Messy, messy, messy

Greetings all and welcome to Real Estate Secrets where we talk about everything involved with flipping and renting properties. I’m you’re host Linda Harley and today’s topic is…septic tanks.

The first time I ever had to deal with a septic tank was on my second rehab project. This was a 3 bedroom 2.5 bathroom that we were converting into a 4 bedroom 3.5 bathroom.

We had completed the renovations, and moved in our first Airbnb guests. I was super excited because this guest was gonna stay for 2 weeks, and it was going to be some nice income.

Day 1 at 11pm I get a call from the guest. “There is a loud noise banging through the walls and we can’t tell what it is. Also there is an awful smell coming from the toilets.”

My first thought was… oh no the septic system had backed up and the basement was flooding, I better get over there.

I assured her not to worry that I was going to come over right away, get a plumber out there and take care of this, and apologized for it disturbing their evening.

When I got there I rushed down to the basement and was happy to find that the septic system had NOT backed up, but something was definitely wrong with the sub pump, it was making a racket.

Got the plumber out there, who snaked the toilets, and told me that what was happening was that there was a dip in the pipe leading to the septic tank that was causing back flow. We had to dig it up and replace the pipe.

Fortunately the problem was on the outside of the house so at least I didn’t have to break down the house to get at the pipe.

I stopped all future Airbnb bookings till this could be sorted.

I got Hulsey Environmental Services to come out and take a look.

They inspected the system and confirmed that the pipe needed to be replaced, the tank was still in good condition but lacked proper access, and that the entire septic distribution system in the back yard was completely shot and needed to be replaced.

A whopping ~$20k later it was all fixed.

This pretty much wiped out any of the profit that I would make on renting out the property the first year. So i was just hoping to break even.

Here then is what I learned about septic systems.

First, if you’re going to be buying a house with a septic system it is very important that you get a recent inspection of the septic system to know what kind of condition it is in, how long it will last, and what it will cost to replace it. This needs to be factored into any negotiations with the owner when buying the property, else you may be buying a dudd.

Second, don’t go with the first septic company you can get a hold of, now matter how big of a time crunch you are in. Shop around when you need to have the work done. Some places charge exorbitant retail prices that you want to avoid.

Third, septic systems need to be pumped every 3-5 years depending on the size and usage of the system. When in doubt err on the side of caution and do 2 years. Septic systems are a great alternative to sewage management and can actually make your garden look splendid!

That’s all for today. If you found this info useful, drop a comment below. I’d love to know what you prefer septic system or city sewers!

Too da loo

Linda