More life in real estate

OK, this is a new one even for us.

We have folks buying a home. Current owners have lived in the home home about 12 years. As part of the sale, they are required to have the septic pumped/inspected. They have _never_ had it done. So the company the owners hired shows up to do this, and....

The owners have planted a TREE on the septic access lid. Wife did this right after they moved in, because she thought it was ugly. So, there's a tree that's been growing there for at least ten years, it's like 15 feet tall. It's going to have to be removed, hopefully without causing further damage to the system. Who knows how much damage has been done. The Owners are clueless. The Buyers are furious. Who knows how long this will take - if they can even find a tree removal company willing to touch it.

Now, of course the buyers are wondering how many other dumb things the owners did, and want to do further inspections. I don't blame them, though the normal home inspection came back fine other than very minor issues.

This was at end of day, so I can't wait to see where this goes tomorrow...

Eek! If I was the buyers, I’d back out of the sale. Homeowner needs to remove tree and repair any damage to septic system abs then list again


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If I were the buyers I’d back out. That’s insane the sellers planted a tree there [emoji2360]

To remove the tree, it not only needs to be cut down but the stump needs to be ground up. I can’t imagine how that could be done without damaging the access point

If I were the buyers I would back out. We backed out of a house we had a contract on for Septic problems and that sounds even worse!


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I'd be wary as a homebuyer too. We've walked away from homes for less but in this market, it may not be possible. What a strange situation.

What?? That's crazy! What an incredible story. An entire tree is growing over the septic tank? When truth is stranger than fiction! No experience with septic tanks (or home buying for that matter) but that's...amazing!

I have no words. None.

I grew up with a septic tank; we had it replaced when I was around 7 years old, but the tank was original to the house (1940s). The crew had to dig up our entire backyard for the job (replaced a 1940s metal tank system intended for summer use only with a 1980s concrete system intended for year-round use) ... this particular job sounds at least that big.

And, yes, if I were the buyers in this situation, I'd back out, too.

That's just nuts! We have septic and are uber careful about what we do near, around, and over our tank. It sits in our back yard with the leach lines running off to the side of the house. We tell every contractor exactly where it sits so no heavy equipment drives over it. Nothing heavier than our riding lawnmower is allowed. We had an above ground pool, deck, and patio installed and watched the contractors like a hawk. Right now we have a lightweight decorative gravel over it because it makes it easier to remove the gravel to access the lid for pumping every few years rather than dig up sod and have to replant grass.

I cannot believe they've never had it pumped!! That might be worse than planting a tree on top!

Yikes, I'd have to REALLY want that house to keep going at that point.

This reminds me of an experience my family when buying their current house. They had lived in a semi-rural location that had a septic tank and a well (which got really tiresome whenever the power went out … as it did). They were ready to move to a more convenient location in a nearby town, definitely on city water and ideally city sewer. I was surprised to learn that most houses in their fairly affluent small town still had septic tanks, but they limited their search to the neighborhoods where the town had already run sewer lines and they could connect without too much trouble.

So they found a house they liked, in a neighborhood with sewer service, and thought they would connect as soon as they completed some more pressing issues. They had their trusted septic guy come to inspect it, and they discovered …. it wasn’t a septic tank after all, it was a cesspool !! That definitely bumped it up on the ToDo list. And DGD2, then 5, was delighted to tell everyone "we have a big hole full of poop in our yard"!!


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