My DH and I are in the process of buying a 1970s 2600 SF house. Our radon inspection was included in the price of our whole-house inspection, so we went ahead and had it checked. Turns out the level was higher than what's recommended, so we did ask our sellers to mitigate it. A radon mitigator is installing an interior system that will run from a closet on our lower level to the attic. It will cost about $1200. (We know the amount because the sellers were going to credit us with it at close if the mitigation couldn't be done before we moved in.) DH called a city official, and he said that elevated radon levels are common for our area. I suppose plenty of people just live with elevated radon levels, but it is the second leading cause of lung cancer (after smoking) so we decided we wanted it mitigated. In our area, it's common for home buyers to do whole-house, radon, and termite inspections, though not everyone does all three. Some lenders require whole-house inspections, some require termite inspections, some don't require anything.

Sorry...can't answer your second question. I've never done that.

Don't forget to change your homeowners insurance policy over to a renters policy after your closing. Also, I'd sure recommend a final walk through with your buyer(s) the morning of closing & have them sign-off on acceptance of the premises "as is". You wouldn't want them to come back at you in a month & say you caused damage that might have been already present at closing & they said nothing about it...

Congratulations on both your sale & new home.

Wishing you fair winds & safe harbor.

Tricia

Why not close a month later? If it was us, I would either move out on the intended closing day or change the closing day to when the buyer could take possession. What I dislike is if something happens while you are "renting"? We've painted our whole house, I walked around the other day & already see where I have to touch up. If you smoke in the house, what if someone drops a cigarette on the carpet? Years ago my stepson was making pop corn on the stove (before I was here) and dropped the pot on the floor, leaving a huge burn mark.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recommends mitigation once radon levels reach 4.0 pCi/L or higher.

That said, in such a case, although your state may not require mitigation, or disclosure, it will be tricky hiding the radon findings from the next buyer, as there will then be an official record of the test result. Few buyers if any will buy a house that tested high for radon...so, you might as well just bite the bullet and have a mitigation system installed by a licensed radon mitigation specialist.
Costs vary...depending upon the size, structure and age of the home...and...where you liveÂ..as some places are not as pricey in general as others.

If your state licenses or regulates radon techniciansÂmake certain that the HI who conducts the test is indeed licensed to do soÂas testing for radon is an additional serviceÂand not part of a home inspection.

Also, in such a state, it is generally illegal for someone who is not licensed as such to retrieve the canisterÂso, be vigilant in making certain it isnÂt the RE agent who plays radon technician in this respectÂor else the results are not validÂsince if the level does test high, you want to do what you can do to make certain that the reading is not false.

Once installed, a second radon test must be performed to determine as to whether or not the system is functioning properly, but only after the mitigation system has been
operational for a full 3 days (72 hours) with closed house conditions.

As far as the lease back is concerned...have a good RE attorney draw up the agreement on this...as you will be living in a home that is no longer yours...and all parties need to be CRYSTAL CLEAR on who handles what in terms of repair if something should break or cease to function.

In addition, I suggest videotaping the entire houseÂ..inside and outÂ.with the buyer present to verify the condition of the home...in order that no claim can be made for damage during the lease time that you did not incur.

You need to protect yourself properly...and as such, at he agreement should be handled by an attorney....and not the RE agent.

HTH

I'd set the closing date back 30 days. Much easier than creating a potential can of worms.

Hello Again,

Thank you for your responses. We plan to close on 7/25 and then rent until 8/31. The reasons that we don't want to postpone the close is 1) paying on a bridge loan until our home sells and 2) afraid of something happening and losing the buyer. The biggest issue is the bridge loan, we'd like to quit paying on that asap. We were prepared to close and get out asap, but the buyer wants us to stay until 8/31 when she can move in. (lease situation with her apartment).

Elaine

Don't forget to change your homeowners insurance policy over to a renters policy after your closing.

The new owner will need her OWN insurance (you can't have insurance on a house you don't own), and the house will be covered. Your status will be "tenant at sufferance" or something--you're there bcs the owner is allowing it. Sort of as if you are her house-sitting cousin, or something. So you may not be able to get "renter's insurance" (though you should if you can, to protect your own belongings--it's not expensive--$30 a month or something).

Lots of people do rent back or overstay w/ no problem. We did--not a month, but a few days.

It really helped the sellers and was not inconvenient for us at all.

In your case, it sounds like a win/win--she'd like you to stay, covering the expenses, and YOU would like to stay. Just decide what would be fair, in terms of potential damage, and stuff, and make arrangements.

I agree w/ the idea of getting a lawyer to make sure the wording is clear, etc., if you can.

Our sellers put some money in an escrow account to be tapped if there was damage at the move-out. I think we asked for $200 to help mitigate the cost of redoing the floor when we saw scratches after they moved. (It was the stupidest thing I've ever done--unknowingly, of course. The new refinish job was crummy, and the floor have been a nightmare ever since. We should have left them and put a rug over the scratches.)

And of course, some money changes hands, either in payments, or in an adjustment to the sale price, so that you will be covering all or most of her homeowner expenses during that month. Our sellers covered our expenses are OUR rates (higher mortgage payments, maybe even higher percentage) instead of theirs--that's an issue to discuss. Will you cover a month's worth of her insurance? mortage, utilities?

I do like the idea of a joint walk-through w/ video camera, to document the condition of the home.

One thing that made us very comfortable w/ the rent-back situation is that (it was FSBO) both parties had been very easy to work with. Polite, considerate, trying very hard to be fair. So when they asked to extend, we have every motivation to do so, and every evidence that they were reasonable, sane people.

of course they could have been fooling us, etc., but we had as much evidence as anyone can have.

The HI we hired was licensed to test for radon. Logic is right in that a radon test is separate from a home inspection. Our HI offered us a "discount" on the radon test if we had him perform it at the same time as the home inspection, which we did. He was the most thorough HI I have ever hired. Our radon level was 6.2 pCi/L. Our sellers had no problem paying for the mitigation. We may have reconsidered the deal had they grumbled about it.

Hello,

The radon test was done today, I guess it is a 24 hour test. The inspector will be back tomorrow and then we'll have the results.
Thanks for all of the information regarding the rent back. We do feel that it is a win/win situation for both parties. We are paying for the 1 month in rent, our realtor is spliting the rent payment with us. So, we would like for it to work as it makes things easy for us. I do want to be sure though that we are protected and we will take your advise.

Thanks!!!

Ask your insurance agent, but most likely your existing policy will still be in effect for all your belongings and you will not need a separate one for this short a time.