Surprise septic (contingency, contract, offer, Realtors)

[VickiR]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

The OP obviously fell into the tank and is dead.

maybe that is how he discovered he had a septic system!!!

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by jackmichigan

Regardless, what did the disclosure form indicate? Is the "agent" your buyer's agent or a seller's agent? Did you have an inspection done prior to purchase? Did you have an attorney? More info, please.

Originally Posted by Mack Knife

What is obvious is that in some way, real estate agents are involved.

Mack,

I realize that you like to take swipes at real estate agents whenever you can, but in this case the OP simply has not provided enough information for anyone to be able to say whether they may have legitimate grounds for recourse against the "agent" or anyone else.

I'm among the first to suggest to people that they should try to sell their homes or property without using an agent--provided they have sufficient knowledge about the process and are willing to work on it. If an owner can find a buyer, a good real estate attorney may be all that they need. However, a number of people truly need help...and I think this poster is a good example. But whether they were provided with information and ignored it, or whether they were misled or provided false information cannot be determined from what the OP has provided.

[Silverfall]

Our contracts spell this out as well as our seller disclosure forms. I'm also wondering how a buyer wouldn't quickly find out when they tried to move the utilities into their name only to find out they don't have sewer service. I don't know what their contracts and seller property disclosure statements say, nor do we know if a buyer agent was involved. Hard to say if the OP was shooting themselves in the foot or not.

[yousah]

What's interesting is that once the original poster moved into his house then he'd have to be looking to get the utilities changed over to a new billing name. He would have found out right away when trying to call the sewer dept because they would have told him that his house wasn't covered by their service. Furthermore, most buyers work on getting the utilities transferred over prior to closing. Thus, this issue would have also pooped up at that time and he would have had knowledge of it prior to closing.

[MikeJaquish]

I just cannot imagine posting an MLS listing or writing an offer on a house and not knowing where the poop runs to.
Just cannot imagine.

The OP seems to not have had an agent, but it is all too unclear to point fingers anywhere.

[fallingwater]

I bought a house with a septic tank and didn't know anything about them. I did my research but EVEN IF I hadn't, it was required by law in my area that it is to be inspected. Isn't that the norm? Septic tanks can be a hazard when things go wrong. My uncle had a cabin where the system failed and he had the EPA all over him during the process of replacing it.

[old_cold]

Originally Posted by yousah

What's interesting is that once the original poster moved into his house then he'd have to be looking to get the utilities changed over to a new billing name. He would have found out right away when trying to call the sewer dept because they would have told him that his house wasn't covered by their service. Furthermore, most buyers work on getting the utilities transferred over prior to closing. Thus, this issue would have also pooped up at that time and he would have had knowledge of it prior to closing.

I've never once had to transfer any municiple services....that is done automatically when the property transfers.The taxmen find you without your assistance.
There are some sections where we live that are smack in the middle of the village that one would assume have municiple services....they don't....still on private septic and some outside the village that have had services extended to them, so it would have to be stated somewhere which was which.
OP may have gone and looked up the paperwork and found it was specified someplace. ( or maybe not,some don't get back here quickly.....some never do)

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by yousah

Thus, this issue would have also pooped up at that time and he would have had knowledge of it prior to closing.

Either very clever...or just an appropriate typo.

[399083453]

No, not all states require septic inspection by law. Its just another money grab by the septic guy, similar to having your car inspected by a mechanic, which not many states do.

Septic systems are not dangerous. Its just a tank and a leech field. Very simple. If he had the EPA all over him, its likely he was near a lake.

[longislander2]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

I just cannot imagine posting an MLS listing or writing an offer on a house and not knowing where the poop runs to.
Just cannot imagine.

I wish all real estate agents had your attitude. Most of the multiple listings where I live, at least the information reported on the MLS web site, do not specify the waste disposal system even though the full listing usually available to agents will have that information. In fact, there is one highly regarded neighborhood where one would think sewers are in place, and yet septic systems are common. Agents seem uncomfortable when you ask about this, just as we tend to see similar discomfort when we ask whether the home has a buried oil tank (common in our region).

If you can't imagine the reluctance to mention septic systems, imagine this:

I recently went to an open house for a home that's just under a million dollars, so we're talking a commission close to $50K. In my neck of the woods, that's not a tremendous amount of money. The home is advertised as "newly renovated" and the photos are lit and shot to suggest that. We walk up a cracked and crumbling walkway to the front door, where the bell is hanging loose by a single screw. To make a long story short, the place was a dump.

Here are snippets of my conversation with the real estate agent:
Me: So what kind of heat does it have? Hot air (pointing to vents)?
Agent: I'm not really sure. I think so.
Me: Does the property go back to that line of bushes?
Agent: I don't really know. It looks like it.
Me: Is there gas in the house?
Agent: Beats me.
Me: Where are the renovations that the listing talked about?
Agent: (chuckle)

I'm not saying this is every agent in our area, but I've seen it all too frequently. A few weeks ago, when we had another serious offer on our home, we scrambled to look at some more places. We tried to go with an agent who had shown us some other homes earlier. We felt it would be nice for her to get some of the commission rather than going directly to the listing agents. We were wrong.

Here are rough snippets of our e-mail exchange:
Me: It looks like we might have a serious offer on our home, so we would like to take a look at [specific addresses of two properties for sale]. We would like to see them between [specific dates and times]. Please let us know if this works for you and the sellers. Thanks.
Agent: Sure. Just let me know when you're available.
Me: We are both taking days off during the holidays so we have flexibility on [specific days]. Please let me know what days or times work best. Thanks.
Agent: Sounds good. Let me know when you're available.

And so it went, until we gave up and went directly to the two listing agents.

Bottom line: Do not count on agents for any information and verify, verify, verify.