If buying in the Spring Lake area of Port Charlotte- be aware (Miami: home owners insurance, condo)

[SeaRay35]

I would think city sewer would be a greater selling point over septic. I know the property I just sold in PG with septic, buyers were skeptical

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by 1dobiedude

Does anyone think that this will make your house worth more?
Will it do away with the inspection of the septic system before you sell? Not sure if the inspection is required here.

If waterfront, not really. The value is in the water access. A few grand either way is insignificant. Non-waterfront, yes it might raise the value $3-4,000. Personally for me, all it means is double the water bill. Charlotte county (CCU) already has the 4th highest water/sewer prices in the state. Had we stayed there, our $60/mo water bill would have went to right around $110-115/mo with the new sewer. That is absolutely ridiculous!!!! AND, prices are going up each year for the next 3!!! Here in Englewood, I'm paying $65-70 for water & sewer.
Regarding inspections, yes, charlotte county requires it every 5 yrs I believe. You hire a local company to pump the tank and he inspects it (around $225 + the county "permit & operating fee"). You do NOT have to have the tank inspected for a sale, unless the buyer writes it into the contract and you agree to it.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Harbor Hopper

If waterfront, not really. The value is in the water access. A few grand either way is insignificant. Non-waterfront, yes it might raise the value $3-4,000. Personally for me, all it means is double the water bill. Charlotte county (CCU) already has the 4th highest water/sewer prices in the state. Had we stayed there, our $60/mo water bill would have went to right around $110-115/mo with the new sewer. That is absolutely ridiculous!!!! AND, prices are going up each year for the next 3!!! Here in Englewood, I'm paying $65-70 for water & sewer.
Regarding inspections, yes, charlotte county requires it every 5 yrs I believe. You hire a local company to pump the tank and he inspects it (around $225 + the county "permit & operating fee"). You do NOT have to have the tank inspected for a sale, unless the buyer writes it into the contract and you agree to it.

Interesting information. Out here in the hinterlands, (Peace River Shores) everyone around has well water and septic tanks, so I had no idea of the costs of county water and sewer. When we lived in Miami-Dade county, we had county water which ran us about $45 every three months, and a septic tank. As I understand it, sewer added to the water bill in Dade County made the price go up to somewhere in the range of $100-150 monthly, but we never had sewers so it I can't say from first hand experience. Sure sounds like your municipal water here in Charlotte county is a lot more than we paid for water in Dade county though.

As for the septic tank issues, including inspections, I looked on the Department of Health-Charlotte county websites for information, because I didn't think that everyone who owns a septic tank in the county is required by the health department to get the tank inspected every five years, or at any other interval. Those inspections seem to depend on 1) where one lives in Charlotte county, and 2) what type of septic tank is on the property. There's a "managed septic tank" program in the area stated on the site that's meant to "ensure that septic systems within the drainage area of the Manchester Waterway be appropriately pumped out and maintained in a functional condition. This area includes the Manchester and Spring Lake Basin". Septic tanks in this location are those required by the county (and health department) to be pumped out and inspected every five years and this requires the permit and inspection you were speaking of in your post.

Then there are the "aerobic septic tanks", which when we built our house here, were required by the county for residential or business building on less than 1/2 acre, I think it was. I'm told they later repealed that requirement, so it's no longer in effect. Aerobic septic tanks ( which look like a royal PIA to me, requiring the care and feeding they do, the costs, with frequent maintenance and inspections) require maintenance and inspections at least every six months- maybe that's the homeowner's inspection. The site also says aerobic septic tanks must be inspected annually by the health department.

I'd definitely look twice at a house with an aerobic septic tank, and figure it'd be a relief to have a house with that type of a system changed over to the county septic system. We have a traditional type septic tank, and didn't require the aerobic system during our build because of the size of the property. We're used to septic systems, having lived with them for many years with minimum problems. There are some things to remember to get the most life out of a septic tank, probably the most important is that you can't throw everything you want to get rid of, including mothers-in-law, down the drains or in the toilet, so we're careful about not flushing anything other than the usual ( and no disposable wipes, even if they say they are), not putting grease down the sink drains, and I'm even careful not to wash many many many loads of clothes one right after the other(although we've not had issues with any of this), and getting the septic system checked out, and pumped out every 3-5 years. Knock on wood, we've had very few problems over the years with septic systems, and the original septic tank in our 50+ year old house in Miami passed the inspection when we sold that house.

As for septic system insections on the sale of a house, I don't think it's a county requirement to do so, but it's usually included with other inspections ( roof, termite, plumbing, electric, etc) likely to be required by a lender before they approve a mortgage. I'd guess that if a property for sale has had a fairly recent septic tank inspection by the county or health department, ( say for those in the "managed septic system" areas in Charlotte county), the lender might accept that report in lieu of requiring another one.

