02/07/2025
If the home is on a septic... does it really need a sewer scope??
REal Estate talk with Tracie DeMars
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Real estate is ever-evolving and changing. It is one industry that never remains stagnant and one of the most important things a Realtor needs to do is change with it.
One good example of this is when I was first licensed 20 years ago. Back then an offer on a home was about 8-10 pages and now the paperwork for an offer is about 20-23 pages... at least and it can be even more with additional addendums like a well addendum, a septic addendum, or even if the offer is 'contingent' on the sale of the buyers current home, and that is just a few of the addendums that can be added to a 'basic' offer.
The paperwork we used to list a home was maybe about 10 pages... maybe 15-17 with the sellers' disclosures, and now it is about 40 pages with paperwork for both the local RMLS, and the NWMLS. It is a lot of forms and your Realtor needs to be informed and educated to be able to understand these forms and to be able to explain it to you so that you know and understand WHAT you are signing. Of course, when I was first licensed we used to fax offers back and forth, and we didn't have emails on our cell phones! I mean... not quite dinosaurs walking the earth, but it does feel a bit cro-magnon compared to real estate now.
The paperwork involved in buying, and selling a home changes usually 1-2 times a year, and forms are updated based on changing laws, and any possible court cases. Not all real estate is the same throughout the country and paperwork changes from state to state. Back east buyers and sellers have a Real Estate Agent/Realtor and an attorney who does the paperwork, and how inspections are done is different than here. In our area, Realtors have limited liability to fill out the forms provided to us by the attorneys of the local and state Realtor associations. We can not practice law as we are not attorneys, but we are responsible for filling out the legal forms for a client buying and/or selling their home. If the form is not filled out correctly, or something is missed... your Realtor is legally liable so they have more risk than a Realtor back east. How do you know if your Realtor knows what they are talking about? Ask questions. Albert Einstein once said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
Do you know what else has changed? Inspections. In the state of Washington, a home inspector has to be licensed, but that wasn't always the case. What the home inspector looks at, and how long the inspection takes has also changed. Of course, just like everything else... the prices for the home inspection have changed as well. One of the most important changes I think that I have seen with home inspections is the addition of inspections with radon and sewer scopes. As a Realtor, I have talked about the sewer scopes for the past 10 years or so, but it has only been in the last few years have they become more common, and they really are important. I do want to take it one step further though and I will tell you that I encourage a sewer scope even when the home is on a septic system. Hold on... I know what you are thinking.. it is a SEWER scope, not a septic scope, right? If the home that a buyer is making an offer on is on a septic system (on-site sewage), the Septic addendum says that the septic system has to be inspected within the last 12 months, right? Yes, both points are correct... but... I can answer both points with one fact... when a septic contractor comes out to inspect the septic tank, that is all that they are inspecting. They are NOT inspecting the sewage lines from the home to the tank, and honestly, that is where we see a lot of problems.
Ok, storytime...
Late last year I had the sweetest clients who were buying their first home. The home they fell in love with was this super cute tri-level home with a large yard in a cul de sac in Vancouver and on a septic. Not a big deal... many homes in Vancouver (and other areas) have on-site sewage aka... septic. Sometimes the home is on a septic because the sewer line is not available, and sometimes the home is on a septic because when the sewer line came through the homeowner at the time chose not to hook up to the sewer. Yes, when the sewer becomes available to a home on a septic, the current homeowner CAN choose NOT to hook up to the sewer... as long as the current septic is in good working condition. However, if the septic fails... the homeowner (at the time of the septic failure) can not put in a new septic, they will have to hook up to the sewer at that time.
Well, the home that my clients had an accepted offer on had a septic inspection only 6 months prior and the septic inspection said that the tank looked great. Fantastic, right? Well, remember my point from above... I advised my client to have a plumber do a sewer scope (yes, even though the home is on a septic, and the 6-month-old septic report said it looked great), and I also advised my client to have a radon test done as well.
Two points here...
First, I advised my client to have the sewer scope done by a licensed plumber. Yes, some inspectors do their own sewer scopes, but they are not licensed plumbers. Many times when I have assisted a seller a buyers agent has sent in a buyers inspection response where the buyers inspector has said something was wrong with the sewer lines. I always have a licensed plumber come out for a second opinion, and nine times out of ten, they have said that the sewer line was fine, or have countered the inspector with a different opinion. The point is that the home inspector is a home inspector. The licensed plumber is a licensed plumber for the sewage. Two of the inspectors that I refer a lot have plumbers come out to do the sewer scope as a requested part of the home inspection. They understand that having a licensed plumber do the sewer scope means having it done correctly. I appreciate them not trying to 'do it all'. This isn't one-stop shopping my friends.
