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My gosh, the things people try to get away with when selling their home. Like all the posters have said, walk-away. You don't need the headaches and believe me, 2016 on LI means it's hard to find decent people to do such work. And when you do, get ready to pay up. Walk!
I had to walk away from a house in Saint James because of the underground oil tank. I wanted the house badly, and final offer was I paid for the entire cost of abandonment so long as its done before closing. Seller still refused so I had no choice but to walk away.
The soil around this area is actually very good for cesspool. A lot of the neighbors here have never needed to pump their cesspool.
I think I was able to find the house. House looks very nice. I think its worth 700K. But then I would love to see prices go up around my own neighborhood. So bias.
I had to walk away from a house in Saint James because of the underground oil tank. I wanted the house badly, and final offer was I paid for the entire cost of abandonment so long as its done before closing. Seller still refused so I had no choice but to walk away.
The soil around this area is actually very good for cesspool. A lot of the neighbors here have never needed to pump their cesspool.
I think I was able to find the house. House looks very nice. I think its worth 700K. But then I would love to see prices go up around my own neighborhood. So bias.
The soil is good until it gets saturated after 30-40 years, then you need to pump or put in overflow cesspools. A better option with any change is to put in a proper septic tank which breaks down waste more effectively.
An underground oil tank isn't necessarily a major issue if it's fiberglass and passes a pressure test. I would worry about a metal one though.
The worst case I've heard of with a leaky underground oil tank came to almost $100K when all was said and done. The tank had been slowly leaking for a very long time. All of the contaminated soil had to be removed.
I am looking to move to Smithtown/St. James area and found a beautiful center hall colonial in Mill Ponds section. After our home inspection came back they indicated that there was a buried oil tank. Our realtor didn't seem too concerned giving that a lot of the houses in Suffolk have them under ground and buyers don't usually look into that stuff. After doing some research and called a few companies to have it abandoned, we tried to compromise with the homeowner to have is dug up or give us money at escrow but she wouldn't give (shes a divorcee).
The day we were supposed sign the contract we had the cesspool inspected. It came back that the cesspool AND cover were buried underneath the blacktop/driveway. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. This became a big issue because we realized that bc there is no access point, it had not been treated or pumped in 29 years. It would eventually have fallen on us. So already taking a gamble with the underground Oil tank and the cesspool under the driveway, we would have had to shell out 20K+ even before we moved in. Granted everything goes smoothly. We tried to be fair again and ask the owner, realtor and the lawyer (all women) if she would have it taken care of or give us money. NOPE.
I was pissed. We told our lawyer that we were walking away. That same day we stumbled upon a legal document that indicated a law was passed in 2003 making it illegal to have no access point to the cesspool. And that it every underground oil tank needs to be registered with the town and have a permit every year. I know this lady didn't do any of that. So my boyfriend and I started thinking, how did this lady get away with buying a house with an underground oil tank and covered cesspool? Did she not care? how does the bank not know?
Answer: She bought the house in 2008 in CASH. The house was never surveyed or assessed by anyone.
We would have been screwed if we bought this house bc of course, we are taking out a mortgage. I would like your opinions on this situation because as you can see, I am still pissed at the whole situation.
It is doubtful that the cesspool access requirement would affect existing cesspools. Unless you know for sure the driveway was in place 29 years ago and was never renovated you actually have no idea when, or if, the cesspool was serviced, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Regardless of what many people believe, with the right soil conditions and a little care as to what ends up there hundreds of thousands of cesspools on Long Island have never needed any kind of emptying or treatment and never will.
It is true that a buyer may incur expenses for the oil tank or cesspool somewhere down the road but that is no more certain than that they won't. The bottom line is you wish to pay less for the house than the owner is willing to accept so there can be no deal. Nobody got screwed and getting pissed is a personal decision you seem to have made, it has nothing to do with the pure business transaction of buying a piece of real estate.
That is the cost of homeownership, imo.
The poster thought that a deal was to be made to his/her advantage and got pissed that the seller would not agree.
The house seems nice.
The drama lol.
That is the cost of homeownership, imo.
The poster thought that a deal was to be made to his/her advantage and got pissed that the seller would not agree.
The house seems nice.
The drama lol.
Or the seller wanted a price to her advantage and would not agree. Either way, the buyer has plenty of other options. The seller still has to sell her house.
Agree there is always some drama when the buyer gets emotionally attached...just walk away.
Imo go find a house that has gas heat and is connected to a sewer system.
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