Is a mobile home park with septic that bad?

[Gulliver R.]

So I'm doing some pre-DD on a park and there are some good things going for it except for it's on septic. Is having septic that bad? I prefer my parks on city w/s. Also, how much is septic annual pumping? How much is septic repair? Cost of replacing? Thank you!

[Ryan Murdock]

You'll need to start by determining how many systems are there, the ages of each, and then the conditions. If it's a park of any size there are likely multiple tanks and multiple leach fields, although anything is possible. There are still parks operating with the old style septic lagoons.

See if you can obtain the septic designs either from the seller or the municipality. The seller may also be able to provide you with service history records. If so, call the servicing company and see what other info they can provide you.

If you do get to the point of actually proceeding with your due diligence a full inspection of all systems by a qualified septic company is probably money well spent. Newer, properly installed septic systems that have been correctly maintained are pretty easy to deal with. Outdated, improperly maintained, or altogether failed systems can be extremely costly to repair or replace.