Onsite Sewage Disposal - Charlotte County Health Department

Managed Septic Systems - Environmental Health

[Restrain]

Here with the deep sand, a standard septic system is just fine. Will last for decades without major maintenance (based on what I have seen with others).

However, in heavy clay soils, an aerobic system is the only way to go. Thing is, we are lucky enough not to have those here. We had those back in north Texas where we moved from, absolutely hated that stuff.

[Macgregorsailor]

Originally Posted by Harbor Hopper

Charlotte county (CCU) already has the 4th highest water/sewer prices in the state. .

Help me out with a link to that statement please. I dont find that anywhere. I find CCU a long ways from the top so I would appreciate your link .

[Harbor Hopper]

Sorry I don't have it in my back pocket at all times. It has been presented at commission meetings MANY MANY times over the past 5 years. I'll ask the "leader" of the local opposition group for the link since you obviously think $110/mo is affordable for water/sewer.

[Macgregorsailor]

Originally Posted by Harbor Hopper

Sorry I don't have it in my back pocket at all times. It has been presented at commission meetings MANY MANY times over the past 5 years. I'll ask the "leader" of the local opposition group for the link since you obviously think $110/mo is affordable for water/sewer.

Harbor Hopper ,how do you know what I think before I say it? Is That # a County Wide Average? ( $110)
What is the Gallon usage of all the compareables? I sure see a LOT more sprinkelers running here after a rain, than I do, say up in Lakeland..Or so it appears to me. With so many "comfortable $$" retirees living here, is our usage UP because it what we choose to do? I sprinkle here a lot more than where I used to live.

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by Macgregorsailor

Is That # a County Wide Average? ( $110)
What is the Gallon usage of all the compareables? I sure see a LOT more sprinkelers running here after a rain, than I do, say up in Lakeland..Or so it appears to me. With so many "comfortable $$" retirees living here, is our usage UP because it what we choose to do? I sprinkle here a lot more than where I used to live.

The $110/mo would be for my family of 3 using a conservative 4,000-5,000 gallons per month. Yes, some use much more than that and their bill will of course be much higher. I shake my head at sprinklers being on June-September with all the rain. You really only need to water November-April, generally speaking.
I'm just glad we sold and got out of there and away from CCU's greedy reach. CCU has one of the highest rates per 1,000 gallons (which is how you're charged, along with all the "base" and "ready-to-serve" fees they tack on.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Harbor Hopper

The $110/mo would be for my family of 3 using a conservative 4,000-5,000 gallons per month. Yes, some use much more than that and their bill will of course be much higher. I shake my head at sprinklers being on June-September with all the rain. You really only need to water November-April, generally speaking.
I'm just glad we sold and got out of there and away from CCU's greedy reach. CCU has one of the highest rates per 1,000 gallons (which is how you're charged, along with all the "base" and "ready-to-serve" fees they tack on.

Just passing along some information, Charlotte County building codes have, from 2007 that I know of, required the use of "rain" sensors on sprinkler systems that would override automatic timers for sprinkling, and keep the system off in the case of rain. We have one of those, and it basically consists of a little cup attached to the edge of the roof, and to the timer (best I can describe it). I'd assume when there's a certain level of water in that cup, the sprinklers won't go on. Of course that's just for construction, or installation of sprinkler systems after that time, so I'm sure you'll still see plenty of watering going on even in pouring rain in older installations.

We basically turn our sprinkler timer off during the rainy season, because there's no need for sprinkling when it rains almost every day. Or even if it rains twice a week. I also wonder how the watering restrictions ( twice a week most of the time) affects the use of water in the county.

Used to be that to keep from having to use expen$ive municipal water for irrigation, people would have wells dug as a water source when they had irrigation systems installed. We had a well for our irrigation system in Miami, as did most of our neighbors there. Is that not done anymore? Because I can see where municipal water would get to be pretty pricey using it for lawn and landscape irrigation.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Macgregorsailor

Harbor Hopper ,how do you know what I think before I say it? Is That # a County Wide Average? ( $110)
What is the Gallon usage of all the compareables? I sure see a LOT more sprinkelers running here after a rain, than I do, say up in Lakeland..Or so it appears to me. With so many "comfortable $$" retirees living here, is our usage UP because it what we choose to do? I sprinkle here a lot more than where I used to live.

I don't know how often you used to use your sprinklers in your old location, but I'd guess the frequency of use may be related to the watering restrictions placed on property owners in various locations. In Charlotte County ( and also in Miami-Dade county, where I used to live) the current restrictions, which have been in effect for a few years now, is twice a week, the days depending on the last number of your address (even or odd). I've seen those restrictions go down to once a week when the SFMWD declared "droughts'- usually relative to the water levels in Lake Okeechobee even though that's a secondary water source for most of south Florida and the Army Corps of Engineers routinely dumps water out of the lake into the rivers ( St. Lucie and Caloossahatchee) in lieu of fixing the levee that surrounds the lake.