Be aware of properties that have a private well!? What should I do if there is private well on my property that I purchased.
Though it is rather rare to come across a private well on a property in the Tokyo metropolitan area, you may occasionally find them located in a countryside rental property. Let me share a recent unexpected situation that we encountered when assisting a sale of a property with an abandoned well.
Before we get into the story, you need to know that Japanese believe a deity dwell in all things. Wells are considered a source of life and a very sacred place to purify sins and impurities. During Shinto festivals, covering or soaking oneself using water is called Misogi. This is a common practice to purify sins and impurities, thus making water filled wells extremely sacred.
So back to the story…When we recently assisted selling a property in Tokai region, we found an abounded well on the property. Since there was a pump attached to the well, we figured that the well was used to water plants in the past. Seller had two choices; to fix the pump, or to remove the well. Seller can sell without fixing or removing the well, however, he/she could possibly get sued for that buried structure in the future by a buyer as defect on the property. In this situation it was best to fix or remove the well. This seller choice was to remove the well and we started looking for contractors.
Here is where it gets tricky. We couldn’t find a contractor willing to remove the well. All the contractors in the area refused to do the job as they were all afraid getting cursed. Not all regions practice these religious beliefs, however, the more rural the stronger these religious believes and superstitions are. Even when purification and/or draining of a well is performed, many contractors will refuse to remove it.
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The seller ended up fixing the pump that was attached to the well instead of removing it. Resulting in a replacement cost more than 1 million yen, an expense he/she did not anticipate.
You might have a chance of finding contractors in different region that are willing to remove a well. However, it is best to do a thorough prior research before purchasing a property with a private well.
In this case, the problem was that the owner had no prior knowledge that he/she had a well on the property until selling it. The real estate broker he/she purchased the property seemed to fail on notifying the existence of the private well on the property. This seller was able to replace the pump for about 1 million yen and sold the property. However, imagine you get stuck with a property that is hard to re-sell without even knowing it.
Written by Tsuyoshi Hikichi
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