Septic Tanks - Protection for Long Term Buy and Hold Rentals

[Shaun Palmer]

I am investigating purchasing another long term buy and hold property that has a septic tank.  The market I am looking in seems to have decent returns so I am interested but in my opinion having septic vs. sewer is a risk and could be a large one should something serious happen.  I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on ways to protect a LL from a tenant that may potentially pour something down the drain and ruin the septic (i.e. concrete).  

In general, my portfolio consists of B properties in good neighborhoods but there is always that chance of something happening.  As a precaution, I build into my costs to have the septic tank pumped every 2 years (about $150-$200) so this helps with some of the risks.  My question is really if anyone has any experience with other ways to protect my property from a potential issue in the future.  Any thoughts are welcome and thanks in advance.

[Frank Adams]

I used to pour one of the commercial products down the drain every 6-9 months and do the pump out as well. That worked well until the Lower Colorado River Authority changed the rules for a certain geographic area and to meet the conditions of a sale/transfer I had to install one of the concrete lined septic tanks. That's been a few years now but IIRC that cost me close to $10,000 including all permits and inspections.