A 15 year old home heating oil tank is not a big deal, and if push comes to shove, is generally not a big deal to replace. The insurance company will insure the new tank and the mortgage company will make a mortgage. Yes, it will cost more to replace than a tank in the basement. Not the end of the world, though.
If you own a house with an underground tank, you can always do a little homework yourself so that when someone raises the objection, you have FACTS with which to respond.
Or, you can wring your hands and not sell your house.
Oh, boy! At this point, Clare has claimed to have about 15 full time or part time jobs, making him a professional expert regardles of the subject under discussion!
Just for clarification, I am a licenced mechanic who spent over 20 years in that field, including teaching both high school and trade school and 10 years as a service manager. The first place I worked was also a farm equipment dealer and small engine shop (BoaSki snowmobiles, Ariens lawn equipment, and Benelli motorbikes). For health reasons I left that trade and was trained as a computer technician. I worked for a local computer manufacturer/distributor for
5 years, then started my own business. While working in my own business I also worked for 2 window/door companies, a millright, and an insurance company part time. Before getting my mechanics licence I also worked part time for my Dad, an electrician, and spent 4 years working on the farm as a teen. One of my hobbies was rebuilding old tube radios - and that has continued to repairing some solid state stereo equipment and other non-computer electronics, as well as the computers I fix for a living. Another hobby has been cars - restoring classic and antique cars, as well as building an electric car. Also drove cometetively in navigational rallies for several years. I am also currently building an airplane.
Doesn't leave much time for drinking, partying, or carrousing.
Around my part of the country such fuel tanks are double wall and have to be emptied and inspected every couple of years in order to be re-certified by the state fire marshal and environmental people...
There is no such requirement for tanks installed in a non-commercial use... Once installed they are never seen or examined again unless by special request of the homeowner until some problem happens...
BTW: MOST home heating oil tanks around these parts are 250 gal indoor deals that are located only a few feet away from the burner, not huge 1,000 gallon outdoor underground set ups...
LOL... If you seriously think that has solved the problem then you are completely unaware of entire divisions of your state government that are monitoring sites where "old tanks" were removed but the site itself and the area "in the plume" is still in need of millions of dollars worth of abatement... Massive backlog of those sites around the country...
The *listing* agent *ALWAYS* works for the seller. The buyer's agent's allegiance is up for grabs, even when it's not supposed to be.
No, the *seller* pays *ALL* commissions. If you've ever bought a house you can easily see this on the transaction sheet.
You're on drugs.
Again, the listing agent *always* works for the seller. There is no other way that works.
If the seller doesn't buckle under, the sale is off. Can happen, sure. With minor issues it can be split because they can be done after the sale, or not at all (buyer's choice). In this case there is no sale if the bank or insurance company balk.
That's generally the way it is in the US, too. Every state is somewhat different though. Often in the listing there is a commission and agent's cut statement (usually 6%, but I've seen it as low as 4% and as high as 7$, and the cut is usually 50/50, but I've seen 60/40, also). The risk of a nonstandard commission schedule is that buying agents may not be hot on showing a property with a cheap slice on their side. I've heard one tell the listing agent that they wanted the standard cut, before showing the property.
The listing agent _still_ may be a dual-party agent in some states. Again, whether that's allowed in RI depends on RI law which I don't have. There are, whether you're aware of it or not, states where that _IS_ allowed.
There's incentive to close a deal quickly and get on to the next one that doesn't bode well for getting the highest possible dollar for the seller even if listing agent.
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Depends on how badly the buyer wants the house; one doesn't necessarily know that of course but oftentimes the individual making the offer is quite involved w/ the idea of "this" house once have committed to the initial offer.
As for whether there's a problem getting loan or not, even if so it's certainly possible to negotiate between the two parties how much to pick up by each party.
Again, if it is a very widespread conversion in RI perhaps it is essentially a cost of making a sale there; I'm still having difficulty believing that is really so simply on the basis of such a prevalence of oil heating. But, if it is so, it is and the OP should be able to determine that.
Well, all I was doing was pointing out that the OP needs to do the homework suggested rather than take the word of a party who obviously wasn't on his side as a friend of the potential seller as it sounded as if was. If it turns out the friend needs to go ahead and bite the bullet so be it but at least know have made a reasonable decision rather than being ramrodded into something.
And, of course, it also depends on just how badly they need to sell--if there's duress involved that's a factor that we don't have any way of knowing anything about.
Nonsense. If you list your home with an agent, I'd like to see one example of a listing agreement where the broker is not then legally bound to represent your interests as seller and be on your side of the transaction.
Apparently, doing a little research is exactly what the poster is doing. It may not be a big deal to YOU, but if the buyer says that it is a big deal to both the mortgage company and the insurance company, then it's up to you to decide how marketable you want your house to be. A 15 year old underground tank IS a big deal to me too, and having seen many horror stories where lots became major environmental cleanups that cost huge amounts of money, as a buyer, I'd be looking at other houses that don't have this potential problem. And if it was a truly unique house that had so many other redeeming virtues, I'd insist on thouroughly testing the tank and provided it passes, a discount sufficient to replace the tank anyway.
In today's market you think it's smart to be arguing "facts" with buyers instead of just spending a few thousand to get rid of the tank? That's all it's gonna be right? Because you as seller are
100% sure the tank isn't leaking and when they dig it up it's suddenly going to go from $3K to $50K?
How can the real estate agency that *listed* the house possibly be a buyer's agent?
Wrong. It's the SELLER that pays a percentage of the sales price as a commission to the listing agent. If another agent is involved on the buyer's side, then that commission is split between the two. Let's say I'm selling my house and sign a listing agreement. It's an agreement between me and the listing agent. How could I bind an unknown future buyer to a contract they are not party too? Answer is, you can't. Which is why the agreement says I, as the seller, am responsible for paying the sales commission.
Show us an example of a listing agreement to sell a house where the listing agent is not legally bound to represent the seller.
So far, we have ZERO evidence that we are talking about a leaky tank. In fact, based on the information we DO have, it is highly unlikely that the tank is leaking.
Other than that, we have an unverified report that one potential tire kicker claimed that one mortgage compaany and one insurance company had a problem just because of the existence of this tank, and apparently was not open to the idea of first checking the tank, or possibly removing it, before saying they would have nothing to do with the deal under any circumstances.
The new tanks that were required for gas stations were double wall with leak monitoring in the space between.
At some size (1000 gal?), surface tanks are required to have secondary containment, which could be a concrete floor and walls high enough to contain the tank contents.
Residential is exempt from the federal requirements unless they have changed. States could regulate residential.
The oil supplier may be another source of information on what the reality is.
I agree that the seller's agent is paid by the seller and is working for the seller. Here the buyer's agent is generally paid by the seller and is working for the seller. The buyer may have their agent working for them, in which case the buyer probably pays their agent.
The sellers agent should know what the options are. _That is their job._
Might be wise to find out what the RI regs are and what the insurance companies require. Could ask the sellers insurance company (but may be better to ask anonymously).
All we have is the prospective buyers "were told".
I didn't say they weren't only buyers' agents; only that in some states they can also represent buyers at the same time...again, it depends on specific state law. See earlier link for disclosure rules in some (but not all) states.
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