04_Putting First Offer

On May 15^th, we saw a new listing on Zillow. There was a house in Rollingwood Circle, Haymount for $78K! That was a very good price. We went there directly and happened to meet its realtor so we could tour into the house right away. The house was a fixer upper, meaning we had to fix it before we can live in it. But with $78K price, we had plenty in our budget to make it prettier.

Examples of Things to be Fixed.

Oil Tank

However, when we went back on May 16^th with Kristin, we found an oil tank in the backyard. Its body was submerged in the yard, only its two pipes sticking out on the ground. Oil tanks were used as heaters until early 1970s, so finding one in this 1930s house was not a surprised. The problem with having a remaining oil tank was it might be leaking and polluting the surrounding soil.

Oil Tank in the Backyard

We spend the rest of the day doing research about oil tank pollution. We found a website about oil tankremoval and soil cleanups. Apparently the oil tanks have a pretty big size; they may reach a size of a car! At the same time, Kristin contacted an expert on oil tank removal. He sent us different scenarios and their entailed costs. We learned that first, the oil tank had to be tested from leakage; and it costs $475. If it doesn’t leak, removing the oil tank would cost $2,350. However, if the oil has contaminated the soil, the removal could cost $20 – 30K!

After learning the scenarios, we went back to the oil tank at the house. We put a stick inside one of the pipes; we could feel that the oil was still there and its smell was strong. At this point, we considered the oil tank was a deal breaker. We really liked the house and the price was right, however the oil tank was risky. Even if it didn’t leak, still we had to damage the back yard if we wanted to remove it, because itneeds heavy machinery.

Our First Offer

In the end, we decided to go further with the house. We put an official offer for $73K on May 17^th. We had a good feeling that we would get the house. That house was a new listing and we were quickly put an offer; any seller would like to sell it quick, right?

However, on May 18^th Kristin contacted us. She said that the seller received multiple offers, and because of that we were asked to put our ‘best offer’. This means the seller expected us to raise our offer without telling us about the amount of the other offers. We thought this was not a fair game. We quickly withdrew our offer, thinking that it was not worth to raise the price for a house that needed to be renovated.

Later on, Kristin informed us that the seller accepted another offer. However, on May 22^nd we heard that the house was back on the market!