Selling Advice Archives - Page 33 of 33

May 14, 2008

In-Ground Oil Tanks

Oil Tank Decommissioning For most of the 20th century, oil heat was the primary method of heating homes. If you own or are considering purchasing a home that was built before 1965, chances are pretty good that the house had oil heat. And chances are also pretty good that the oil tank was buried in the ground.

Should you be afraid to buy a home with an in-ground tank? No.

Should you be afraid of selling your home if it has an in-ground tank? No.

In both instances the necessary steps that you should take are clearly outlined by the Department of Environmental Quality. As a seller, you want to minimize your liability and be certain that once the house is sold, you will never have the old oil tank come back to haunt you. To do this, you must obtain soil samples to prove that the tank has not contaminated the surrounding soil. If the tank is still in use, the soil samples will prove that the tank had not contaminated the surrounding soil at the time that the house was sold. If tank is no longer in use, you are encouraged to have the tank decommissioned.

Decommissioning the tank involves emptying it of oil, cleaning it out, and filling it with concrete slurry that will harden into a big cement rock in the ground. While decommissioning the tank is voluntary, many lenders and most buyers will make this a condition of the sale. If you do not take the necessary steps to prove that the soil was clean at the time the house was sold, and soil samples taken later show that a contamination has occurred, you can be liable for the cost to clean up the soil even after the house has transferred to a new owner. So, take the proper steps now to assure that you will not have a problem in the future.

Whenever work is done on an in-ground tank, it should be performed by a licensed and bonded contractor who is certified with the DEQ. After the work is completed, a certificated of compliance will be issued. This is paperwork that needs to be saved and transfered with the property to every subsequent owner. Cost to do soil testing will run about $200-$400. Cost of decommissioning will run about $800 to $1,200. Can it cost more, yes, but that is a minority of the cases.

If you are wanting to buy a house with an in-ground oil tank, should you be afraid to purchase? No. Simply make the soil testing and the decommissioning of the tank a condition of the purchase. You are strongly advised to get this taken care of before you buy the house. If you buy the house with an in-ground tank, and you discover later that the tank has leaked, you have now taken ownership of the problem.

How bad can it get? There certainly are horror stories of soil clean up costs running into the thousands and thousands of dollars. In my 20 years of selling real estate, the most costly clean-up I have encountered involved bringing in a backhoe to remove a tank and dig a hole about 15 feet in diameter. It cost the seller $8,000.

Information on oil tanks are surprisingly undocumented. There are not good resources for looking up records about in-ground tanks. The DEQ does not regulate in-ground tanks beyond requiring that they be reported if they have leaked. Then, the DEQ does open a file on them and there is a process to clean up the contamination and get the file closed. However, if no leak has been reported to the DEQ, they will not have a record of the tank. And do not rely on city records or fire department knowledge of in-ground tanks. This means that even if a seller has no knowledge of an in-ground tank, you may want to consider having the yard of an older home scanned with a metal detector to confirm that no tank exists in the yard.

In all cases, it is best to take every precaution to be in compliance with soil testing and tank decommissioning when you buy or sell a home. Taking the proper steps now will save both buyers and sellers heartache later.

Links: Oregon DEQ Tank Decommissioning FAQ

April 23, 2008May 2, 2008

Searching… Searching…

On a recent Broker’s Tour in Lake Oswego, my cohorts and I were discussing how important it is to include accurate information in listings, and we noted how easy it is to inadvertently choose the wrong “field” when entering data etc. I thought it might help the prospective home seller or buyer to know a little about how agents search for houses, specifically in using the basic search fields provided to them on the MLS.

Agents are able to search on the MLS for properties on behalf of a client using several methods, including:

Address Searches – Agents can search a specific area defined by their clients using street addresses and number ranges on specified streets, or a particular house using a specific address.
Area Searches – The MLS now allows agents to search a geographic area by providing a map on which an agent can “draw” boundaries of a search range defined by a client.
MLS# Searches- Agents can search MLS #’s provided by a client, and generate addresses for either drive-by viewing (prior to a client deciding to take a look inside), or for agent pre-viewing on behalf of a client.
Advanced Searches – This is where I want to focus today, as this is the most common search method utilized in order to find properties that most specifically meet a client’s stated preferences. There are a large number of available search criteria that can be utilized by a listing agent when inputting data in order to present a home in the best light possible, which is of course a good thing… as long as it is accurate information.

