House/Septic question NEPA, pocono lake area

[soup]

My fiancee and I have been looking at houses in NEPA for vacation/rental but mainly vacation. We... well she found a house she wants. This house had a previous buyer who ended up backing out because there was a chance the septic system needed to be replaced. We haven't gotten a copy of the report or even know who did the inspection to say it failed but we went on the assumption that the septic was faulty and needs replacing. She put in an offer with this in mind.

FFWD: The accepted the offer late last night.... now we need to get a home inspector in there, preferably someone who knows septic and can give us estimates. We need to find out if it actually failed and if so how much it costs to replace.

Should we get two inspectors? One for the house and one for the septic or is there a company up there that is reputable and covers everything?

Thanks

Anthony

[arrrrgh15]

My fiancee and I have been looking at houses in NEPA for vacation/rental but mainly vacation. We... well she found a house she wants. This house had a previous buyer who ended up backing out because there was a chance the septic system needed to be replaced. We haven't gotten a copy of the report or even know who did the inspection to say it failed but we went on the assumption that the septic was faulty and needs replacing. She put in an offer with this in mind.

FFWD: The accepted the offer late last night.... now we need to get a home inspector in there, preferably someone who knows septic and can give us estimates. We need to find out if it actually failed and if so how much it costs to replace.

Should we get two inspectors? One for the house and one for the septic or is there a company up there that is reputable and covers everything?

Thanks

Anthony

Contact the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer. He's the one that decides if the system has failed or not. Once failed, he's the one, along with DEP, that will force you to replace the system.

I would have checked to make sure that in the event of a failure there was a back-up area set asside for a replacement system that has already passed the perc test. If not, replacement could be more complicated/costly.

[soup]

Contact the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer. He's the one that decides if the system has failed or not. Once failed, he's the one, along with DEP, that will force you to replace the system.

I would have checked to make sure that in the event of a failure there was a back-up area set asside for a replacement system that has already passed the perc test. If not, replacement could be more complicated/costly.

This is where I've been getting very frustrated. I've called several times and left messages with their department over the last week and a few days. I've only gotten one call back and that was a girl who called to tell me that the person who could answer my questions wasn't in the office and I should leave a message... no shit? really?

We have it in the offer that if the estimated cost of repairs is over $15,000 (what she said she would be willing to spend on the repairs) we can walk away from the house

I did get a hold of the company my grandmother used to clean her system, they inspect, repair, replace etc so I'll see what they say

[arrrrgh15]

Pretty good idea having that included in the sales agreement. Good luck.

there are some good SEOs and there are some really bad SEOs. SEOs are appointed by the Township Board of Supervisors. Perhaps you could voice your frustrations about the lack of response. If it's a very rural or low populated Township, there's a good chance that they are just hard to get in touch with based on staffing, etc. I know some townships that I deal with you only get an answering machine and eventually the little old lady that is also the Township Secretary will return your call. If it isn't, well then they're just being lazy.

If you'd actually get him to come out, you'd probably have to still pay the SEO an inspection fee, same as the other company. But at least you'd have the SEO checking it and making a determination. In the end, it'll be his opinion that will matter the most.

[soup]

Thanks,

We are getting these guys out for the inspection and estimate on any repairs so we have documentation for the mortgage company and seller. If they say it fails and needs a complete replacement then I have proof of cost estimate to get out of the contract if they say it needs a little work but is nothing to expensive I have a quote and a company who can do the work.

I work for an engineering company and my boss is a SEO and he has been helping me a lot with everything. We were told the home inspector failed the system and the previous buyers backed out but they wont release the report to us. So now we have to go through everything to get our own inspection done. I left another message today.

[arrrrgh15]

I work for civil eng firm too! But when people ask what I do I tell them I'm a glorified ditch digger. confuses the hell out of them.

I think you're doing the right thing.

Good luck with the purchase, hope it works out for you.

[soup]

I've also contacted a company we partner with who will do the inspection as well. This way we have an inspection done by a company who gains nothing by failing it.

[soup]

The TWP finally got back to me... they have no record of any failing or malfunction of the system.... so it looks like whoever did the inspection decided it failed and needed replacement..........

[blaster668]

If this home is only going to be used as a vacation home, do you really need a 100% operating septic system? If the system still works fairly well, no one would probably ever notice. The performance of a septic system can vary greatly depending on how much you use it.

If this is an old home, chances are the septic was never intended to be used in the manner they are today. The septics were mainly meant for toilet use only, most of the grey water was just sent out somewhere. Even if the system was designed for handling grey water, chances are, it was when people did not shower or bathe every day.

[wis bang]

Unfortunately in MOST of the Pocono area a replacement means a Sand Mound. They can cost more than your threshold; BUT if the local SEO has no record of a failure you may be OK for now. Existing septic fields are OK as long as they don't find evidence of failure.

The Starter Castles they are building near my cabin all look funny with that raised sand mound and PVC cleanout pipes sticking up in the front yard...all the new builds have them and alot of them end up being too visible...