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I have been trying to buy a lot from a person who's had it on the market since at least 2014. For some odd reason I keep coming back to the same lot for almost three years, and I've tried to buy it for over two years. The owner lowered the price 5k on the first round, when I agreed with a contingency to inspect existing well, she backed out and raised the price 10k. After refusing to go up on my offer she came back to her initial offer and I signed the contract, she backed out of it again, when I said I still wanted to inspect the well, and raised the price another 10k.... While I've been trying to buy the lot for over two years she's gone from her initial price of 145k to 175k... My realtor had a name for this, "Santa Fe Crazy", and I've heard the same description from few others.... Is that a going trend?
The well in question was drilled in 1978 and was never finished, I asked if they ever found water and she refused to answer. I offered to pay for the inspection which was quoted at 2800-5000.
I figured I'm due for another offer, just to see if I can push her to go up another 10k....
I also found another house that I wanted to buy. Found out from the owner it had a "slow well" with a water reserve tank (???) .... Asked around what does "slow well" mean and how much for a new well in that area, adjusted my offer accordingly, well see.
OP, I would take her behavior as a warning flag, and would move on. But it's an important question: county or city well? Any chance to hook up to city or county services?
In any case, my guess is, that they didn't find water in the well (I wonder how they decide where to drill?), and she's not willing to disclose that fact (which is illegal: failure to disclose. Or it is in some states, anyway). Best to dodge this bullet.
I agree with those advising you to move on. I may be wrong, but it sounds like you may be looking at a lot off Hwy 14, south of town. Regardless, you should definitely get a well inspection prior to closing any deal. Your Realtor should be able to do some research through the State Engineer's office to see if there is a well permit. Then, if there is, a well report should be on file. That report will tell you such things as the depth of the well and the depth of water and the water flow in gym (gallons per minute). Most households do okay with at least a 3 gpm flow rate, but it’s not great. A 5gpm flow rate is good, and above that is even better.
In low-production well situations you'll need an auxiliary storage tank, and if the flow rate further declines you'd have to drill deeper and hope that solves the problem, or drill anew well. At worst you'd have to pay for water to be delivered periodically and stored in a large tank; that’ll be expensive and good luck trying to sell the property to anyone else!
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