Situation: We are under contract and in the inspection phase of a house in south central Vermont. Radon testing in the unfinished basement came back at 12 pCi/L (EPA action level is 4 pCi/L) and in the water it's at 3876 pCi/L (EPA action level there is 4000 pCi/L). We have to make a decision between:
1) Asking for a price concession and installing air and water mitigation systems. The sellers have indicated pretty clearly that they'd help on this - they really want this deal to go through.
2) Walking away from the deal. This would be emotionally difficult, but not much else. We have time to look for another house. This house is great, but no house is perfect... We'd get over it.
In some ways, #2 seems smart. We have four young kids (ages 2 to 9) and taking health risks with them seems foolish if it's unnecessary (i.e. we can just look for a different house). Also, mitigation systems impact resale values according to our realtor (though others online say a track record of a successfully operating mitigation system is neutral or even positive on resale...) and finally it's one more (two more actually) systems to maintain as the years go by...
On the other hand, I hate making fear-based decisions when I'm not really clear on the risks, and this house is REALLY great for us. It offers some specific great points while not making us overpay for stuff we don't want. On the fear point, for context: We have a two-wheel drive car in Vermont, because we think four-wheel drive is expensive and rarely necessary. We drink raw milk, mostly because we can get it for free by trading chores with a farmer, and the extra fat is appealing to our kids, who are total string beans... We vaccinate our kids and are frustrated by the misinformation about vaccines. I share all of those as examples of trying to sort through choices that are influenced by perspectives on risk and fear...
I recognize this does not have much to do with FIRE per se, but it does tie into the larger MMM theme not worrying about or fearing the wrong things (social expectations, ), while paying attention to the right things (e.g. debt). I also have a disproportionate respect for this online community in terms of a willingness to admit ignorance, share information dispassionately, and generally be thoughtful. So, thanks for any help you can provide.
Do you have any recommendations around going forward with a radon system versus pulling the plug? Or are there questions about context that I should answer here? Details I left out?
Thanks again!