Do You Have an Oil Tank Buried in Your Yard? It's a question which every home seller must answer in Illinois when filling out the Residential Real Property Disclosure Report. The questions on the Residential Real Property Disclosure Report are to be answered by the Seller to the best of his/her knowledge. Question #20 States: I am aware of underground fuel storage tanks on the property. The seller answers the question - yes, no or n/a.
At a recent inspection for a buyer, an inspector indicated that there may be an oil tank buried on the premises. He pointed out to the Buyer and me that the thin capped pipes in the basement were an indicator as well as metal piping sticking out in the front yard by the house. We shared this with the seller and the seller's agent and they were quite surprised to hear that there may be a buried tank. The seller has lived in the home for over forty years and was not aware of the buried tank. I explained that we would have a specialist come out to further investigate.
I called Tom Osusky of Cicero Oil Company, who I have called before for other clients. Tom has been in business for over 20 years - he is very matter of fact and honest. I met Tom at the house, he probed the yard and was able to locate the oil tank within minutes. Although it is not a requirement to remove an oil tank my buyer did not want to inherit the house with the buried tank and requested for it to be removed. The seller happened to be at home when Tom came out to the house and decided to hire him on the spot to remove the tank.
This is just another "hidden cost" that a seller may have when selling his/her home. The cost to remove the tank varies between $2400-$3600. If you have an oil tank that needs to be removed give Tom a call at 773.581.2041. Cicero Oil Company services clients in the greater Chicago-land area and Lake, Cook, Will, Du Page, McHenry counties. I highly recommend Tom and his company ~ Cicero Oil.
The above article, Do You Have an Oil Tank Buried in Your Yard, was written by Noah Levy - a REALTOR assisting buyers and sellers along Chicago's North Shore.
For more information regarding homes for sale or listing your property in Highland Park IL, Glencoe, Kenilworth, Wilmette, Winnetka, Deerfield and other surrounding Chicago North Shore suburbs check out my website Noahlevyhomes.com give me a call at 312.203.2416 or email noah.levy@cbexchange.com.
I look forward to hearing from you!
"Noah Knows Real Estate!"
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With foreclossures, its sold as is without seller disclosure. This why I always inform buyers of my foreclosures to do their due diligence.
Great info, Noah. I recently moved back to Chicago after living in Orlando for several years. I'm making a note of Cicero Oil!
That would be crazy!!! We don't have that question & it's not a common thing in California. Thank you for sharing :)
David - I agree. If a home is a being sold as an estate or foreclosure the buyer should do their due diligence ~that is why my buyer called in a specialist to do her due diligence.
Judy ~ Welcome back to the Windy City! Cicero Oil is great when it comes to removal of an oil tank.
Christina,
Thanks for stopping by ~ it seems crazy but easy obstacle to overcome when buying/selling a home :)
Noah: We are required to disclose buried tanks in Ottawa. Thank you for giving the estimated cost to remove the tank. It is not as simple as dig and pull out the tank. The removers need to be careful about contaminants.
Valerie - You are right - it is not a simple process to locate the tank nor to remove it - that is why it's so important to hire a specialist in removal of oil tanks to do the job.
You learn something new everyday! Thanks for the info