Well Water & Septic

[Daniel Kramer]

I am considering a potential rental property that is on well water & septic. I have never lived on well water & septic, so I don't know if my fears are justified or not. I have visions of sewage seeping up through the yard, backed up drains, tenants that don't know what they can and can't put down the drain, and tens of thousands of dollars of excavation and repairs. 

Here are some more details: it's not a large rural lot like you'd expect. It's a 1/4 acre normal suburban lot that happens to be in a small section of the township instead of the city. There are houses with water and sewer lines one street over. 

I don't have a problem with paying the $400 per couple years to have it emptied or even some semi-routine maintenance if I can justify it in the numbers. But when I first google septic and wells, one of the first warnings is to not have this on a small lot due to the inevitable future repairs and not being able to keep the two systems far enough away from each other to prevent contamination. Is this going to be a money pit / headache or is it manageable? If I can plug 10k into my renovation budget to make sure everything is spinning like a top from the beginning, and the numbers still work out, would that be adequate? 

Thanks,

Dan