NWR: Anyone own a house with well and septic tank?

I think if you love this house, you need to go through with the inspection.

That's the only way to know if there are other issues, septic related or not that will cause you to want to walk away. We just bought a home not to long ago, verrrry nerve racking, so many what ifs.

I wouldn't say buy the house, but go ahead and get the inspections and go from there.

Ok-speaking from a real estate professional viewpoint: septic can very tricky and CAN cause problems but might not. I can tell you that after 13 years in the business I wouldnt do it unless I loved the house and it was a steal.

Also, you potenially lose some things with well and septic-do you have a garbage disposal? Kids need to have more flouride treatments at the dentists bc the water has no flouride (NBD)

whats your heat situation? Oil tank?

I don't have any experience at all but if you like the house, go for it. Come inspection time (highly recommend) you said it yourself, you can walkaway no questions asked.

We have had issues with the septic tank, find out how old it is? they are very expensive to replace. As far as the well , if it was anything like what i had growing up it bottled water for eating and drinking, and the water smells nasty. i hated showering in it. The septic tank issue as long as you properly maintain it you should not have an issue! If you love the house go for it!

My parents own a home with well and septic. They love it. They do not have to pay for water or sewer, so they always have a nice yard and plenty of water. The city water around here is really high in minerals and the well water is slightly less, (although we still all drink bottled water).

The downside is they have had to replace the pump to their well twice. That was not cheap. (First time was $500, second time $2000).

They create a yeast brew twice a year to help their septic system. There have not been any issues with the septic. The neighbors across from them however have had the septic overflow twice in 5 years, so it's all in the maintenance of it.

I personally would love to be on well and septic, and maybe our next house will be off the grid a bit more...

Growing up and even currently, my mom lives in house with a well and septic tank. I would question the size of the well. When we were younger, there were times when in an extremely dry summer the well would go dry. And we couldn't borrow water from any of our nieghbors because they also had wells. But that hasn't been a problem in the last 10 years or so. I would also question the power issue of the well pump. If the power goes off, is their an emergency switch that you can turn on so that you still have water?

A lot of people in VA love wells because they don't have to pay a bill every month or every 3 months. I haven't ran into anyone who I know who has had septic tank issues. Well my mom did have to put in a new one when she wanted to rebuild on the same spot her older house had been on. It needed to be moved further away from the house.

I've lived in one house that had city water and sewer. The other two have been well and septic. Both have upsides and downsides. If the house was built in 2001 than the septic and well are pretty new, but make sure you get very thorough inspections. Do you know what kind of septic tank it is? From people I know that concrete ones are a bit better. Both houses I've lived in have had concrete and there have been no problems. As for well water, whatever issues you run into will be similar to city water in my experience. I have friends who live in the city and only drink bottled water, because the tap water smells funny and tastes weird.

@ Labake… I love the house. I would have many inspections. Well & septic inspections, along with regular home inspection and termite inspection. I can put in an offer and if they accept, then the inspections have to come back good or I can walk away with no problem. My realtor has MANY contingencies built into his contracts that give me peace of mind. It’s more that is has well and septic that makes me nervous, bc I have no experience with it, than there being a problem with it right now.

@ Blair…I do love the house and the price is excellent. Things that I’m not familiar with make me nervous. It doesn’t have a garbage disposal but that’s fine because I don’t like those anyway. Lol. Kids needing fluoride isn’t an issue. You can get the supplements for that in addition to fluoride at dentist appts. (I’m a pediatric nurse) The heating and cooling is electric, so no oil tank. (thank God!)

@ Soon-to-Be Mrs. Fornasty…The house was built in 2001 so everything is still pretty new. I know down the line we can tap into the city sewage. ( I contacted the town and found that out and the associated tap in fee), but I’d still be stuck with well water until the town developed more. The house does have it’s own water treatment system, so maybe it’s not so bad. I didn’t think to test the water when I was there lol

Our house was built in 1958 with a septic tank. We bought the house in 1988 and initially had a problem with the septic tank. Turned out the previous owner had done his own crappy repair on the line between the house and the tank. Once we got that fixed everything has been fine.

Our county has recently REQUIRED that we give up our septic tank & tie into county sewer lines which they just made available. We will now be billed for sewer usage on top of the expense of getting tied in.

