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I've been "shopping" online for a while for a one-level single home, 1,800 sq ft with 3 bd/2ba plus a yard of no less than 10,000 sq ft close to everything, and to my surprise I have a hard time to see one-level homes with no septic. Why so many houses in this are have septic and wells? I appreciate any input. Thank you all.
As a general rule, large lots tend to be rural. Infrastructure costs (water and sewer pipe) get greater as you leave the city and the prorated cost per lot is greater (you pass fewer homes per foot of pipe). Also many watershed areas prohibit "city" water and sewer.
Exceptions abound, but that's why you see what you are seeing. Many places also have "community well and/or septic" - which you might find more appealing.
I've been "shopping" online for a while for a one-level single home, 1,800 sq ft with 3 bd/2ba plus a yard of no less than 10,000 sq ft close to everything, and to my surprise I have a hard time to see one-level homes with no septic. Why so many houses in this are have septic and wells? I appreciate any input. Thank you all.
My assumption: The quarter-acre requirement may be pushing you out to more rural areas that have not been annexed and don't have utility service.
You may be able to find those larger lots in core areas of Raleigh, Durham, and other cities, or in older developments (1970s-early 1990s) in cities as well as Cary and other suburbs, but much new development in both cities and suburbs has been on smaller lots.
If you are searching for more yard than the usual .24 or .17 of an acre, you will find that those n'hoods are further out and therefore have no city utilities.
Some may have community well and private septic. Some will have private well and private septic.
I've been "shopping" online for a while for a one-level single home, 1,800 sq ft with 3 bd/2ba plus a yard of no less than 10,000 sq ft close to everything, and to my surprise I have a hard time to see one-level homes with no septic. Why so many houses in this are have septic and wells? I appreciate any input. Thank you all.
NC is still a pretty rural state, even though we do have a few large cities. Wells and septic are found in areas right around our cities, and even in them still, because they are more affordable than city infrastructure to install.
Don't fear having a septic system - they are no big deal
Don't fear having a septic system - they are no big deal
I agree. We've had our house for four years and have never had a problem with our septic and well. And if you do, it's easy to find a person to maintain it for you. Since there are a lot of septics/wells out here, there are a lot of people who specialize in maintaining them.
You do want to find out the maintence history on your septic and your well. Also, ask how many gallons per minute the well pumps, and find out if there have been any drought related issues with the well drying up. We had a severe drought a few years ago and some wells did dry up.
The only complaint I have about being off the grid is the cost of heating. Propane is hugely expensive. Keep that in mind when you are looking at houses.
Look in an older neighborhood in the city (cities) you like. They're less likely to have well and septic, if you'd really prefer to have public utilities.
One thing worth noting is that if you are in the North Raleigh/Wake Forest area, and the house has a well, there's a water service out that way (I forget the name of it) that has been in the news because while they were pumping out water during the last drought, they seemed to be depleting the water table, so some folks had wells that were running dry.
I agree. We've had our house for four years and have never had a problem with our septic and well. And if you do, it's easy to find a person to maintain it for you. Since there are a lot of septics/wells out here, there are a lot of people who specialize in maintaining them.
You do want to find out the maintence history on your septic and your well. Also, ask how many gallons per minute the well pumps, and find out if there have been any drought related issues with the well drying up. We had a severe drought a few years ago and some wells did dry up.
The only complaint I have about being off the grid is the cost of heating. Propane is hugely expensive. Keep that in mind when you are looking at houses.
Good luck!
We keep our heating costs down tremendously by using a woodstove The initial outlay is expensive (ours was over $3000.) but it is well worth it for what you save over time.
We bought a woodstove rated to heat up to our particular square footage and it really works. My heat pump rarely even comes on and my winter bills have been very low! They are much safer than fireplaces as you can actually go to bed with the fire still going. We absolutely love the warmth and the cost savings .
Somewhat afield from the original request but do *not* consider propane as your primary heat source in NC. Just not cost effective at all.
If natural gas is available, consider it by all means.
Somewhat afield from the original request but do *not* consider propane as your primary heat source in NC. Just not cost effective at all.
If natural gas is available, consider it by all means.
Frank
agreed!
My parents gave up on their propane tank and switched to a wood stove (they live in a little 2-bedroom 1940's house over in Wake Forest).
The cost savings is tremendous.
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