Advice If You’re Buying or Selling a House with a Septic System

Advice If You’re Buying or Selling a House with a Septic System

In most rural towns away from municipalities, homes have a septic system as opposed to being connected to city sewers.

When a buyer has either an accepted offer or contract on a home (dependent upon which CT county the home is in), the buyer will typically order a house inspection, termite inspection, well and water inspection (if not city water), radon inspection and septic inspection.

The first question the buyer’s agent should get answered regarding the septic system is when the tank was pumped last and get proof of that. (The pumping information should be on the property disclosure).

But, that certainly is not enough. The buyer should never accept a pumping report as satisfactory and should proceed with a full septic system evaluation by a licensed septic engineer.

If you’re the seller with a septic system, have the tank pumped and get the system inspected prior to listing your house. If any issues come up, get them repaired and documented. If the house is relatively new, the inspection step may not be necessary unless you suspect a problem.

However, if the system is more than 20 years old, this step may save you from losing a sale on your house. Having an issue come up on a buyer’s septic inspection immediately puts doubt in the buyer’s mind that... hmmm…..they ignored this problem….what else have they ignored around here?....not to mention septic issues and buyers do not always peacefully coexist.

So, sellers. Be proactive. Consider getting your septic system pumped and inspected prior to placing your house on the market. (The tank must be pumped before an inspection can be done). If there is an issue, get it repaired and documented. Get a satisfactory septic system inspection report and make it available to the buyer.

Having a septic inspection before listing will be money well spent and could be the difference between keeping and losing a buyer.