There are a lot of properties that can benefit from having a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment done. In many cases, when this is presented as an option, the fact of the matter is that it is not really optional at all. Often, a bank is asking for one to be completed. While that may not make you any more open to having some people from an environmental consulting firm to come out and look over the property, there are some really good reasons to not put it off or to try to get out of it all together.
- Having an environmental site assessment is a whole lot cheaper than going through a site clean up or remediation. If you do not have the environmental site assessment, you can end up buying a property that has a ton of problems that need your attention. If you buy without having the area evaluated by experts, you may find you have tanks in the ground that are leaking hazardous materials into the ground and that can end up getting into the groundwater. Once you buy a piece of land, you become responsible for what happens on it. Make sure you know what is going on with the land before, not after, you buy it.
- The chances are that having the assessment done will save you cash in the long run. If you have people come out and do an assessment on the land that you want to buy and you find barrels and barrels of whatever under the ground, you can go to the seller of the property with that information. When you know how much that land is going to cost to clean up, you can work on having that amount taken off the price of the property. You may even be able to get the property owner to do the clean up before you take over ownership. Either way, you can save a lot of money.
- You can learn more about the land you are buying. There is a saying that people should “look before they leap.” That is very good advice to take when you are looking at buying a new piece of land. You will get a much complete picture of what is going on with the property you are looking to buy when you get an environmental consulting firm to look over the land. They may find great reasons for you to go forward with the deal or they may give you pause. Either way, the upshot is that in a world where “knowledge is power,” you want more when you are looking to buy a property. You can also make sure you are getting what you want in the property you buy.
- If there are problems with the land you are looking to buy, you will learn about them eventually. People sometimes prefer to put their head in the sand when it comes to finding out about problems like the ones with land. The problem with this that if there re environmental hazards on the land, they will rear their ugly heads at some point and it might not be at the best time for you to deal with them. You may as well go ahead and learn about them on your own schedule, not theirs.
- Having environmental assets meant done does not cost a lot. People assume they are going to have to pay a really large amount to have these kinds of assessments done but the opposite is the case. These also do not take the vast amounts of time that many people assume they will take. Your can be done in a few weeks or a month. There are some that will take a longer period of time and will cost more, this is all dependent on the size of the land being looked at and complicated the assessment will be.
When most people are confronted with the idea that they need to have an environmental consulting firm come in and do an assessment, they balk. That is too bad because a good environmental consulting firm cab be very helpful, effective and save money for the buyer in the long run.
