Quantcast

shocking a well? wft?

4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
My wife and I are trying to buy a foreclosed home at the moment, close to riding, just about everything we want without making us house poor. I've even followed some free RM advice, and we could easily pay for the thing with one job, if need be.
sooooooo.... We were waiting on well and septic inpsections before we approved the appraisal, because if we bail after appriasal, then we would have to pay for the appraisal out of pocket.

We just found out that our lender/realtor put in for and had the appraisal done without us knowing, while claiming that the bank selling the foreclosed property is going to fix the well (required by law in washington state).
So now they are on the second test of the well water, and are going to "shock" the well. I have researched this, but I'm pissed that they did the appraisal and feeling like they are trying to lock us into a sketchy situation.

So appraisal bullsh*t aside, is having to shock a well necessarily a bad thing? Anything I need to know? After a quick search on a subject that is completely new to me, i have found how-to's and some information saying that it's not that big of a deal. F*ckin realtors...
 
Last edited:
skibunny24

skibunny24

Enthusiastic Receiver of Reputation
Jun 16, 2010
3,281
585
Renton, WA
Where in WA are you?

As I understand it, you shock it if it tests positive for ecoli? So... I'd rather shock it than drink poo and get sick...
 
VT Mtbkr

VT Mtbkr

Monkey
Oct 3, 2003
403
0
Richmond, Virginia
We almost bought one foreclosure and did just buy a foreclosure in February. We had to shock both wells. Both houses had been vacant for awhile and is pretty common for wells that have set vacant. We dumped the bleach in the well at the second house before the 1st test was even done. We even shocked our own well at the house we sold so that the water test didn't potentially have to be done twice even though we were pretty sure it was fine.
 
sstalder5

sstalder5

Turbo Monkey
Aug 20, 2008
1,942
20
Beech Mtn Definitely NOT Boulder
You're realtors doing it wrong. I work in a real estate office over the summer, and EVERYTHING gets the clients approval before you pull the trigger, especially if it might end up costing them money. Find a new realtor.
 
4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
sstalder5 said:
You're realtors doing it wrong. I work in a real estate office over the summer, and EVERYTHING gets the clients approval before you pull the trigger, especially if it might end up costing them money. Find a new realtor.
Click to expand...
I would love to over react and fire the guy, trust me I would. But I don't want anymore drama than is needed. I want this to close on time and honestly I don't know the "rules" with respect to getting a new realtor or how it works.
I just want to make sure the house is ok, that we don't get screwed on something and for things to go as smoothly as possible.
 
4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
VT Mtbkr said:
We almost bought one foreclosure and did just buy a foreclosure in February. We had to shock both wells. Both houses had been vacant for awhile and is pretty common for wells that have set vacant. We dumped the bleach in the well at the second house before the 1st test was even done. We even shocked our own well at the house we sold so that the water test didn't potentially have to be done twice even though we were pretty sure it was fine.
Click to expand...
Thanks for replying, that makes me feel a bit better about this well shocking thing... to know that it's normal. I've never been on a well before
 
4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
skibunny24 said:
Where in WA are you?

As I understand it, you shock it if it tests positive for ecoli? So... I'd rather shock it than drink poo and get sick...
Click to expand...
Near Issaquah in the "country"... I don't want to get sick either! That's why I'm trying to find out if this is a normal thing to have to do. I think of wells as pure and all that jazz, so it seems to me that if you have to shock it that it's permanently messed up. But maybe that's not the case based on some of your replies.
 
sstalder5

sstalder5

Turbo Monkey
Aug 20, 2008
1,942
20
Beech Mtn Definitely NOT Boulder
4130biker said:
I would love to over react and fire the guy, trust me I would. But I don't want anymore drama than is needed. I want this to close on time and honestly I don't know the "rules" with respect to getting a new realtor or how it works.
I just want to make sure the house is ok, that we don't get screwed on something and for things to go as smoothly as possible.
Click to expand...
It depends on the office. At my office switching realtors was as easy as calling the front desk and asking for a new one. But you're right, the process of buying a house is complicated and stressful. And any little thing can hold up the process and that's the last thing you want to do.
 
4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
sstalder5 said:
It depends on the office. At my office switching realtors was as easy as calling the front desk and asking for a new one. But you're right, the process of buying a house is complicated and stressful. And any little thing can hold up the process and that's the last thing you want to do.
Click to expand...
Good to know- honestly, I feel a bit bad "firing" him because he's helped us this whole time. How would that work? Would he not get paid at all?

