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I am considering buying a house in Levittown with east meadow schools but it has an underground oil tank. Its not original. The previous owner had it replaced with a underground fiberglass tank. Its an estate sale so they dont know of the condition now but agreed to soil test. The seller is unwilling to abandon and move it. Asking price is 330k for a 3 bed 2 bath expanded ranch with no garage or basement but needs work (original windows need to be replaced, siding too and 100 amp service needs to be upgraded). My bid is 290k. My question is if the asking price is too much for that risk and if an underground fiberglass tank is acceptable/has no bearing on property value or resale value. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Since the tank is not original and it's fiberglass, it is safer. i don't reccomend having the tank underground either way, but it's not as prone to leaks as the original tank. It also gives you more options as far as insurance is concerned. Most companies do not write a policy if the home has an underground tank, however there are a couple more that will if it was replaced within the last 30 years and is fiberglass.
If the tank was replaced with a fiberglass tank, you probably have nothing to worry about. Many, many homes on LI have underground tanks. It is kind of the issue de'jour for home buyers. If you really like the home otherwise, an underground tank, in and of itself, should not hold you back.
I am considering buying a house in Levittown with east meadow schools but it has an underground oil tank. Its not original. The previous owner had it replaced with a underground fiberglass tank. Its an estate sale so they dont know of the condition now but agreed to soil test. The seller is unwilling to abandon and move it. Asking price is 330k for a 3 bed 2 bath expanded ranch with no garage or basement but needs work (original windows need to be replaced, siding too and 100 amp service needs to be upgraded). My bid is 290k. My question is if the asking price is too much for that risk and if an underground fiberglass tank is acceptable/has no bearing on property value or resale value. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
It is extremely important that you have the soil evaluated before you buy. If there is contamination in the soil it must be reported to the State of New York as a spill. The current owner is than responsible to clean-up the soil and obtain a "no-further action" letter from the State. When hiring a company to test the soil do not allow them to rely on an on-site evaluation with a hand held meter. All samples should go to a laboratory for analysis. Samples should be obtained from a depth of the bottom of the tank. If you can afford to spend a little additional money have the tank tightness tested because many fiberglass tanks have bad seals at the top of the tank. Also in this case if you must choose between a tank test or soil test choose the soil test. The reason is if the soil comes back hot the owner cannot just shut their eyes to this because now the state has a case number opened on this property whereas in the case of a tank test failure the owner can refuse to sell you the house and ignore the tank test results. Since this is Levittown they had many tanks buried that should not have been buried. Most of these tanks have leaked or are leaking and in this case the original tank must have leaked. Make sure they have a record showing the tank removal and condition of the soil. If this information is not available try and find out where the original tank was located. If you can determine where it was located hire a company like my company to extract samples from the old tank area. Many people on Long Island have had their tank leak and just removed the fuel and left it in place. Others have removed the tank but ignored the contamination from the leak. If paperwork does not exist as to proper closure or removal the tank may still be there and you should hire a company like mine to scan the area for tanks.
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We had our underground tank abandoned, and luckily there were no leaks. There's no way I'd want to risk thousands of $ cleaning up oil in dirt. That being said, I'd go ahead and spend a little extra money for peace of mind and investigate the soil, and if there is a leak, then it's not your headache and you can move on and look for a house that doesn't have the problem.
I am considering buying a house in Levittown with east meadow schools but it has an underground oil tank. Its not original. The previous owner had it replaced with a underground fiberglass tank. Its an estate sale so they dont know of the condition now but agreed to soil test. The seller is unwilling to abandon and move it. Asking price is 330k for a 3 bed 2 bath expanded ranch with no garage or basement but needs work (original windows need to be replaced, siding too and 100 amp service needs to be upgraded). My bid is 290k. My question is if the asking price is too much for that risk and if an underground fiberglass tank is acceptable/has no bearing on property value or resale value. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
My oil tank was buried when I bought my home. I had a DIFFICULT time getting homeowners insurance. Homeowners insurance is tough to get as is.
I closed on the home. I finally found a co. to insure me. I abanded the tank and got a new one 2 yreas after I moved in.
Mine is buried underground as well, actually under a small patio in the front of my house infront of where the kitchen is located. I had no problems getting home owners ins back in 2003. My house is from 1950 so maybe it's grandfathered in? I am getting it removed once we start with switching to gas.
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