Unless there were some other VERY compelling reason to
buy that particular property, I think I'd be having
second and third thoughts about it. If it was a plus
to have, you'd see that in the price of the house. Is
the price lower/higher than expected? How about tax
assessments compared to neighbors?
I guess you could always opt right away to put in a
septic and forget about that thing for now. Then you
could do it either way, whatever happens. But I'd
never feel comfortable with something I knew so little
about. I understand the concept, but 17 years makes it
sound like a "forget it" to me. Can you find out if
there are any municipal annexations in the works?
Still, I'd pass unless I could get them to drop the
price by whatever a septic install was going to cost.

Just my two cents.

Pop


"Art Todesco" wrote in message
m...
I would ask:
Who owns the lift pump? Leading to who is
responsible when it breaks?
When the city puts in local sewers, how much will it
cost me?
I would talk to the city.

miamicuse wrote:
I am looking at a property in south Florida area and
there is something that
concerns me.

The owner told me all the houses in the neighborhood
are on septic tanks.
But his house is not. His house was originally
built and owned by the city
engineer at the time, and he had a lift station
installed on the property.
He showed it to me, it looked like a well with a
handle to open and close
the valve. He told me this property has a direct
connection to the city
sewer and there is a primary pump and a back up
secondary pump to pump the
waster water to the main sewer line. The main sewer
line is not far from
the property, but the city is slow in getting them
connected (he said the
city has been saying they will be connected "soon"
for seventeen years).

He said he has someone that comes by to
service/check the lift station once
every quarter, and he has to go out and check to see
if it is ok every month
himself to make sure the pump continue to work.

I am not sure of all the specifics of what is
involved to check to see if
the pump still works, is this a maintainance
nightmare I am getting into or
this is a neat feature to have? Does having a "lift
station" enhance
property value?

MC