@ Nancy..that sucks that they are making you! I know it's not cheap. The town this house is in says it will cost just over $17,000 to tie into city sewer lines. Atleast I know that ahead of time and can save for that. That really stinks they are making you guys tie in.

Nicole-sounds like you have a good find on your hands then. Be sure to carefully read through your home inspection and get a home warranty! They are not very expensive and they really do pay for themselves if something goes wrong.

Right now with what's happenning be sure to negotiate if your appraisal comes in too low. We have been having appraisals coming in very low lately and some buyers have been very successful at getting the sales price reduced.

Do your research (if you get the house) about the sytems and I think you'll be fine

Good Luck, I hope it works our for you!

I have always had a septic system- my entire life. I've had both wells and public water. I can tell you- if something goes wrong your septic can be a expensive repair. But if nothing goes wrong its much cheaper. Since the house was built in 2001, i'm sure the septic you have is very new and most likely a plastic or concrete tank. If it is plastic, that thing will never rot or die! Concrete tanks will eventually erode- but your looking at 30 years for that.

As for a well- depending on the dirt- you may need to drink bottled water. Or see if there is a filter system! But its not bad. It depends on what is in the dirt-sulfer, iron etc.

Get an inspecation and make sure whomever comes is familiar with septic systems. You can also request that info from the current owners since its a short sale and not a foreclosure. I'm sure they know what size tank it is, and if its ever been cleaned out or not.

Good luck! There are some fantastic deals out there right now!

@ Blair.. I would read through the inspection with a fine tooth comb! I would definitely get a home warranty as well. There is also a contingency in the contract that if the apprasial comes in too low, they have to meet it or I can walk away. It seems my realtor has really covered all bases. I would definately research the HECK out of the sytems if I get the house. lol I am a type A, slightly OCD personality so I think I would be ok. As long as I do as you are supposed to and keep a little extra in savings as well. It's just anything new or unknown causes me ALOT of anxiety. I'm going to speak with my mom about it when I get out of work. She gives good advice and I greatly value her opinion.

@ Jenn W. My realtor recommends I get a this supersized inspection instead of a regular septic inspection. According to him, they have all the high-tech stuff with cameras going thru the system and they put it all on dvd for you. That sounds like the type I would get. i rather put more up front now now into inspections than do a cheaper one, and miss something. My realtor even offered to pay for the well and septic inspections as a wedding gift! lol

Blair, I think she just mis-interpreted what you meant. I understood what you were talking about :-)

I don't own the house but everyone where I live has a well and septic, which is awesome until you have a problem with it... if you take care of your house, you won't have as many problems with them...

The area I live in only has well and septic. We bought a house in sept with a well. The inspector told us flat out that the pressure tank needed to be replaced but the house was a really good deal otherwise. We got the house and replaced the pressure tank within the first month (about $500). And this was something my FH and his friend were able to do.

If the house is right and everything comes back to your standards (or they fix whats not) on the inspection, I say go for it. If your FH or Dad or anyone else that you are close with are handy with tools, some of the stuff that can go wrong are not hard fixes.

Make sure you get a GOOD and reliable inspector. Ours was very thorough and friendly, okay with us following him around during the inspection and asking questions. After he did his walk thru the house and all the pictures, he sent a PDF of everything inside and out. He even offered to help us change out the pressure tank when we moved in if we needed help!

@ Lauren....My realtor recommends always going with the inspector. That's awesome he offered to change out the pressure tank! lol. DH is NOT so handy lol. He tries, bless his heart, but either I have to fix it for him, or our current landlord fixes it. He tried to fix the electric switch in the bathroom..landlord ended up fixing it. Tried to fix the toilet on the main floor..I ended up fixing it. He tried fixing the leak under the kitchen sink..and made a flood. (he forgot to turn off the water before hand.. I didn't say anything) that's STILL not fixed lol

LOL, Nicole, your FH must be another son of my DH! I'm the handy one in our family, too.

When we were dating, FH moved from a house to an apartment. I went to the apartment to hook up his cable, TV, & VCR while he fixed dinner for us! I asked if he saw anything strange with that arrangement -- nope! He does the grocery shopping & most of the cooking -- I fix things around the house and if I can't do it, I'm the one who has to call the pros and explain the problem.

@ Nancy..that is SO me and DH. I am the one who puts things together, is tech support in the house, fixes most things, call the pros and explain (although I made him do it once so he would appreciate how I make his life easier) lol