Secondly, there are some areas (like the heights, and cascade park) that usually have higher radon readings. What is this? Radon has no color, smell, or taste and is a radioactive gas. It comes from the natural decay of uranium that is found in nearly all soils. It typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Any home can have radon. I highly advise a radon test (which usually requires 3 days), especially when any part of the home is underground... like with a basement, tri-level, or split-level homes... and homes with a slab foundation.
My clients, bless them, listened to me. Radon levels to be considered 'safe' need to read 4.0 or lower, and the radon levels in this home were about 30.0... over 7x the 'safe' amount. The sewer scope also failed as it was not draining from the pipes. Oh boy...
Radon mitigation isn't too big of a deal and is not usually too expensive. Is it cheap? Well, no, but not as expensive as many other possible issues. Radon mitigation for this home was $1650. That was the easy part, and as there was a bedroom in the basement area of the tri-level, I sleep better knowing that they would be safe.
The failed sewer scope was a whole other problem though. As part of the inspection, my clients requested that due to the failed sewer scope, the seller have the septic either repaired, or the home hooked up to the nearby sewer. Unfortunately, the septic could not be repaired as the drain field was not working. Well, that answers why the septic inspection said it looked great doesn't it... Because the sewer was nearby, a new drain field could not be put in as the septic had failed. So, what is the cost of this? Well, the bid that the seller received was $12,000.
Again, I have been a licensed Realtor for a long time now, and let's be honest here.. I have SEEN THINGS! Remember when I said that 85% of the homes sold are sold by 15% of the Realtors, and we all know each other? There aren't that many of us who have been licensed as long as I have been, and for those of us who do work Real estate full time as a career, well, we talk and share 'war' stories.... just like we all do with friends in the same industry. Also, anyone who has had ANY work done on their home will tell you that it almost always costs more than you think it will.. it's just Murphy's Law.
Well, I would not let my clients close before the sewer work was done, even though it meant that we were going to have to extend closing by about 3 weeks, and there is a reason for this... as you will see...
As the plumbing company started the sewer hook up they found that the sewer line at the road was at a higher elevation than the plumbing for the home was buying. Now, it wasn't just the plumbing from home to the sewer that needed to be done... it was the plumbing IN the home as well that needed to be done. The $12,000 bid turned into $49,000! Yeah... you read that right.. FOURTY-NINE thousand dollars, and that didn't include the cost of the permits.
So what would have happened if my clients had closed before the sewer hook-up was completed? The bid that the seller received for the sewer hook-up ($12,000) meant that the work couldn't be done for two weeks past our original closing date. If my clients had closed on time, and not listened to me when I said that they should wait until after the work was done, then my clients would have been responsible for this difference ($49,000 - $12,000 = $37,000) because only $12,000 would have been held back from the sellers. Let's take this one step further... what would have happened if my clients had NOT done the sewer scope on this home with an on-site sewage/septic that had just been looked at with a glowing report? Well, after living in the home awhile this spring the backyard grass, where the drain field is, would have been very lush....and smelly. My clients, my first-time home buyers, would have had it checked out and found that the drain field had failed and that they would need to hook up to the sewer. In short, it would have been my first-time home buyers who would have been responsible for that $49,000 + bill to hook up to the sewer.
Hold on... I know what you're going to ask... if either of these had happened wouldn't the seller have still been responsible?
Quick answer? No, the seller would not have been responsible, and here's why...
Buyer's Due Diligence. The seller has to legally disclose existing material defects that are known to them. This home had been a rental. The buyer would have had to sue the seller and prove that the seller knew that the septic had failed. As this had been a rental, how would he know? Chances that any of the previous renters knew something was up would be slim, and even if it was a seller/owner-occupied home... the septic inspection came back with a good report, and how would the seller know what was wrong, or if anything was wrong with the septic?
This is why it is important to do the inspections, even when they cost more.. and why it is important to listen to your Realtor... even when you might not like what we have to say. One of the most important things I have learned in Real Estate is that we are always learning as every day, and every deal and home is different and that it is ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry.
Speaking of better safe than sorry... whether you are buying a home (first home, or 10th home) or you are thinking about selling your home... take a home education class!
Home Buyer Class
Saturday 2/8 1pm-3pm Virtual class
Tuesday 2/18 5pm -8pm Marshall Community Center
March
Saturday 3/8 9am-12pm Marshall Community Center
Home Seller Class
Saturday 2/8 10am-12pm Virtual class
Saturday 2/22 10am-1pm Firstenberg Community Center
March
Monday 3/3 5pm-8pm Firstenberg Community Community Center
Go to www.LearningToBuyAHome.com or www.FreeSellerClasses.com to sign up for one of the classes.
