if they have a basement. Not all condos are apartments in a high rise, some are villas or townhouses.
ReplyDeleteMany of the garden style condo buildings in Bethesda have basement units.
ReplyDeletethe bill reads single family homes
ReplyDeleteWhy is this necessary to legislate? Any decent home inspector (and buyer's agent) will discuss the need (or not) for this so they buyer can decide how they'd like to proceed.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like radon is some secret thing that any decent real estate agent and home inspector have never heard of.
What a dumb argument, 9:31. Why bother legislating anything, then, if we can just rely on everyone being trustworthy and competent at all times?
ReplyDelete10:16, that's not nice saying "dumb argument". I certainly think it's a valid point, but do think it would be nice to be mandatory.
DeleteI can see the need for protection since I'm sure there's some people who perhaps don't have a buyer's agent and the seller's agent may not be as forthcoming?
ReplyDeleteAs an agent myself, the entire process is so haphazard and non standardized. There really should be an official checklist and work process form for each county that every seller and buyer works down. It's a terrible process now as it is.
DeleteRadon in Bethesda homes? Sounds like another job for Captain Planet.
ReplyDelete