Extra inspections you had better not miss when buying rural property!
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Extra inspections that are must-haves when buying a rural property. Hi, my name is Alisha Collins with RE/MAX The Group, and the Alicia Collins Real Estate Team.
Some rural homes in the Casper area are serviced by public or city water. Many are not on public water sewer. Often, there’s a well that must be tested when buying a rural home. You have options when it comes to inspections. In this case, some of the extra inspections are must-haves. You can hire a general home contractor, that is knowledgeable about wells, or you can go straight to the source and hire a well driller to test the actual workings of the well. You also need to do water quality testing. Two water tests are recommended. One, that tests for minerals in the water, and the other one that tests for bacteria in the water. These tests can reveal whether the water is potable, or safe to drink for you and your animals. We actually have quite a variety of minerals present in our water in the Casper area, in wells, such as nitrates and sulfur, and a variety of others. Minerals can sometimes be filtered out of the water, and make the water drinkable, by using a water treatment system, such as the reverse osmosis. It’s important when purchasing a rural property, that you go in knowing whether or not there is sufficient water, and most importantly whether you can drink that water. If the water has bacteria, sometimes the well can be shocked with chlorine to get rid of it. When this happens the water must be retested again after the treatment, after a period of time. It is important to note here, that the well needs to run after the shock treatment for a good while. And we must ensure that the chlorine or bleach does not go into the septic system. It needs to be run out on the ground so that it does not kill any of the active microbes in the septic system, or you’ll have bigger problems than you had to begin with.
The second extra inspection is a septic tank. This is the Wastewater system that is used when the rural home is not connected to city sewer. The septic tank has many parts, and we need to make sure that they’re all functioning properly. The house is connected to the septic tank, which then goes into distribution boxes, and then to the septic drain field known as the leach field. This inspection can be done again by the general home inspector, that has experience inspecting these systems or by a septic system installer. Septic tank should be pumped every two to five years. Frequently, septic tanks need to be pumped prior to the real estate closing. The inspector will recommend whether he thinks this needs to be done or not. Most buyers will do a sewer line camera on the house in town. They should also be doing the country because the sewer line from the house to the septic tank could be broken, or have other issues that need to be addressed. This actually happened to me personally years ago, and I’ve always encouraged people to camera the sewer line now. I do think it’s rarely done on rural properties during the inspection period, but this is one inspection you don’t want to forego.
Another thing to be aware of as a rural buyer, you must know where the property corners are on the property that you’re buying. So you either need to find the pins, or ask the seller to have a surveyor come Mark the corners. Of course, it would be horrible if you had to move a long fence, or even a building after you moved in and purchased the property, because those things were really on the neighbor’s property. If you plan to build a fence, you need to make sure it’s on your own property.
All the other customary inspections should apply here, such as a general home inspection, a roof inspection, plumbing inspection, electrical inspection, heating and cooling inspection, and really anything you want to do as the buyer. These are just a few of things you need to know when buying rural and other property. It’s so important to have an experienced and knowledgeable realtor, such as myself and my team in your corner. We want you to have a smooth, positive experience when buying any house, and when buying your home in the country. we want you to love where you live. Make it a great home buying and selling day. See you soon.
