Multi list sites with (slightly) different info than the MLS?

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I'm in contract with a property, a cabin in a fairly remote town in NYS, and am in the process of getting a septic system inspection. All of the listing sites (we were using Zillow, but it was on all of them) have list system simply as "Septic", and no info beyond that was given by the seller's agent when we were shown. By chance I came across the person who had installed it (40 years ago) who told me it was a shared septic and shared well, and we verified this in county records. Otherwise we would have discovered this at the inspection.

Now, I know shared septic and wells are not uncommon in these parts for older builds, so that's not really the issue, though our preference has been for private septic. But I've been told a few things about why this is something I shouldn't feel I've been mislead on, which is what I expressed when I found this out. One, that just because a system is described on the MLS as simply "septic" doesn't mean it's a private system. That seemed off to me, since our experience has been that every system that was shared said so in the listed, and we saw our share of those. We'd only been looking for six months so it's been a learning experience for us, but we felt we could conclude that if it didn't say "shared" it wasn't. What are your thoughts on this? Is it common for shared septics to not be specified as such in the listing?

The second is: it has been claimed by the seller's agent that the main county MLS real estate mother listing had it as shared septic and well but the info didn't make it to the public listing sites. This also struck me as odd but I can't say, not know something like that is not unheard of in the transfer of info to the public Zillow, Realtor etc sites. Does this happen occasionally? That something can be blamed on the info not being scraped properly to the public sites?

Thanks very much for any wisdom and experience here. It is very much appreciated : )

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Comments (5)

functionthenlook
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I don't know if it is legal or not, but i personally feel the water and septic should of stated shared in the listing. Shared water can come with problems during dry spells. Especially if the well is not on your property.

You also don't know what your neighbor is putting down the drain that will cause the septic to fail.

When we were looking for our camp this summer it did state in the MLS if shared. It could differ state to state.
Denita
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
The place to state that it is a shared septic and a shared well is in the public remarks section of the MLS. The info can be expanded in the broker remarks and in the document sections. This way you have the info when you take a first look at the property. My MLS only has an input for septic and there is no option for shared septic or shared well. Zillow and the other websites upload directly from the MLS in an imperfect manner....so take any of the info you see with a large grain of salt and do further investigation before you contract with the seller. Your buyers agent can help you with that along with the inspections after you are under contract.

There is much more information available on the MLS or that the buyers agent can obtain that simply doesn't show on the marketing websites like Zillow.
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homechef59
5 years ago
Zillow only allows for basic information to be drawn from MLS data bases. As an appraiser, I would never use Zillow for a primary data source. The MLS will have two modes, what the agents can see and shorter forms that are printed up for the buyer. Tell the agent that you want to see the full agent's data printout. There is no reason why they cannot provide this to you upon request.

Good for you to find the fact that this property has a shared system. Given that you are closing in NYS, you will have your own attorney who will review everything about the property and insist upon a shared maintenance agreement for the well and the septic. Because of the age of the last sale of the property, there is a good chance that there is no shared maintenance agreement. Your attorney should be searching for one at the Courthouse. Do no buy without one. Be prepared to walk away from the property unless you are prepared to install and pay for your own well and septic. These systems do fail. Without the maintenance agreement, you will be at the mercy of the shared neighbor and their good will.
DWG
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you all for your responses. They help enormously with my perspective. There is a shared maintenance agreement between the current owners and my lawyer will be updating it. So my concern is mostly with how it will evolve pending the various potential outcomes of the inspection. We won't be there full time (and so can't take advantage of the county's no cost new septic system program), and the neighbors aren't either, which has gotten them this far. So far it feels like continuing to move forward on it slowly and leaving no stone unturned is how we'll proceed. Thanks again !
maifleur03
5 years ago
DWG you mention a no cost septic system. Is it a septic system or actual sanitary sewers? If sewers and they are not charging to connect see if you can connect then cap the pipe. If they will allow you will be saving thousands of dollars even if you must pay a monthly charge.

Then you have to think about how old the current septic system is. If the free county septic system is really free although there will always be other expenses you should seriously think about the advantages of having a non-shared system.