When using an Advanced Search, available options include, of course, bedrooms, and the # of baths, but also whether a property has a fireplace (gas or wood?), what the map grid location is, total square footage of the home, approximate square footage of the lot, neighborhood, zip code, year built, style of home, levels, where master bedroom is located (on which level), and many, many more categories including garage description (attached? 2-car?), square footage of bedrooms, accessibility, exterior features, elementary school, etc. The more defined and narrow the search parameters, the fewer homes will appear as options… so, many times only the most important specifics to the client are used in order to provide a variety of choices.

“Property Type” is one important category- options are: Attached (meaning a townhome), Condo, Detached (meaning a separate residence/house), Houseboat, In-Park (meaning a manufactured home in a park), Part-owned, and Residence/Manufactured. A few months back these options were changed and made more detailed so that, for instance, a manufactured home would not appear in a search wherein the client had specified a separate residence/house was what they wanted.

A common example of a simple error is the mistake of referring to a home in the “Style” field as a “Tri-Level” as opposed to the actual appropriate category of “Split-Level”. A tri-level actually has three levels to the home… a split has an entry area, one level down, and one level up.

Bottom line, if you are the Seller, your agent is describing your home in the listing in ways that accentuate its great points while reflecting it accurately. If you are the Buyer, your agent is doing their best to provide you with choices that match your needs, and using the information provided by the listing agents in good faith.

So, if you show up at a property and it was described in the listing in a fashion that makes you feel as if you’ve just wasted your time… you may want to ask your agent to speak to the listing agent about any mistaken data about the home. They will most likely be grateful, and of course, other agents and buyers will benefit from any needed correction.

If you are the Seller, encourage your listing agent to be as creative as possible in selling your home (this is, of course, their job!), but do check for accuracy when reviewing the data to be provided to prospective buyers in your listing.

Happy buying and selling!

April 9, 2008May 2, 2008

Main Property Photos – The Good, Bad & Ugly

Let me start by saying that I am not perfect by any means, and all real estate professionals have had their share of difficult photo situations when it comes to showing a house to its fullest potential. That being said, I have a few tips regarding photos for those who wish to sell their homes… specifically for the Main Photo which will show first on the MLS, and usually all flyers etc.

Looking through the MLS for examples of “do’s and don’ts”, I was frankly surprised to find so many “don’ts” from which to choose.

I find that the most common mistakes fall into four categories:

‘Shady’ Homes…

If you want potential buyers to be attracted to your home, they must at minimum be able to see it. If the time of day is just wrong, as far as shade goes, ask your agent to come later that day, or the next day to make sure that the home is looking bright and shiny in that all-important Main Photo. And if it is evening when you sign that listing agreement, ask your agent to come back when the sun is out to photograph your home! Photo editing tools, and house lighting can also help to lighten a dark photo.

‘Lost in the Woods’ Homes…

Here in Lake Oswego, we are blessed with an overabundance of gorgeous greenery, and trees are revered and protected by the city and citizens alike. When you are taking a photo of your home, you want that potential buyer (who will give it a maximum of two seconds worth of attention before moving on to the next home in their Internet search) to say “Wow! Let’s look at this one honey.” So… work with every angle.

If you have to, take a shot closer-in to the front of the property that actually shows the house, and feature more photos showing the larger area in subsequent photos (you now have the option of including 16 photos on the MLS). In the most difficult cases, short of drastically trimming the trees, another option is to give your agent a photo of the home that has been taken in winter or fall when the trees were bare of leaves so that the house is visible… and attractive to a buyer!

The ‘Star Garage’ Home…

Now, I don’t need to tell you that there is probably a better angle for each of these homes (and no, garbage cans are not an attractant). Yes, some of our beautiful homes have garages that are prominent to the street.

There are ways to shoot these homes that really show off the beauty of their entirety. This usually involves taking the photo from the non-garage-prominent side of the house at an angle.

And though there are several more “dont’s” categories we could go over, one more that I found prevalent is the…

“Look At My Entry or Driveway” Home…

Bottom line, the Main Photo needs to be your “Showcase”. It should show off your real estate and really be a beautiful shot representing the front of your home in the best way possible. Circular driveway shots and other yard features can be highlighted after you come up with that one great, frontal shot of the house itself.

And, last but not least, remember that your Main Photo needs to be of your house on the MLS…
Although you may have an incredible view of Mt. Hood, or treetops, or the valley, that Main Photo actually needs to be of your house. Please add gorgeous feature shots like this one after the Main Shot.

So…. Show off architecture ~ Present more than one shot to highlight that big, beautiful porch, etc. Or have a drawing commissioned if the season (or available angle) is just not right.

If your home is up above street level, consider climbing a ladder leaned on a streetlight pole (be careful!) to get that impossible shot of your home

But use your Main Photo wisely… it is the first (and can easily be the last) impression you make.

April 1, 2008

Property Values

I have got to take a moment to respond the the front-page headline of the Oregonian on Wednesday, March 26, 2008: “Portland home values take first dip”.

First of all, that headline was put there to sell newspapers. Doom and gloom has always been a spectator sport. Not to down play the severity of our Nation’s current economic situation, but that headline was extremely sensational. Then read further into the story and you’ll find predictions that property values could drop by as much as 15% this year. Amazing!

As a real estate agent it is my business to listen to economists and follow advice of professionals as to what is going on with real estate values. This is the first time that I have heard such a dire prediction about the Portland housing market. In fact, what I am hearing much more commonly is that the Pacific Northwest is bearing up better than the rest of the country, and while it is possible that we will see declining values, the Portland metro area should fair better than the rest of the country. This is because of several unique factors to our area. 1) People continue to move to Oregon in greater numbers than they leave, and 2) we have limited supply of land available to develop with new homes which keeps our inventory low.

But what about in Lake Oswego? How should you consider the current economy as you think about selling your home? What are your property values doing?

According the latest numbers available from the Realtors Multiple Listing Service, for February of 2008, property values in Lake Oswego are still up 8.5% over a year ago. However, the numbers also indicate that there are 46% fewer sales than a year ago. So prices are up, but sales are down. Average market time to sell a home in Lake Oswego is 80 days. That is the time it takes from listing your home for sale to accepting an offer.

What does this mean to you? It means that if you have your home priced according to what other homes in your neighborhood have sold for, and your home is clean and in good repair, you’ll sell your home at 8.5% over what it was worth a year ago and it will happen in about 80 days.

Does that mean you can add 5% to the asking price to have more room to negotiate? No. You need to price your home according to what homes are actually selling for. Because there are more homes for sell today than a year ago, it means that buyers have lots of homes to choose from and will shop for the home that is a good value. It also means it needs to be in good condition. Replace the carpet, pressure wash the exterior, plant flowers in the yard and make your home ready to be show cased.

I am not going to pretend to know what the future holds. Prices could go down. Prices could go up. Who knows? And, really, does even the best economist know? What I can tell you is that values are still excellent. If you have been in your home for two years or longer, you have probably got some equity that you can take with you. Price your home correctly, have it nice and clean, and it will sell.

March 25, 2008

The Peril of Orangeburg – Yes, Cardboard Crumbles

Neighbors in Lake Oswego have been educating each other about something called Orangeburg pipe, so I thought it might be something you’d like to know about. Orangeburg is a kind of sewer piping that was manufactured and used throughout the country between 1940 and approximately 1972, until ABS plastic piping was introduced and replaced its use.

The Fibre Conduit Company of Orangeburg, N.Y. was a major manufacturer of this kind of pipe, and with its widespread use, changed its name to the Orangeburg Pipe Co. — thus the common name of the product. If your home was built during this period, there is a good chance that you have this kind of sewer pipe lurking underground, so it is good to know what this could mean to you as either a homeowner, or someone contemplating a purchase.

Orangeburg pipe is actually “bituminized” fiber drain and sewer pipe 2” – 18” in diameter. Basically it was made of cellulose fibers impregnated with hot coal pitch and treated under pressure with a water-resistant adhesive. The joints of this pipe are gasket-less, and the pipe often softens and deforms with age which allows for root intrusion and general breakdown with time. Its lifespan is approximately 50 – 60 years, and so it is, generally speaking, at the end of its life cycle — which is why you should know about it.

On my block, it became an issue and a hot topic of conversation a few years back. Since then, when I bring it up, I often find it is a subject with which people are unfamiliar unless their lives have been directly affected. One set of neighbors had their sewage back up into their basement… not a pretty picture, and had to replace their sewer line in a hurry and under duress. Other neighbors have investigated their pipes and ordered their preemptive replacement in order to avoid the unpleasant fate of the aforementioned neighbors. One had sewer pipes replaced as a part of closing a real estate sale, and another decided on a preemptive replacement only to discover that their sewer pipe was NOT Orangeburg after opening up a big hole in their front yard.

So, if you decide you’d like to have a definitive answer to the Orangeburg question, you may wish to call a company that works with sewer lines to come perform a “sewer scope” at a cost to you of approximately $100. – $150. They will insert a camera down into the line, and be able to tell the condition of the pipes, whether there is root intrusion, and yes, whether you have Orangeburg pipes getting ready to collapse. AND, to top it off, they’ll leave you with a DVD which you may view from time to time for your entertainment… or not.

If you are a prospective home buyer, you will want to assess whether the home you are purchasing is a candidate for possible Orangeburg sewer pipes, and make the sewer scope a part of your home inspection process.

Photo courtesy of Mike Butkus.