Septic and bedroom issues (property, legal, Realtors, house)

[songinthewind7]

I appreciate the advice and answers you all have given me. You all are such a big help and have such a tough job.
Peace to you all.

[songinthewind7]

Originally Posted by Janecj

In our area, if you have a septic system allocated for a 2 bedroom home, then it needs to be sold as a 2 br home. Not a 3 bedroom. You can call the other room anything you want except 3 bedrooms, OR.. you can increase the septic system to a 3 bedroom. That ususally consists of adding more lines to the system. The agent and/or homeowner could be fined/sued in this instance if they do not market the home properly.

Geez, what a mess. Getting sued. Apparently the original homeowners were told that having the same septic for the 3 br was okay and this was about 12 years ago.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by songinthewind7

Geez, what a mess. Getting sued. Apparently the original homeowners were told that having the same septic for the 3 br was okay and this was about 12 years ago.

So maybe you can pull the original permit that allowed them to do it (add a room with no septic improvements) and get yourself grandfathered in ?

Unless it was verbal..then you're SOL.

[gypsychic]

When we had to replace our entire septic system in our last house on one acre, we technically had 2 BR and 1 bath. However, there was a large "bonus" room which we used as a Florida room. The county told us based on the square footage, we would need a larger drainfield than we previously had, but the tank was a 900 gal, for 2 BR. Maybe you can get by with the larger field?

[songinthewind7]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

In our county you just need to take the doors and closet rod/shelf out to render it into an office. Take the bedroom door off as well. It sounds stupid, but it passes around here.

Good Luck

Maybe Texas will be like California and let us do this. Don't know yet.

[songinthewind7]

Originally Posted by HappyTexan

So maybe you can pull the original permit that allowed them to do it (add a room with no septic improvements) and get yourself grandfathered in ?

Unless it was verbal..then you're SOL.

It was done verbally I think. They cannot find any kind of paperwork on it.
Lots of close family ties in the Fredericksburg area and if the attourney at the time was a family member, he may have said go ahead. Apparently that's what happened but it seems like the person that sold us the house would be in trouble for not getting any paperwork done. Buying the house 3 years ago was a breeze and we didn't have to go through any of the paperwork we're going through now. Somethings fishy. I just hope our buyer doesn't give up on this and withdraw his contract.

[jeannie216]

Originally Posted by songinthewind7

I just hope our buyer doesn't give up on this and withdraw his contract.

If I were your buyer and wanted your home, that wouldn't scare me off. Both of you have invested much time and energy and I'm certain they want this transaction to take place as much as you do. Sending positive thoughts your way. Good luck song.

[WendyK]

You should try to explain to the buyers that it's more about frequency of pumping than the specifics of what the original septic plan was. There are charts available online that will tell you how often the tank should be pumped based on the size of the tank and the number of people in the household. This might give your buyer more peace of mind knowing that there's nothing wrong with the system - they just need to make sure they pump it out based on how many people are using it.

[jeannie216]

Originally Posted by WendyK

You should try to explain to the buyers that it's more about frequency of pumping than the specifics of what the original septic plan was. There are charts available online that will tell you how often the tank should be pumped based on the size of the tank and the number of people in the household. This might give your buyer more peace of mind knowing that there's nothing wrong with the system - they just need to make sure they pump it out based on how many people are using it.

Wendy is right. Our septic failed a few months back and a reliable source told us for the size of the septic system and the amount of people living in the home, our septic should be pumped every 2 years. Someone else told us 3 -5 years. Big difference.

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by songinthewind7

I'm confused and would appreciate your advice in this situation. We're getting caught in county regulations (Texas) concerning the septic system and we need to redesignate the structure as a 2 br vs. a 3 br. Supposedly the county thinks that as long as the br has a closet, it's designated as a bedroom. The septic is large enough for a 2 br and that's it unless we can get rid of a closet in the 3rd br and call it a den or whatever. Anyone ever hear of anything so stupid? We were supposed to close on our house last week and now they're bringing up this crap.

I'm not sure what the issue is. You have a 2 bedroom house. In that 2 bedroomn house there is a room with a closet, that can be used for any number of things. What is the concern? Is the county saying that it's not a 2 bedroom house? Or are you saying it's not? I guess I don't understand the question.