How to Be in Compliance with an Old Oil Tank When Buying or Selling a Home on Long Island
If you’re trying to sell a home or in the process of buying a home on Long Island, the last thing on your mind is probably home heating oil tanks. But the reality is that a home heating oil tank, especially old ones, can cause numerous headaches during the when buying or selling process. In fact, when a person is selling a home, it’s possible one could get all the way to closing and lose the deal due to this very manageable problem. This is because one group of questions buyers typically ask during the buying process has to do with your oil tank.
Have you gotten a new tank and not properly removed or abandoned the old one?
- Is it leaking?
- Is it in serviceable condition?
- How much water and sludge is inside of it?
Lucky for you, with GreenSeal Oil Tank Service it’s easy to turn those negative questions into positive answers. Keep reading this blog post to learn about what both homebuyers and home sellers need to know about oil tanks.
How to Stay Compliant with Oil Tanks When Buying or Selling Real Estate in NY:
What Homebuyers Should Know About Oil Tanks When Buying a Home on Long Island
Buying a home on Long Island, New York with an oil tank on the property? If it is an underground tank, you should request the removal of the old underground oil tank and an installation of a new oil tank aboveground. You do not want to close on a home and find out later the oil tank had leaked before you took possession of it. If this happens, you are responsible for the costs associated with remediation, and this can be costly.
It is not just the homebuyer that worries about an underground oil tank during a home sale in New York. In a time where environmental concerns are at their highest, most stakeholders involved in real estate transactions also want the hazardous oil tanks removed prior to sale. This includes lenders, insurance companies, realtors, real estate attorneys, engineers, and home inspection experts.
What Home Sellers Should Know About Oil Tanks When Selling Their Home
Conversely, if you are selling a Long Island home, you should go through the process of removing the underground oil tank and installing a new aboveground oil tank. You should do this before putting a house on the market as it will help with marketability. In a competitive real estate market, replacing an oil tank can make the difference between selling your home for a profit or seeing it sit unsold. In fact, a lot of real estate agents are not even listing a property until the seller removes the underground oil tank.
The need to remove and replace the underground tank with an aboveground tank is inevitable regardless of whether a person decides to sell your property or not. It is widely believed by industry leaders in New York that ‘safe is always better than sorry’ when it comes to underground oil tanks. Homeowners should consider addressing a possible leakage situation before they are faced with the substantial costs that can come with a leaking tank.
What You Need to Know about Replacing an Old Oil Tank
Now that you know how to stay compliant with your oil tank during the home buying and selling process, let’s discuss the process of oil tank removal and replacement.
The team at GreenSeal Oil Tank Service makes replacing an old heating tank easy and has expert knowledge of how to select the best oil tank for a person based on one’s unique needs. Additionally, the tanks GreenSeal offers has superior warranties, protection, and features. We are a certified installer for every brand we sell, which ensures customers are getting an installation that sticks to the specifications supplied by the manufacturer. GreenSeal firmly believes every installation is a work of art and should look as good as it functions!
Related Post: 9 Signs You Might Need Oil Tank Replacement
What You Need to Know about Decommissioning an Old Oil Tank Before a Home Sale
As we’ve talked about earlier, it’s important to remember underground oil tanks can be a hazard to any homeowner. They are also a hazard to the environment and Long Island neighbors. A leak from an underground oil tank can go undetected for months—even years— potentially leading to tens of thousands of dollars in damage to property.
This is a huge problem if when a person is buying or selling a home. Most buyers will not accept a home with an underground oil tank, even if it is no longer being used. For this reason, sellers are advised to deal with their underground oil tank before they put their properties on the market. Aside from the loss of profit from selling your home, here are some other risks of a leaking underground oil tank.
What Are Some Risks of a Leaking Underground Oil Tank?
- Contamination of surface waters.
- Contamination of groundwater, which could potentially be drinking water.
- Contamination of the soil on the primary and any adjacent properties.
- Collapse of old or unused underground heating oil tanks, resulting in sinkholes.
- Liability for contamination caused by a leaking tank, for both environmental contamination and fire and safety issues.
- Related Post: How to Decommission an Underground Oil Tank on Long Island
How Should You Dispose of an Old Oil Tank in Suffolk County, NY?
If you are selling a house and have decided to remove and dispose of an old oil tank, it’s best to leave the oil tank disposal and decommissioning to the professionals at GreenSeal Oil Tank Service.
Fuel oil is extremely toxic and flammable, and if not handled correctly, it can cause serious damage to a property. Every home’s situation is different, but here’s a rough idea of what to expect with an oil tank abandonment:
- Removal of remaining oil in the tank.
- Cutting open the tank with a metal cutting blade and carefully cleaning out the remaining sludge inside.
- Cutting the pipes and removing them from the foundation.
- Oil tank will be either further cut down or carried out whole.
- After removal, the oil tank is contaminated and cannot be removed to a standard solid waste station. Qualified Long Island oil tank removal and abandonment contractors know how to haul your old storage tank to approved hazardous waste sites.
Related Post: How to Dispose of an Old Oil Tank
Do You Need an Oil Tank Replaced for a Home Sale on Long Island?
GreenSeal Oil Tank Service can help! Our tripolymer foam abandonments are approved by the Suffolk County board of health as a method of oil tank decommission. If you choose to complete your tank decommission with us, you will be supplied with a certificate of completion for your property records. We can also provide any other documentation you need for your home sale.
GreenSeal is a trusted name in oil tank removal, abandonment, and replacement, and we can handle any project—no matter the size. Contact us online or call us at (631) 928–1500 today and let us show you the GreenSeal difference!
