Home inspector flagged an issue with the heating oil tank. We brought in an oil guy for a more thorough inspection. There’s a bunch wrong with it, including the vent not being up to code, but bottom line, the oil guy says tank is at least 50 years old and failure is imminent.
I immediately called the realtor to let him know and ask to bring it to the sellers for a concession. I sent him pics and the estimate. I don’t know how to describe this, but he just didn’t do anything about it. He was like the metal has to be spongy, it’ll be hard to prove, and accused the oil guy of trying to take advantage of us and make a sale. (I should add that the oil guys advice was to remove the tank and install solar — something his company doesn’t do.) Now the ten day period has closed, closing is scheduled for mid September.
I’m kinda bewildered that he would try to convince us that this thing is fine and that since we can’t smell diesel there’s nothing to worry about. R/hvacadvice was fairly unanimous that the tank is about to fail or already has (I posted a bunch of pics there).
Is there any remedy at this point or are we SOL? I feel like he just wanted to close asap and not risk the sale on a concession, and despite me saying that I wanted a credit or something done, he just decided for us that he wasn’t going to do it. It feels so negligent.
For context: it’s a 100yo farm house with an addition from ~1980. The tank is in the utility room in the middle of the first floor. No basement, only crawl space. The house is being sold by an estate, the previous owner passed some time ago.
Posted by Karvelle
34 Comments
Yes
Report him to his company and to the licensure, and let him know you’re doing so. Very unprofessional. You’ll have to look at your contract at this point to see if you have any other outs. You can still try to ask for concessions at this point, it’s just that they have no legal obligation to say yes. If it makes it uninsurable, then you may be able to back out based on being unable to get insurance for this home and a mortgage. If this is a cash buy, then you’re SOL and will be out your earnest money.
Sounds like a fiduciary failure on your realtor’s part. Report them.
So I’m confused.
Did your realtor refuse to bring it up with the seller or did the seller refuse any concessions and you didn’t do anything until the 10 day period ended?
You can always just walk away from the sale.
your agent isn’t an oil guy. your agent is more of a used car salesman. the agent wants the deal to go through so they can paid. agent is looking out for himself and his pay.
so of course your agent is gonna minimize this
yes
Oil tanks do not last forever. When I bought. Y house I had a oil summer winter unit and when I installed central heating and air. The oil tank had to be replaced as well. It is important to CYA that the proper permit is pulled when installing and removing oil tanks have a reputable professional do it
You are not SOL, but because the inspection period is over, you will likely need to involve an attorney to protect your interests at this point. I would consult one immediately because every conversation or email or text you have on this topic becomes part of an evidence chain if you do have legal action later, and the wrong word can trip you up.
WHO’S realtor? Yours or the sellers?? Do you have your own agent? How long between asking for a concession in writing and end of that period and how long ago was that to today? Was the house being sold As is since it was an Estate ?
Either way, if it was your agent I would call their broker as to agent not working for YOU.
Honestly you should have been pushing for an answer before the deadline with your agent.
How much does it cost to replace the old oil tank?
yes he screwed you. .
Do you have a lawyer? They could potentially push back the timeline. complain to broker. Errors and ommissions insurance might cover it
You may still have other opportunities here because it’s an oil tank. You need insurance before you close, and when a tank is involved: insurance usually wants to come out and assess before giving you insurance covering that tank. It’s very likely they aren’t going to pass that thing. Which gives you an opening to force sellers to deal with it.
BTw – did you do a tank sweep to make sure there’s not an old tank still underground?
If you brought the issue to your agent with instructions to present it to the other and they did not, THEY are on the hook for the issue, up to and including your earnest money if the sellers doesnt return it. Bring this up to your agent’s Broker right away.
Your realtor is shady AF
In your buyer/broker agreement, the name and contact information for the managing broker should be listed. Contact the managing broker asap. Explain that your agent was told that you wanted a concession and that no such request was made. I’d actually ask for an in person meeting and tell the broker in person.
It’s funny that your untrustworthy agent is accusing the oil guy of wanting to make a sale when that’s exactly what the agent is doing. Your agent is a scum bag.
Your realtor may have screwed you, but you also dropped the ball. If you want to ask for concessions realtor should have contacted sellers, but it’s on you to keep checking in on status of this. I’m a bit confused how people come to reddit with “now it’s been 10 days am I screwed” instead staying on top of things like this.
While failure of tank is imminent, failure has not happened yet. It may last another 10 years.
Did you ask the agent for their view? Or did you direct them to act?
