According to the EPA, 25% of US homes have some kind of alternative wastewater treatment system in place. The primary type of system we see used is the modern conventional septic system.
This fact comes as a big surprise, especially to Realtors that perform transactions on these type of properties. More often than not the sellers of homes with septic systems confess to not performing maintenance on a regular basis. Furthermore, they often admit to having no idea they needed to do this maintenance in the first place.
So as a home buyer if you are under contract on a property with a septic system, it’s essential that you perform a septic inspection when buying a house. You would schedule this in conjunction with the general inspection you do on that property.
Problems with a septic system aren't always obvious and can hide for years until they cause significant headaches. Septic repair and replacement and cost tens of thousands of dollars. This is not the kind of surprise you want to have months or years after closing on your property.
As a buyer, there is a good deal of homework and preparation you can do as you lead up to the actual inspection. You can collect information on the location of the various system components, compile any maintenance records as well as any repair history.
It's important to coordinate the septic inspection with the general inspection so that the results can be incorporated into any inspection requests you are planning to make of the seller. Additionally, if the system is near the end of its life, you can address this with the seller as well before proceeding to close on a sale when you know there is a big repair bill in the future.
Don't buy a home with a septic system without performing the proper due diligence. Even if the seller isn’t willing or able to make things right, you don’t want to get stuck with a failed system. Unless you receive some kind of compensation be it a price reduction or some type of credit.
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