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I am in the process of closing a house in Basking Ridge. Eventhough seller disclosure states that they are not 'aware' of any burried tanks, I did have a qualified person scan the property to make sure there is none. In my case, I had only one day to get that done and my home inspector referred me to Accurate Tank Testing. Even though I gave them less than 24 hours notice, they could able to schedule someone to come to the property and so the scanning. There phone no: 201 848 8224.
I'll join the chorus and say run away from the deal! It's a potentially huge and messy (both legally and in terms of actual mess) problem, please don't make it YOUR problem.
If you love the house, you could always kill the deal and keep an eye on the listing while you continue your search--they are not likely to find someone willing to buy the home under the present circumstances, so you never know--the house could end up being an option for you if the seller needs to sell, and eventually realizes that the tank issue is a deal killer to just about everyone.
Maybe the seller cannot afford the removal
maybe they are afraid the tank leaked and now it is a known issue.
Maybe they are upside down on their mortgage and cannot give any concessions
Years ago, many tanks were left in ground but "suppose" to be filled with sand or something. Several companies were caught years later when it was found out they "forgot" to fill them.
Now the only correct thing to do for your peace of mind and financial security, have the tank removed and soil checked and get documentation it's done correctly.
They hold a document stating that it was properly abandoned. Noone really knows how old the tank is, with what it was remediated, and if the soil was checked for leaks, etc. Has anyone ever proceeded with a purchase of such house?
All advice given to us was to "run" away, but doesn't the seller know that buyers will run away? Why would they plainly say -no- to our request? We offered pretty much the full asking price with no concessions, why aren't they willing to take out the tank and remediate? Where have we gone wrong???
That is one stress in your life you can live without no matter how pretty a house is there will always be another or something close to it down the road. But the financial aspect of throwing money away because you are not heeding a warning from so many people is foolish.
I honestly think the sellers are banking on your liking the house so much you would disregard the fact that you will over look a huge problem. Even if it is not a problem now think about 10 years from now. you are saving money for your kids college and getting ready for retirement and you have to deal with such a headache. You cannot be certain that money wont be tight. I say Run don't look back
We just recently went through this issue. We made an offer on a home with a decommissioned tank. They had documentation that the tank was cut open, cleaned and filled with sand in 2000. We still wanted it removed before we bought it so we offered to pay for the removal up to a certain dollar amount and they would take care of any remediation if there was any contamination. We picked the company to remove the tank and test the soil regardless if it had any visible holes or not. Thankfully everything came out clean including the soil sample. We were very happy with the end result. We felt the home was worth the gamble of losing the money it cost to remove the tank while the liability was still there’s. If the sellers didn't go for this deal, however, I would have walked without hesitation.
I agree with most people in this thread; don't walk....run. My wife and I closed in a property two weeks ago. The house, a 1915 Colonial, at one point had an oil tank. The inspector assured me that the house never had one. So I decided to call a professional and had the house completely scanned. He's assessment was that the house does currently does not have an oil tank. However, at one point the former owners removed an above ground oil tank. So even if the house shows no sign of an oil tank, I would scan to death just to make sure. Depending on how old the house is, it may had ducts for a coal central heating system; the norm at the time. But as oil became cheap, people upgraded to oil. When gas was the way to go, then most people removed them without proper procedure or filled the tanks with sand and left them buried. So extreme caution must be paid when dealing with old houses sine residues can be found after decades of a potential leakage. And that is where the cost is going to ruin you finacially as someone else pointed out.
Many long-time owners of houses with abandoned in-ground tanks have homeowners' insurance that will cover some or most of the cost of remediation, which is one reason why they should do it. If you buy a house with an abandoned tank, there's pretty much no chance you will be able to find a policy that includes tank leak clean-up.
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