Red flags

Why this matters: Sorted by severity. Tier 1 items should end the deal. Tier 2 items need a satisfying answer and usually a price adjustment. Tier 3 items are noise that people wrongly panic about.

Tier 1: walk away

“This property comes with water rights” from a Wisconsin seller or agent. Wisconsin riparian rightsriparianThe eastern US rule, and Wisconsin's rule. If your land touches a lake or stream, you get reasonable use of that water, shared with everyone else whose land touches it. The rights come with the land and generally cannot be sold separately from it. are appurtenantappurtenantLegally attached to the land. An appurtenant right travels with the property when it sells, and you cannot peel it off and sell it on its own. to the land and generally not severable or separately tradeable. Someone marketing a standalone water right in Wisconsin either misunderstands the law or is padding the price. Ask them to identify the specific right, its source, quantity, and permit number. Watch what happens.

No well construction report and no willingness to test. A seller who won’t allow water testing during the inspection period is telling you the result. There’s no benign explanation.

An open BRRTSBRRTSWisconsin DNR's public database of contaminated and cleanup sites. Search it before you buy anything, and search upgradient of the parcel too. remediation site upgradient in the same aquiferaquiferUnderground rock or sand with water in the spaces between the grains. It is not an underground lake. Water seeps through it slowly, often only feet per year.. You inherit the plume risk and you may never get clean water without treatment. Contamination liability under CERCLACERCLAThe federal Superfund law. It can make a property owner liable for contamination they did not cause, which is the main reason to do a Phase I before closing. and state spills law can also attach to landowners in ways that surprise people.

PFASPFASThe "forever chemicals" from firefighting foam and industrial processes. They do not break down, treatment is expensive and permanent, and standards keep tightening. Never in a standard water test unless you ask for it by name. detection in the parcel’s aquiferaquiferUnderground rock or sand with water in the spaces between the grains. It is not an underground lake. Water seeps through it slowly, often only feet per year.. Treatment is expensive, ongoing, and the regulatory standards keep tightening downward. Marinette and Peshtigo residents have been on bottled water for years. This is a permanent condition, not a repair item.

Building envelope that only works if the OHWMordinary high water markThe physical line on a shoreline showing where water regularly reaches. On a Wisconsin lake your private property stops there and the state owns the bed below it. The DNR decides where the line is, not your deed. is where the seller says. If the deal requires an optimistic reading of the ordinary high water markordinary high water markThe physical line on a shoreline showing where water regularly reaches. On a Wisconsin lake your private property stops there and the state owns the bed below it. The DNR decides where the line is, not your deed., the deal doesn’t work. The DNR determines that line, and it doesn’t care about your site plan.

Access that isn’t legal and recorded. A driveway that’s crossed a neighbor’s field for 30 years by handshake is not an easementeasementA recorded legal right for someone else to use part of your land, such as a driveway crossing or utility access. It survives the sale and binds you.. Landlocked land with a permissive path is a lawsuit waiting for a new neighbor.

NitratenitrateFertilizer and manure that has leached into groundwater. Above 10 milligrams per liter it is a health risk, especially for infants, and you cannot fix your neighbor's fields. above 10 mg/L with agricultural sources nearby. The source is ongoing and you can’t fix your neighbor’s fields. Reverse osmosis treats the symptom forever.

Tier 2: get an answer, then reprice

A high capacity wellhigh capacity wellIn Wisconsin, a well (or all wells on 1 property combined) capable of pumping 100,000 gallons a day or more. These need DNR approval. An ordinary house well does not. within 2 miles. Not automatically fatal. Find out the permitted volume, the use, the pumping season, and whether your well and theirs draw from the same formation. A deep bedrock irrigation well and your shallow sand point may not interact much. A shallow one nearby will.

A pending high capacity wellhigh capacity wellIn Wisconsin, a well (or all wells on 1 property combined) capable of pumping 100,000 gallons a day or more. These need DNR approval. An ordinary house well does not. application in the area. Worse than an existing one, because you have no operating history to observe. Check DNR public notices.

A well over 40 years old. Older wells often predate current NR 812NR 812Wisconsin's well construction code. Wells drilled decades ago often do not meet it, especially on casing depth and grouting. construction standards, especially on casing depth and grouting. Budget $10,000 to $25,000 for a replacement well and negotiate accordingly.

Yield under 5 gpm. Livable with storage, uncomfortable for a household with irrigation ambitions. Get the sustained test, not the driller’s optimistic install number.

