Colonel'sCornerAug2011

Colonel's Corner
August 2011

Is Your Home Sending Out an SOS (SAVE OUR SALE)?

You are moving to your dream home! You've painted everything, fixed
the carpet, taken to heart each and every critique of your Realtor and
visitors, made every change you can think of to get your home on the
market and get it sold. Then-FINALLY-you get an offer! Everything is
going great and you are a week from closing and suddenly everything
screeches to an abrupt halt!

Your water has failed one or more criteria required by your lender.

It may seem like the world is coming to an end, so many plans
contingent on getting through closing on time. Sometimes this may even
impact getting into that dream home! Well, it is not the end of the world,
but we need to move fast!

The very FIRST thing you need to do is get hold of a water treatment
company that can accurately diagnose the problem and prescribe a
remedy. You're entering the water treatment emergency room! The lab
result doesn't tell the whole story or, necessarily, dictate an obvious
remedy. We get these emergencies dozens of times each year and we
haven't lost a single patient in the Hague Quality Water of Maryland
Water Treatment Emergency Room!

Once we know what the problem is and how to fix it, we'll move your
deal into surgery. At this stage it is imperative to move quickly and get
the right equipment installed. This has to be done fast and done right
the first time since we still need sufficient time to get a passing follow up
lab test result to the lender before closing. Our Maryland Department of
the Environment Certified personnel will draw and deliver your sample
the moment it can be done to expedite the follow up test. Hague Quality
Water of Maryland has never lost a patient in the water treatment
operating room!

Once we've gotten the follow up test back and delivered to the
appropriate person, it has been our experience that the sale moves
forward (barring non-water related issues). The lifeblood of successfully
addressing a water issue is TIME. It takes time to figure out what is
needed, it may take time to get the required equipment (although we
maintain an extensive inventory), it takes time to schedule and perform
the installation, and it takes time to get that passing follow up test done
and the results returned (we have no control over that, and not all tests
can be completed in a day or two-and the faster you want the result the
more it costs).

The simplest and most effective way to ease the time crunch is to get Hague Quality Water of Maryland involved at the
very beginning-when your home is listed-to identify any potential problems. We offer a free water analysis and
consultation so there is no additional expense to you. You can rest assured that the buyer is going to find these problems
anyway so there's no reason not to get out in front of the issue. I once heard that bad news is like lettuce-it's never going
to look any better than it does right now! Once you are aware of what-if any-problems your water may pose we can help
you to craft a variety of solutions for use at the appropriate time. In some cases when treatment must be installed in
advance of closing we'll even defer payment until closing, accepting payment from the title company. That's about as
painless as it can be.
Another way to avoid last minute issues is to find out as soon as possible what the lender's requirements are regarding
drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency publishes a list of primary and secondary contaminants that lenders
will work loosely around (for detailed information on contaminants see the :
EPA Contaminant list.

While, to the best of my knowledge, any primary contaminant (e.g., lead) identified in your water will hold up settlement
with any lender, lender requirements vary when it comes to secondary contaminants (e.g., iron or low pH). Some
examples of varying requirements can be seen a
http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm). While, to the best of my knowledge, any primary contaminant (e.g.,
lead) identified in your water will hold up settlement with any lender, lender requirements vary when it comes to secondary
contaminants (e.g., iron or low pH). Some examples of varying requirements can be found here:
VA Rerequirements
Hud Requirements.

Since problems like high iron and low pH can have a detrimental impact on the home's plumbing and fixtures, it is easy to
understand why lenders would see that as having a negative impact on their investment. Problems like these are among
the easiest and least costly to identify, but can be difficult to treat when at extreme levels (which, unfortunately, we see a
lot of around here). In short, there is just no reason to wait to identify which water conditioning system will work best to
resolve problems like these. Other problems may not be identified until later in the process after costly tests are
performed (bacteria or lead for example). So to the extent you can eliminate other problems early on-or at least identify
them and be prepared-you'll make it much easier to deal with a limited number of issues in the water treatment
emergency room!

Being retired Air Force I have pretty much lost track of the number times I've moved and the number of homes I've bought
and sold. But I do recall that surprises are almost never good when they come up in a home sale! So help us to help
you-get us involved early, eliminate surprises and get the deal done. Your home is, for most, your largest single
investment. You don't want to fly blind, but if you do, we'll get your sale to the water treatment emergency room! We've
never lost a patient!