There is no question about it; there are some things one does not want to find during a home inspection. Now I am not speaking as a sissy home inspector who doesn’t want to run up against a big ugly spider in a crawl space or a beady eyed rat in an attic, I for surely don’t. Little friends that drop by unexpectedly are part of the job. What I am speaking of are certain “biggies” that send chills down the spine of an agent and can send a buyer running, not walking for the door.
What can be worse is when you bundle.
Walking the exterior of a house during a recent inspection I spied peeking above the soil like a U boats’ periscope, the vent of an under ground oil tank.
Biggie number one.
The news of an under ground oil tanks on the property is not often received like the news of a winning lottery ticket, it can be more likened to the news of a death in the family.
Usually.
This particular unrepresented buyer didn’t seem to understand all the hubbub. The blank look sort of clued me into to his cluelessness. Fortunately his better half had a better understanding.
The issue was presented to the unrepresented seller. Boy do I dislike FSBOs. “Oh, no problem the tank has been removed”, was his reply.
“Do you have paper work to show my clients that it has been properly removed”, was my retort now playing real estate agent. Did I mention I hate FSBOs.
“I did it myself” he said.
I don’t know if my jaw hitting the ground or the look on my face sent him scurrying after something. The unrepresented seller returned in a flash with a small opaque bucket. It was full of dirt.
“Here” he says, to the buyer, “you can have this tested” presenting the bucket of soil like it was a bundle of jewels. “It’s dirt from the yard where the tank was.”
Or dirt from the neighbor’s garden I’m thinking. This was just getting better and better. Bottom line, there is no paper work from a qualified tank removal company and no soil test declaring the site is clean. Did I mention the home is on well water, no I don’t think I did.
So my clients have this unrepresented sellers word the tank is gone and a bucket of dirt.
Perhaps they can bury their hopes for this house with the soil.
James Quarello
Connecticut Home Inspector
Former SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC
To find out more about our other high tech services we offer in Connecticut click on the links below:
| Learn more about our Infrared Thermal Imaging & Diagnostics services. | Learn more about our home energy audits, the Home Energy Tune uP®. |
Serving the Connecticut Counties of Fairfield, Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven, Southern Litchfield and Western New London.
Comments(19)