If you still have any contingencies cancel the sale and fire your realtor and call the broker and let him know why.
Now a 50 year old oil tank was probably one of those that was built to last and will outlive you.
I bought in 2012 and the water heaters were end of life. About 13 years old with a useful life of 8.
In 2024 one of the 3 spring a leak and I replaced it. The other 2 may last another 10 years.
You don’t have a realtor, you have a used house salesman. They’re looking to get the deal closed and cash a commission check, nothing more.
I would strongly consider refusing to close and if called out just defer to what you said to your realtor. You have documentation of your communication and the tank’s condition, force the used house salesperson to defend their actions to all other parties including the broker.
You could walk away from the sale and the house will have failed due to failed home inspection. Not a label the seller would want trying to resell. In the end you knew the house was used – so you can negotiate a reduction and or walk away or fix it your self. It won’t be the last repair and the house may be a great deal?
By “your” Realtor, do you mean a buyer agent who represents you?
If you’re out of this contingency phase, then your Realtor could set themselves on fire in front of the sellers and it wouldn’t get you a concession.
Did you have this inspection before or after the contingency period closed?
Did you tell the agent to extend the contingency?
Call your agent’s broker AND call the seller’s broker.
My 40 year old air conditioner is still running great despite every repair guy telling me that its failure is imminent for the last 15 years that i’ve owned the house.
I dont know your system, but its pretty hard for a metal tank under nearly no pressure to fail unless its sitting in a puddle of water. Its grandfathered in by code usually, so a new one will have all kinds of extras that didnt exist in the code 50 years ago.
Another buyers agent catastrophe.
You’ll notice people rarly complain about listing agents because listing agents provide invaluable service and are highly motivated to sell your property.
Buyers agent rarely provide any service at all and basically just collect a paycheck. Most just email you the link to the real estate contract with a “sign and get it back asap” note. They don’t provide any contract review or advice on pitfalls like a lawyer does. A real estate lawyer would have been more sensitive to your inspection timeline and contingency periods.
Now you need to get a lawyer to untangle this mess…
Hopefully you have proof in the form of email asking the realtor to get concessions on the inspection items and oil tank that are after before the contingency period ended.
You will need to either get the broker involved to get the buyer to fix/repair the issues, provide $$ or to unwind the deal and for the broker pay up and to give you your EMD earnest back if the seller keeps it.
Especially if you have a lot of EMD on the line,
you are really in lawyer territory.
Your realtor wants the house to sell for the highest price possible because that means a bigger commission.
So did you let your agent talk you out of making this request, or they just didn’t make the request and you didn’t follow up? Your agent was more concerned about how this would affect the sale than about protecting you, but it is ultimately on you to look out for yourself and get repairs agreed to in writing before your inspection period closes.
The agent probably just screwed himself. He is now on the line for the repair. I would file a complaint with the managing broker of the firm and the Real Estate commission.
JFC the stupid really hurts in these posts.
There is no “Oil Tank” in your home.
Inspectors do the home inspections, not the Realtor.
You get the report The Realtor is not the arbiter of what is acceptable or not.
Yeah, your agent has fiduciary duties they owe you to fulfill. So regardless of what they want, they should be working on your behalf (even if it’s against your own best interests). The agent can advise whatever they want, but at the end of the day it’s your decision and if they didn’t bring an inspection objection to the seller/seller’s agent then they absolutely aren’t fulfilling their fiduciary duties (especially obedience, loyalty, and reasonable care). Everyone wants the deal to go through. The seller wants to be rid of the property, you want the property, and everyone else wants to get paid to feed their families. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to not represent you to the fullest of their abilities just to try to get through the transaction without ruffling the feathers of the OPPOSING party in the deal
How can it cost to remove/replace the tank?
How can you replace a thank with solar? – you can’t
It currently works and is functioning? You’re buying in today’s condition, not an upgraded condition with a brand new oil tank. The price would have been different if there were upgrades.
If you have in writing that you asked for concessions, and your realtor did not do this, stop right now go directly to the broker and tell them you’re not comfortable proceeding with the house and you would like their errors and admission insurance to cover your earnest money.
If you ask for them to put in a concessions, and they did not, that is a failure to perform their job to the point where they need to cover it .
just threaten to back out of the sale and get your agent/RE broker to fix things, because its their fault. either through a seller concession or getting you a cancellation without losing EMD (or if the EMD is low enough, get them to cover it since they screwed up). the seller is going to be under pressure to make a concession, because if you inform them now that the tank is basically close to failing, they will have to disclose to any future offers anyways.