Looking to offer on an REO with U/G oil tank, ?'s

[George C.]

Has anyone out here in BP land made a successful offer on a REO that has an U/G oil tank lately? I don't mind buying house with 0 structure inspections, but the u/g tank is a different story. The home is in NJ, been on the market for 70+ days. I want to offer 80-90% of list price with me paying to have tank yanked ($1,500 ish) as part of the inspection, *IF* there is contamination, we walk and they pay for cleanup. Seems like a no brainer to me, but you know how whacky these banks/agencies are... House was built in the mid eighties, so not too old of a tank I'm guessing... I'm willing to gamble on it but my partner investor is spooked by the tank. The house would be a no brainer if it wasn't for the tank.

  So, are banks / agencies entertaining offers with the buyer yanking the tanks at buyers expense during inspection period?

[Alok Sood]

Hi George - I just went through this exact same thing with a deal I found in Maplewood, NJ from Fannie Mae. In the end, my only choice was to get a soil sample test ($500) and based on the results, assess the level of risk and choose to move forward or walk away. They were not willing to do any of the work if there was a leak and would have most likely killed the deal if I didn't move forward since it was so under market value. 

Ended up being that there were no leaks and I was able to get the tank removed for about $1600 with no issues. 

PM me if you want more info. 

Hope that helps. Good Luck!