When buying a home that is served by a septic system, hopefully the septic system is the dirtiest system serving the home. That is as it should be. When it comes time for the septic system to be inspected prior to the sale, buyers often don't want to be around. But it is quite important that they be there and learn everything they can learn about their new dirty system.
Since septic systems are pretty well hidden away underground, especially older systems without any risers, they aren't exactly convenient to keep an eye on. And just exactly what condition they are in is quite important to know. The buyer needs to do some serious major repair budgeting if the septic system is nearing the end of its life. Even if it's in generally good shape, there are lots of specific aspects of the system that could be deteriating or broken without necessarily causing the system to fail, but that the buyer should know about in detail so as to manage the system with those shortcomings in mind, and not to be surprised if problems to arise.
An hour or two of time invested hanging around a smelly septic system, and the opportunity to get the dirtiest details when someone knowledgable is there to do the dirty work give them to the buyer, is an hour or two that sooner or later is likely to prove well invested. In a worst case scenario, if the system is failed or near failure, it may prevent the buyer from making a bad purchase.
As a real estate professional, representing the interests of my clients, there are very few things that I ever push buyers to do. One of those very few things is attending the septic inspection.
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