Radon and Real Estate

Breathing Easy: What Home Buyers and Sellers Should Know About Radon

EPA has added a new visual tool to its radon toolbox. The video satisfies a long-standing need for a short visual educational tool on how to best

With a bit of light humor, the video covers the basics, including radon science, the lung cancer risk, home inspection, building a new home radon-resistant, testing and fixing a home, disclosure, state radon offices, hotline and web resources, and key radon numbers, e.g., EPA's action level and the U.S. indoor and outdoor averages.

The primary audiences are home buyers and sellers, and real estate sales agents and brokers. Home inspectors, mortgage lenders, other real estate practitioners, and radon services providers will also find the video helpful.

EPA, with cooperation from its radon partners, has developed a number of tools and resources for use by the real estate community:

NOTE:  EPA has updated its Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon (EPA 402-K-00-008, July 2000).  This guidance is also available in Spanish. The updated 38-page Guide includes a number of changes, among them:

This new edition also reflects the closing of the U.S. EPA Radon Proficiency Program, and advises what consumers should look for in a qualified radon services provider. The Guide has been designed to be more readable, with improved cross-references.

Financing Residential Radon Mitigation Costs:  Using the HUD 203(k) Mortgage Insurance Program to Reduce the Risk of Lung Cancer in People.

The Section 203(k) mortgage financing program is the Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) primary tool for rehabilitating and improving single family homes. The program allows home buyers to finance the purchase and repair or improvement of a home using a single mortgage loan. Reducing radon levels in a home is an improvement that can be financed through a 203(k) mortgage loan.

Part of the 203(k) mortgage proceeds must be used to pay the costs of rehabilitating or improving a residential property. To qualify, the total cost of the eligible repairs or improvements, including fixes to reduce radon levels, must be at least $5,000. The 203(k) program is an important tool for expanding home ownership, revitalizing homes, neighborhoods and communities, and for making homes healthier and safer for those who occupy them.

Homes eligible for 203(k) financing include:

  1. one to four-family dwellings that have been completed for at least one year; 
  2. dwellings that have been demolished, provided some of the existing foundation system remains; and, 
  3. converting a one-family dwelling into a two, three, or four-family dwelling; or, alternatively, converting an existing multi-unit dwelling into a one to four-family unit.

The 203(k) program has been used successfully by many lenders to rehabilitate properties through partnerships with state and local housing agencies, and with non-profit organizations. To further help borrowers buy homes, lenders have found innovative ways to combine the 203(k) program with other financial resources like HUD's HOPE and Community Development Block Grant Programs.

Contact an FHA-approved lender in your area for more information about HUD’s 203(k) program, or if you’re interested in getting a 203(k) insured mortgage loan. Check your phone directory’s blue pages for the HUD office nearest you; they can get you a list of the 203(k) approved lenders in your area. You can also find HUD’s 203(k) home page on the Internet at "www.hud.gov:80/progdesc/203k--df.html"

American Society of Home Inspector's (ASHI) Radon Mitigation System Inspection Checklist

Home inspectors now have a new service to offer their home inspection clients; radon mitigation system inspections. The tool that makes this possible is the Radon Mitigation System Inspection Checklist, created by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), in cooperation with the U.S. EPA's Indoor Environments Division. The Checklist promotes radon awareness, testing and mitigation with people who are having their home, or prospective home, inspected. With just seven inspection elements, the Checklist takes under 15 minutes to complete. Inspectors can easily integrate it into a general home inspection. The inspection results indicate whether the home has a mitigation system, and if so, whether the system is active or passive. It also encourages the consumer to verify that indoor radon levels are below 4 pCi/L, and to consult a qualified mitigator if the inspection notes any apparent deficiencies.

The Checklist was constructed using several sources, including EPA technical radon mitigation and radon-resistant documents, and radon inspection checklists used by state radon programs, e.g., Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Iowa. It was also field tested by ASHI and reviewed by the state radon programs. The Checklist includes information on radon risks, the NAS radon report, ASHI and EPA web sites, the IAQ Clearinghouse and more. The Checklist also encourages consumers who have questions to contact their state radon office. ASHI's 5,000+ members will be sent copies of the Checklist and it will soon be available from ASHI's web site - www.ashi.com). 

How to Find a Qualified Radon Service Professional in Your Area

Contact your State Radon Contact to determine what are, or whether there are, requirements associated with providing radon measurement and or radon mitigations/reductions in your State. Some States maintain lists of contractors available in their state or they have proficiency programs or requirements of their own. 

Contact one or both of the two privately-run Radon Proficiency Program who are offering proficiency listing/accreditation/certification in radon testing and mitigation.   

National Environmental Health Association (NEHA)
 American Association of Radon Scientists AARST

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