Arsenic above 10 ppb. Common in eastern and northeastern Wisconsin from natural bedrock. Treatable, and it’s a permanent operating cost and a resale disclosure.

RadiumradiumA naturally radioactive element in southeastern Wisconsin's deep sandstone aquifer. It is what pushed Waukesha off its wells and onto Lake Michigan water. or gross alpha above standard. The deep sandstone aquifer in southeastern Wisconsin has natural radiumradiumA naturally radioactive element in southeastern Wisconsin's deep sandstone aquifer. It is what pushed Waukesha off its wells and onto Lake Michigan water.. This is what pushed Waukesha to a Lake Michigan diversiondiversionMoving water out of the Great Lakes basin. The Compact bans new ones except in a few narrow cases. at a cost in the hundreds of millions. On a single household it means treatment.

KarstkarstCracked limestone bedrock under thin soil. Contamination at the surface can reach the groundwater in days instead of decades. Common in northeast Wisconsin. geology with thin soil. Northeast Wisconsin, Door County, Kewaunee. Surface contamination reaches the aquifer in days rather than decades. Manure spreading upgradient in karstkarstCracked limestone bedrock under thin soil. Contamination at the surface can reach the groundwater in days instead of decades. Common in northeast Wisconsin. is a well-documented pathway to fecal contamination.

A CAFOCAFOA large industrial livestock operation. In Wisconsin water disputes it is usually the source of the nitrate and bacteria showing up in neighbors' wells. within a few miles, especially upgradient. NitratenitrateFertilizer and manure that has leached into groundwater. Above 10 milligrams per liter it is a health risk, especially for infants, and you cannot fix your neighbor's fields., bacteria, and potentially odor and truck traffic. Look at manure spreading plans, which are public for permitted operations.

Extensive mapped wetland. Just v. Marinette County means the county can restrict filling it and that restriction is very unlikely to be a compensable takingregulatory takingWhen a government rule restricts your property so severely that courts treat it as taking the property, which would require payment. Wisconsin courts have been unusually willing to say a shoreline rule is not one.. Assume the wetland stays a wetland.

A shared well agreement. Recorded shared wells create ongoing cost sharing, maintenance disputes, and complications on resale. Read the agreement, don’t assume it’s boilerplate.

A pier that “conveys.” Confirm its Chapter 30Chapter 30 permitWisconsin DNR permission to build or change anything on navigable water: piers, dredging, rock riprap, or grading near the shoreline. status. Non-conforming grandfathered structures often can’t be repaired or replaced at their current size.

Any prior DNR enforcement action. You may be inheriting an open compliance obligation.

Frontage that’s mostly wetland or bluff. Legal frontage and usable frontage are different numbers. So are legal access and physical access.

Recent large land assemblage nearby. Someone buying up parcels quietly is planning something. Data center developers in southeast Wisconsin have used LLCs and option agreements for exactly this reason. Check recent deed transfers in the township.

Tier 3: usually fine, don’t overreact

Hard water, iron, or manganese. Aesthetic and nuisance issues in most of Wisconsin. Softeners and filters handle them for a few thousand dollars.

A single coliform bacteria hit. Often a wellhead or sampling problem. Shock chlorinate, fix the cap, retest. E. coli is a different matter and belongs in Tier 2.

Being outside the Great Lakes basin. It affects diversiondiversionMoving water out of the Great Lakes basin. The Compact bans new ones except in a few narrow cases. eligibility for a municipal supply, and it means almost nothing for a private well on a private parcel.

The lake level being low or high right now. Lake Michigan cycles on a multi-decade rhythm, with record highs around 2020 and lower water since. Buy for the range, and set your building elevation for the high end of it.

Seasonal road access. Priced in, and negotiable. Confirm it, don’t fear it.

The meta red flag

Time pressure. Every item in this document takes weeks to check properly, and PFASPFASThe "forever chemicals" from firefighting foam and industrial processes. They do not break down, treatment is expensive and permanent, and standards keep tightening. Never in a standard water test unless you ask for it by name. lab turnaround alone can run 3 to 6 weeks.

An agent or seller compressing your inspection period is removing your ability to find the Tier 1 items. If the market forces a short contingencycontingencyA condition written into a purchase contract that lets you walk away if something checks out badly. Drafting these well costs an hour of attorney time and is the cheapest protection in the whole process. window, either extend it, or price the unknowns as if they’re bad, or walk.

Related

• CHECKLIST.md
• 03-question-bank.md