A septic test is the buyer's,
and so is the decision.
A septic system treats a home's wastewater on its own land, where there is no public sewer. The buyer can have it tested at their own cost or skip the test, and if the results are bad the addendum leaves room to ask for a credit, ask for a repair, or cancel.
- A septic system treats a home's wastewater on its own land, and it is what a property uses where there is no public sewer
- The buyer can have it tested at their own cost, or skip the test
- If the results are bad, the buyer can ask for a credit, ask the seller to fix it, or cancel
- Where a house is on septic, the town may want that certification in hand before it will issue a certificate of occupancy
Term. Written by The JK Realty Group.
A septic system treats a home's wastewater on its own land. It is what a property uses where there is no public sewer, which across South Jersey means a great many houses outside the older boroughs and the sewered developments. The system is part of the property, so its condition is part of what a buyer is taking on.
Two things about it surprise buyers. The first is that the test is theirs. In New Jersey a septic inspection is arranged by the buyer and paid for by the buyer, and it is optional, so a buyer who does not order one simply does not have one. The second is where the room to move comes from. It is a named addendum to the contract, not a general rule, and it is that addendum that sets out what a buyer can do when the results come back bad: ask for a credit, ask the seller to take care of it, or cancel. Which of those makes sense depends on what the report actually says, and a failing test and a system near the end of its life are different problems. There is also a timing point that catches sellers as often as buyers. Where a house is on septic, the town may want that certification in hand before it will issue a certificate of occupancy, so the test can sit on the critical path to closing rather than off to one side.
Say a buyer is under contract on a house in Pittsgrove with an original system. Ordering the test in the first week of the window leaves time to get a contractor out for a real number if it comes back poorly, and time to talk to the seller with that number in hand. Ordering it in the last week leaves the choice between accepting an unknown and asking for an extension.
What to ask, and who answers it. Ask the inspector what the report actually found and what it means for how long the system has left, since that is the difference between a credit and a replacement. Ask the county health department what a replacement on that lot would need if it comes to that. Your attorney is the one to ask about what the addendum on your own contract says and what your notice dates are. Your agent can line up the test early in the window, and that is a call we can make the day you go under contract.
Our take
The test is the buyer's to order and the buyer's to pay for, and the room to move afterward comes from the addendum rather than from goodwill. If you are buying where there is no public sewer, order it inside the window.
Buying where there is no public sewer? Let's talk.
General information about what the standard private sewage disposal addendum contains. What your own contract says and what your dates are is a question for a licensed New Jersey attorney. General information, not advice about any specific property. The JK Realty Group, brokered with OMNI Real Estate Professionals. Equal Housing Opportunity. See our Terms of Use for how we source and credit these posts.