I’ve been working with my very special buyer for quite some time.  After six months, after four contracts, after two home inspections, after about 1,200 miles, after looking at dozens (yes that is plural) of homes, after laughing, and after nearly crying, we have found her a home.  It is a lovely little place with gorgeous hardwood floors, a woodburning fireplace, solid foundation, cute yard, lots of trees, and loads of personality.

The home inspector came last week and actually raved about the great condition of the house.  Yes, he found five brown recluse spiders out in the workshop but who cares?  A little chemical bomb will take care of that problem, and besides it’s sometimes exhilerating to take risks.  Am I right people? 

The next day, I went online to read the actual inspection report and noticed something that made my brows furrow.  "Home connected to septic system."  What?  It said on the MLS that the home was hooked up to the city sewer.  I called the listing agent who called the seller who had been paying city sewer fees since he owned the home.  But we did more research and sure enough, it was still on septic.  The seller agreed to spend some more money to get a septic health letter from the county and we were all warm and fuzzy again.

And then I told my broker about it yesterday.  He said, "Uhhhh…. Kathy?  Is it an FHA loan?"

"I believe it is!," I happilly chirped.

"Isn’t there a rule with FHA that if the home has city sewer available that it’s required to be hooked up?"

That’s when I fell away from my happy place.  I may have even uttered an unmentionable word that rhymes with… well I won’t say what but it definitely relates to a septic system.

I called the lender, "Houston, we have a problem."

"Oh no."

I explained the situation and she immediately called the underwriter.

Then I called the listing agent.  We were both in full-blown panic because we knew the cost would be prohibitive and the seller would not spend the expected thousands it would take.  It didn’t take long to hear back from the lender.  Her underwriter was out, but she found some small print on the FHA requirements that could possibly bring sunshine back into our lives.  This is not verbatim, but essentially it said that if hooking a home up to city sewer would cause hardship – and hardship was defined as a cost exceeding 3 percent of the purchase price – then the underwriter could waive the city sewer requirement.

The next calls we made were to the city to find out the cost of tapping into the city sewer ($860) and a plumber to find out how much to actually make the connect, then dispose of the septic tank (emptying, crushing, filling hold with dirt and/or gravel).  $4,625.00 + $860 = $5485.  More than 3 percent.

So now we wait for results from the appraiser who is going out today.  If she finds the septic system functioning (i.e., not pooling muck in the yard anywhere), we may be home free.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.  And our toes.

Photo from Darrs Septic Cleaning.