Well water at rental?

Question

Hi,

I am evaluating a 2-unit in Lake county, IL and notice that their water source is Private Well Water. Does anyone have experience with this alternative water sources other than municipal/village water? Would this be a deal breaker or difficult to manage issue with long term rentals? Anything I need to keep in mind or worry about or factor in my expenses during deal analysis?

Thanks in advance!

- Jay.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

I have had several properties that run on wells, still have one. As long as the water is tested and comes back with a healthy report, you are good-to-go.

Even if there are problems with water purity (like Arsenic), you can still be fine, you'll just need to install a water filter.

Also be aware that you will have to do the occasional repair. Most common is one of the pumps, but they last for a while once they're replaced.

Wells are actually preferable in some ways, like if there is a power outage that shuts down city water, you can still run your well on a genny.....

David Krulac · Answer

would want drilled well, would want to know the depth, age, and yield (gallons per minute).  But we have several properties with well, have had to replace the pump, which I've found last 20 years or more, but we never had a well go dry.  We have drilled new wells on vacant lots, and once had to drill a new well at a house.  To conserve water consumption would use flow restrictors, low flow showers, and low capacity toilets.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Like @Paul De Luca said, put it in writing. It should already be in the State legal contract somewhere. Generally, in my experiences, the buyer must pay for well inspections if desired. But you could negotiate it differently if you want to.

And I would get a Well Contractor to do a thorough inspection. And a low gpm rate like 5 gpm is scary. If that drops a little, you're in trouble. I would aim for at least 10-15 gpm. As an example, my last place had 34gpm...

Paul De Luca · Answer

@Jay Gandhi

Like @Bruce Woodruff said, be sure to get an inspection. Below is the language regarding a well/septic inspection from the multi-board 8.0 contract so you could use that when submitting offers.

Alecia Loveless · Answer

@Jay Gandhi I have an 8 unit on a well.

I haven’t had any real problems in the 3 years I’ve owned it.

It does have a filter on the incoming water supply to the building which must be replaced once a month or we start to see a reduction in flow.

I believe it’s filters.com that we use to buy the filters and most weeks they run a 20% off sale. A few times a year it’s as much as 35% off and I usually buy a box of 12 filters then. It’s about a $20 cost each month per filter.

Matthew Paul · Answer

Depends on the type of well and how deep and the recovery rate .

Hand dug  , no

Driven well  maybe

Drilled well , not a problem

Well water at rental?

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