Underground Storage Tank

[Vikram C.]

We just finished negotiating the price and the seller has revealed at the last moment that there is an underground storage tank in the property. Our offer price did not take into consideration the cost of dealing with that issue and we are debating whether to reduce the offer price, walk away from the deal or sign it as it is.

Has any of you dealt with a UST before? I am concerned about the following:

1. The cost of finding and fixing a leak if there is one that can be detected without removing the tank,

2. The cost of filling the tank with sand, cement, foam, etc.

3. Whether a buyer would be put off by the very existence of the tank even if there is no leak that we find and we fill the tank.

4. Whether banks are reluctant to lend on such properties (which would reduce our pool of buyers).

5. Worst case, how much would it cost to remove the whole thing? When we remove it, if we discover a leak at the bottom of the tank, could it result in much higher expenses than a surface leak because the oil could have seeped into the ground and be very expensive to fix?

6. Does it take a lot of time and money to deal with leaks - reporting to some government bureaucracy, etc?

I have never flipped an older property before so I have not encountered these types of issues until now. Any advice / guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks!