Dangers When Buying A Home: Environmental Hazards 

Hidden environmental hazards can affect your health -- and be costly to remediate. They can dramatically affect the value of a property if they are not discovered before you buy. These hazards include but are not limited to groundwater contamination from nearby polluters, leaky buried oil tanks on the property, and the presence of lead or mold in the home itself.

The most common environmental hazard that confronts new homebuyers is a buried oil tank on a property. It is important to know if one is there, and in what condition. If a buried oil tank has been removed, most mortgage lenders require documentation that it was removed and disposed of legally and properly.

Many of these hazards will be evaluated during the structural inspection. However, potential environmental hazards off the property can be evaluated by your buyer’s agent or other appropriate professionals. Here again a knowledgeable local real estate professional representing your interest can be invaluable. They often know the area they serve intimately and are aware of where local landfills, industrial sites, listed superfund sites, etc., are located, and can determine their proximity to the property you may be interested in.

Invaluable services that you get for free!

Note: The terms "buyer's broker," "buyer's agent," and "buyer representative" are used interchangeably on this site. Different locales use different terminology for the same idea: a real estate professional who represents you -- the buyer.