Should I invest with Radon?

[Justin Johnson]

I’m looking at a duplex that’s turnkey and the local rent numbers are where I want them and it seems like a good deal. Here’s the catch...there was radon detected. From my reading it seems like it’s a couple thousand to fix it and my ask of the seller would be to take whatever I have to pay to fix it out of the price of the property. If I have a system in place am I covered? What am I missing? What things do I need to think about that I’m not? Does this impact getting renters? Any insight that could be provided would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Chris Clothier]

My opinion is that Radon is the same as any other item that you need to mitigate on a property.  You need to have documentation from a professional company before and after.  Outline the steps you have taken and the fact that the problem has been eliminated and will continue to be monitored.  I would market this as a positive for a prospective resident.  You can point to the fact that you do care about your property and the persons in it and are taking the steps to keep the resident and the property safe.

Be transparent and document what you are doing.  Should the company you are buying this property from not want to discount the property, then I might walk away but remind them that they must disclose the issue to any future buyer.

Best of luck.