Due diligence

Why this matters: Everything else in this repo is background. This module is what you run when a real listing shows up.

The files

The 90 second version

You can’t buy a severable water right in Wisconsin. You buy land with good water attributes: navigablenavigable in factWisconsin's test for whether a waterway is public. Roughly: can a small recreational boat float on it on a regularly recurring basis. A lot of modest creeks qualify. frontage, a healthy 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., a conforming well, clean water, and a defensible regulatory position.

Spend the money on contingenciescontingencyA 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. before you spend it on tests. A well-drafted 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. costs an hour of attorney time and preserves your exit.

Order the work cheap to expensive. Free records first, then a basic water panel, then survey and 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., then hydrogeology and Phase IPhase I ESAAn environmental background check on a property's history. Standard for acreage, and it establishes a legal defense if contamination turns up later.. Most bad deals die on the free stuff.

The 3 things people skip and regret: locating 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., testing for 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. by name, and searching for high capacity wellshigh 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.

Workflow with an agent

"Screen this listing against docs/04-due-diligence/CHECKLIST.md section A
 and fill out a copy of templates/property-water-profile.md in data/"

"Given these lab results and this well construction report,
 which red flags in docs/04-due-diligence/02-red-flags.md apply?"