Feeling despair at market
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Anonymous
| Feeling total despair at the RE market now. First time buyer. Trying to break in and get my own home. Have lost out on 5 offers. It's only been 6 weeks but feels so much longer. Just submitted another offer last night only to read in the disclosure docs that there is an underground oil tank on the property, not clear if it's been decommissioned or still in active use. Now freaking out and understand why this beautiful home has been on market 38 days when homes here are typically under contract in 2-7 days. There's literally like 3 other 4/2 houses in the huge radius I'm looking- they're all crap that have been sitting in a hot market for months. Anyone dealt with an underground oil tank on your property? All the horror stories I read are out of NJ (not where we're located). |
Anonymous
Oil tank removals can cost up to $5k. If the tank has a leak, then you can expect to pay a lot more due to the potential for soil contamination. I would get a specialist to inspect before purchasing. |
Anonymous
| I’ve read that rules are laxer for tanks not exceeding 250 gallon capacity. |
Anonymous
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We passed on an offer due to an abandoned oil tank (not for that alone...but because it also had well water, which was a scary combo).
You should never be making an offer AFTER reading the disclosures, OP! |
Anonymous
If the oil has leaked it can cost 30k+ to remediate the damages. |
Anonymous
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Oil tanks bits are free to empty vis EPA if oil is spoiled. If good oil companies buy back the oil at a slight discount.
When my mom converted to GAS we sold oil back to oil company at 50-70 cents in the dollar. Most folks don’t leave oil in tanks. Prior to 2000 it was common on underground tanks to drain oil and fill with sand and leave tank. Today you need a disclosure. My brother has a tank he did just that in 1999. I highly doubt much of anything in ground after 23 years but still would disclose So could be zero or could be a mess. 95 percent of time non issue |
Anonymous
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If you're losing all your offers, then you're looking at houses you can't afford.
Bid over asking on lower priced houses. |
Anonymous
What a crock of shit. You're advising somebody to overpay for a house that potentially does not meet their needs? |
Anonymous
Overpay is not a thing. You pay what the market bears. |
Anonymous
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It took us more than a year to find our home, OP, and that was in 2010! You need resilience and fortitude. |
Anonymous
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You’ve only been looking in the dead season. Try again in the spring. You also may need to either raise your budget or be more realistic about what kind of house you can afford. You are apparently bidding on houses that are worth more than your budget. Houses are sometimes listed low to spur a bidding war, but if you know the area, that should be obvious (or your realtor can tell you). And yes, you will always, by definition, overpay for your house. You are always going to be paying more than anyone else in the market was willing to.
Oil tank, no idea. We had a leaky one in my house growing up, and I think it was a pain but not insurmountable. |
Anonymous
That strategy is 5 for 5 for all the people beating OP's offers. OP is 0 for 5 with their current strategy. Which one seems more effective? |
Anonymous
| The Spring maybe worst pp. It’s greater competition during that time. Now is the time IMO. |
Anonymous
No. She needs more money. PP was right. Bid downmarket. List price is just starting bid. |
Anonymous
More crock of shit. List price is just starting bid...IF the list price is significantly below comps. Otherwise list price IS the asking price. Yes, yes, I know the market is crazy right now, where stupid shit like this actually becomes mainstream conversation, but it would behoove any buyer at present to be extremely cautious. There's a reason buyer sentiment for residential real estate is at rock bottom right now. It's because of shit like what has been posted in this thread (and others). |