I will gum up the works of this if need be, but I would rather things run smoothly.
 
stosh

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
It's not a big deal. I actually shocked mine once.

If there is ecoli it could have come from a number of places and a dormant well isn't a great thing. If the well is shocked and the ecoli shows up again then there is an issue. bacteria test are cheap so I would make sure I had it retested a few times before you sign on the dotted line even if it comes up clean.
 
sstalder5

sstalder5

Turbo Monkey
Aug 20, 2008
1,942
20
Beech Mtn Definitely NOT Boulder
4130biker said:
Good to know- honestly, I feel a bit bad "firing" him because he's helped us this whole time. How would that work? Would he not get paid at all?

I will gum up the works of this if need be, but I would rather things run smoothly.
Click to expand...
It depends on the office, but he'll probably end up with a referral commission. The going rate for real estate commission is around 3% to the realtor and 3% to the office. A referral commission can be anywhere from 5-15% of the realtors 3%.

But most of my job at the office was running errands for people and cleaning foreclosure houses, so I didn't deal with most of this stuff on a daily basis, so some of this info may be a little fuzzy.
 
rockofullr

rockofullr

confused
Jun 11, 2009
7,342
924
East Bay, Cali
4130biker said:
Have you had a similiar experience?
Click to expand...
No but it's a common practice among a$$ holes.

Push through anything that allows you to change the client, that way even if the sale falls through you have some $$ to show for your time. Then in addition they have extra pressure because they will be out money if they don't sign.

Or, I could be the a$$ hole and he just got carried away trying to get everything ready for the sale.
 
4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
rockofullr said:
No but it's a common practice among a$$ holes.

Push through anything that allows you to change the client, that way even if the sale falls through you have some $$ to show for your time. Then in addition they have extra pressure because they will be out money if they don't sign.

Or, I could be the a$$ hole and he just got carried away trying to get everything ready for the sale.
Click to expand...
Yeah, he could have saved us from losing earnest money, but tha'ts only if we bail, but the principle of what they did pisses me off. Also, I'm pretty sure that an appraisal costs more than our earnest money, so losing earnest money would be less bad than having to pay for this GD apraisal.
 
4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
4130biker said:
Yeah, he could have saved us from losing earnest money, but tha'ts only if we bail, but the principle of what they did pisses me off. Also, I'm pretty sure that an appraisal costs more than our earnest money, so losing earnest money would be less bad than having to pay for this GD apraisal.
Click to expand...
Makes sense, thanks for the info!
 
P

pugslybell

Chimp
Jan 23, 2002
71
2
Durango Colorado
We did not have a well but we paid extra to get the sewer line scoped and it was a deal breaker for us on the first house we fell in love with. Not even sure if you have sewer lines where you are at but pay the extra hundred bucks at the home inspection part to get lines scoped with a camera if you have them. New sewer lines can be stupid expensive (30k for the house we where set on). Get a good home inspector when it comes to that part and take the afternoon off work so you can be there for the inspection. Take some time with it and do tons of research before the home inspection and you can save yourself all sorts of nightmares down the road.
 
4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
pugslybell said:
We did not have a well but we paid extra to get the sewer line scoped and it was a deal breaker for us on the first house we fell in love with. Not even sure if you have sewer lines where you are at but pay the extra hundred bucks at the home inspection part to get lines scoped with a camera if you have them. New sewer lines can be stupid expensive (30k for the house we where set on). Get a good home inspector when it comes to that part and take the afternoon off work so you can be there for the inspection. Take some time with it and do tons of research before the home inspection and you can save yourself all sorts of nightmares down the road.
Click to expand...
Crazy- we already did inspection, took the day off, went around with the inspector. I was there for a seperate septic inspection since this house has its own septic system. It appeared to go well, but have not seen the report back yet.
 
Greyhound

Greyhound

Trail Rat
Jul 8, 2002
5,065
365
Alamance County, NC
I worked in water purification for a number of years....shocking a well is not a big thing. I would highly suggest utilizing a carbon filter on your cold water line after the water heater--it will absorb many of the organics and chlorine--leaving your water tasting nice and clean.
 
4130biker

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
449
Greyhound said:
I worked in water purification for a number of years....shocking a well is not a big thing. I would highly suggest utilizing a carbon filter on your cold water line after the water heater--it will absorb many of the organics and chlorine--leaving your water tasting nice and clean.
Click to expand...
You are awesome, thanks for posting! I'm going to look into that filter. Thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom