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Be Aware of Your Septic System in the Delaware Market


We recently reached out to Delaware clients to find out which topics you’d like to see covered in our video blogs. Surprisingly, the top answer was septic systems.

The last revision of the agreement of sale that's used as a bit of a template for real estate agents has language to put responsibility on the seller to provide a septic pump and certification within a certain number of days of going under contract.

If you’re a homeowner and you have a septic system in your house, be aware the vast majority of buyers out there - particularly those working with an agent - will have an expectation for seeing that pump and certification. 


You need to be proactive with home maintenance.


The good news is, it’s typically good for three years. It’s a good thing to do upfront, as turnaround time for inspections can be long at times. If you’re planning on doing a septic pump out, go ahead and do the certification at the same time, so you won’t have to get it re-pumped.

The most common issue we see with septic systems is a problem with the distribution box , usually because of the age of a lot of the systems out there. Just because your system isn’t having problems, I wouldn’t feel comfortable assuming that it’s going to be OK and put the house on the market. You might find out after it’s too late.

Likewise, if you’re a buyer and you’re looking to purchase, you should expect that the pump information is readily available.

If you have any further questions or more topic ideas for our video blog, please feel free to reach out to me! I appreciate your feedback.