Buying a property with a Oil tank in NJ

[Joseph W.]

Hi everyone,

I come to you for advice on a property that I am currently under contract for(cash offer). The property is a two family in person NJ. During the oil sweep testing we were made aware of a oil tank full of oil. The seller is not willing to remove tank and is asking to take it as is. Am I taking too much risk by taking it with the tank? I am fine with removing the tank once we close? 
I am afraid of being responsible for remediation costs to remove contamination if any. Please share your thoughts.

[Matthew Paul]

Removing an above ground tank is no problem . You empty it , and cut holes and take it to scrap yard  .There are 2 ways to get rid of the oil , first , if the furnace still works , turn it to 80 degrees open some windows and burn it . Second is to put an ad on Facebook for free heating oil , It will go quickly . 

Now I just removed a tank from a basement , it had 200 gallons of oil in it , I pumped it out and took it home for my oil tank . $2.75 a gallon times 200 is $550 worth of oil . That took 2 hours . The tank is in excellent shape , sold it for $400 . I also removed and kept the boiler , 3 years old as a spare for my house . $ 5 grand for a boiler . Plus I charged him $800 for the removal . Not a bad day .